Max breathed her in as he held her against his chest. She smelled so sweet, like cherries and cinnamon. His entire body trembled with the relief of holding her again.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered breathlessly. “I’m so sorry for everything.”
Standing on the small bridge just outside of town, they were silhouetted against a darkening sky. Max wanted to keep holding onto her never letting her go. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the gang he’d left behind. Even though Henry said he didn’t need to, Max lifted his head and glanced over his shoulder. Behind him the road was empty in the twilight, his bike rested against the brick bridge.
“It’s okay,” Brittany reassured him as she burrowed deeper against his chest. “I forgive you.”
Max bit back tears. He knew that he didn’t deserve her forgiveness. Before she came along, his life had been a string of bad choices and only now did he see the path he should take clearly laid out before him.
“There’s no excuses for the things I’ve done in my past,” he sighed, running a hand up and down Brittany’s back. “I’ve hurt people, Brittany. I’ve hurt them and not even cared about it.”
“But you see it. You don’t deny and get defensive about it. You know how bad you fucked up,” Brittany leaned back and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling as though they held fallen stars. “You want to break away, to move on with your life.”
“Yes,” Max agreed emphatically. “More than anything I want to move on now, to start a life with you away from them, away from all their expectations of me.”
“I wish my brother felt like that,” Brittany looked forlorn as she stepped away from Max and wandered sadly back along the bridge.
“Did you… ask him about it?” Max hated that he’d been the one to tell Brittany just who her brother was. He understood why her brother would have been keeping the secret from her, seeing as how Max had been keeping his own secrets for the same reasons.
“No,” Brittany replied tightly, pulling her arms together across her chest. “I just left,” she hung her head shamefully. “I figured it would be easier to talk to him about leaving his pack together.”
Max tensed. She was expecting him to talk to her brother? A Red Riders member? Such a conversation would inevitably end in bloodshed. Even though Max had no intention to ride again with his own gang, in the eyes of the Riders, her brother’s membership to his own pack had a lifetime guarantee.
“He won’t listen to me,” Max insisted. “Besides, there’s no time. We need to get out of here, Brittany, before anyone comes looking for us.”
“We have to talk to him!” Brittany looked at him pleadingly. “We have to go back and talk Max out of fighting your pack. I can’t just run away from him.” Her beautiful face crumpled with hurt. Max rubbed his hand against the back of his neck and tried to think. He knew that they were already wasting precious time. They should be out on the open road putting as many miles between them and his uncle, as possible. Max still wasn’t sure he trusted Henry, but he had no choice but to heed the other man’s advice. Especially when it meant that he was now able to be with Brittany. But he didn’t want their time together to be short lived. He had to keep her safe.
“We really need to go,” Max looked at his bike, yearning to get on it and leave nothing but a trail of dust in its wake.
“Please,” Brittany approached him and reached for his hands, cupping them in her own. “I have to go back for Zack. I have to at least try to reason with him.”
“And what if it doesn’t work?” Max countered sharply. “What if we go there, white flags waving, and he still guns me down.”
“He wouldn’t do that!” Brittany objected, her voice high-pitched with horror.
“He’d do far worse than that,” Max told her flatly. “And the ties we have to our packs, it runs deep, deeper than blood. We pledge our lives to our packs.”
“So how can you just turn your back on that pledge now?”
“Because of you,” Max reached for her delicate face and drew her close to him. She looked so perfect in the fading light. She opened her mouth to speak, but he kissed her deeply, silencing her words. When they parted, her eyes glistened with joy.
“Don’t you think Zack will abandon his pack for me too?” she asked softly. Max wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear, that yes, of course her brother would leave his gang for her. But the truth was that he wouldn’t. He loved Brittany but not like Max did. For Max, Brittany was his destiny, his future, and for Zack she was a link to his past, someone he’d forever feel responsible for.
“I have to ask,” Brittany stated contritely, sensing Max’ misgivings.
“We don’t have time.”
“We’ll make time,” Brittany was approaching his motorcycle with quick, determined steps. Max groaned in frustration before jogging after her.
“This is a bad idea,” he warned as he swung his leg over. Brittany climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. It felt good to have her so close. With them both on the bike, it truly felt like them against the world. Max had to fight the urge to take off in the opposite direction and just burn rubber until the streets around them became blurred and alien.
“Do this for me, please,” Brittany was speaking directly into his ear; her breath feather light and hot.
“Okay,” Max turned the throttle on his bike and the engine purred to life. “We’ve got one hour. That’s at most.” he told her before roaring off into the night.