That night, Zac leaned against the hood of his bike in the Pumas' usual spot, a cracked parking lot on the edge of town lit only by the flicker of a broken streetlight. His crew lounged around him. Miles, tattooed and always chewing on a toothpick; Rico, who laughed too loudly at everything; and Evan, his second-in-command, the only one bold enough to question him.
"You didn't even get her name?" Rico snorted, tossing a bottle cap across the pavement. "Moreno, losing your touch, man."
Zac's smirk was back, sharper in the dim glow. "No. She didn't give it."
Miles cocked a brow. "So? You'll get it eventually."
Zac ran a hand over his jaw, remembering the fire in her eyes, the way she hadn't backed down even when everyone else would have. "That's the point. She said no. To me!"
The others fell silent. Nobody said no to Zac Moreno. Not without paying for it.
Evan broke the quiet. "What's the plan, then? You gonna chase her down? Or you just gonna scare the brother again till she shows up?"
Zac's lips curved into something dangerous. "Both."
--
Leona's phone buzzed on her nightstand. She ignored it, curled up on her bed with her laptop open, trying to focus on tomorrow's student activist meeting agenda. But her thoughts kept circling back to that stupid smirk, that arrogant voice calling her princess.
She hated how he got under her skin already.
Her door creaked open. Alex leaned in, pale and restless. "Lee… he's not done, is he? I'm scared to even go back to my dorm."
Her chest tightened. She wanted to say no. She wanted to promise she'd keep him safe. But the truth was, Zac Moreno wasn't finished. Not even close. And she knew it.