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Alex released him, and he slid down the car window onto his knees. He rubbed his shoulder, twitching a pained smirk up at Alex from under the brim of his cap. A red cap. An Angel’s cap.

“Fuck man.” He adjusted his cap, glanced around the crowd like he was looking for an exit, and chuckled weakly, “If ya gonna be like that, tell your girl not to touch another dude’s car next time.”

Alex barked a laugh, crossing his arms. He studied the guy as he stood back up, straightening his shirt. Sharp cheekbones, brown skin, and a thin prickly mustache on the top of his lip.

Ah. Luis. Of course the guy they’d come looking for had to introduce himself by creeping on Kana. Alex would have preferred a cleaner start, but clean was never how things went for him. It didn’t matter. No one cornered a girl like that. Not on his watch.

“Whether she’s my girl or not, you don’t do that to anyone. Period.” Alex glanced behind and nodded at Kana to check if she was alright. She nodded once with a swallow. If she wasn’t, she was hiding it well.

Luis chortled. “Woah man, just because you left, don’t act like this high and mighty—”

“Where’s the Durden?” snapped Alex, cutting him off. He stepped closer, glowering.

Footsteps pounded up behind him. Luis’s eyes blew wide at whoever was approaching.

Alex turned to see Hal step in front of Kana, arm out.

Luis’s gaze snapped back to Alex, voice trembling, “What the fuck are you talking about? Why is Uriel here?”

“Just answer the fucking question, Luis. Do you have Durden?” Alex threatened and closed the distance, their nose practically touching.

Luis chuckled nervously as he put his hands on his hips. “Why are we talking about this? This has nothing to do with the situation—”

“It has everything to do with the situation. Don’t play stupid.” Alex pointed his thumb behind him at Kana. “She was probably looking into your car to see if you were hiding some stash.”

Alex slid his hands into his pockets, rolling his shoulders loose. He leveled his gaze at Luis. “We’ve been getting reports that you’re the one that’s been selling it under the Garra name. So where the fuck is it?”

“Why?” Luis challenged. “Why do I have to tell you anything? I thought you ain’t one of us no more ’cause you left like the pussy ass Barbie you are.”

Alex’s arm snapped back, fist loaded. Luis yelped and jerked against the car. Alex held there for a beat, knuckles white, and then slowly relaxed his fingers. He hadn’t touched him. He didn’t need to.

A nasty thought came to his mind. He didn’t want to resort to this, but it didn’t hurt to try. “If I recall, you kept ogling at my Challenger for years, right ese?”

Luis raised his eyebrows, grabbing his attention. “You still drive that junk around?”

Alex scoffed. “It’s better than that fucking Prius you had.” He almost felt bad watching Luis’s face go from cocky to crimson in a matter of seconds. Almost.

“Augs!” Hal called out in a harsh whisper. “What are you doing?”

“Listen here,” Alex raised his voice to make sure everyone in the garage could hear him. “Since I know you won’t back down on a race, if you win a race with me, you get my Challenger. You lose, you tell me everything and hand over your sweet new ride.”

A smile started to curl around Luis’s ugly mustache. “You fucking for real?”

“For real, man.” Alex pulled off his sweater with one hand, revealing his tank top. The autumn air raised goose bumps on his bare arms, but the fire in his stomach had already taken over.

He held out his left hand.

Luis exhaled a deep breath, glancing between Alex’s hand and the faded talon mark tattoo peaking under his tank top above his heart. He took one final determined look into Alex’s eyes and grasped his hand, giving it one firm shake.

People’s cheering echoed loudly in the garage. Hal groaned into his large palm.

***

“Augs, you are fucking stupid,” Hal badgered him as they briskly walked back out onto the chilly street.

“Just trust me on this one, man,” said Alex behind his shoulder. “He looks like a pussy. I can take him. Easy.”

“Is it really that much of a risk to lose your car?” Kana asked, huffing behind him.