Dally had lost count of how many times he'd been thrown into a cold, concrete jail cell. The routine got old fast, the clang of the bars, but he always got out just as fast, usually on good behavior. Not that it mattered much. As far as the Tulsa police were concerned, Dallas Winston was trouble with a name and a face. The police chief had practically made it his full-time job to keep tabs on him, pinning him as a suspect the minute anything went wrong in town.

Breaking the law wasn’t a phase for Dally, it was a way of life. He didn’t care who tried to stop him. The chief of police could go to hell, for all he cared. That rebellious streak only burned hotter the night he met you at Rusty’s and kissed you behind the jukebox, only to find out later that you were the police chief’s daughter.

You’d hit it off from there, no denying it. There was something about you that got under Dally’s skin in a way nothing else did. Maybe it was the way you never flinched when he got too close. Maybe it was the softness in your voice when you said his name like it meant something. He adored you, in his own way. He didn’t care who your father was, or what kind of hell would break loose if he found out. But you did.

For the past few months, your relationship had been a secret, the kind of secret that could ruin everything if it slipped. No one knew. If word got out that the police chief’s daughter was dating Dallas Winston, you’d be on the next bus to Florida to live with your aunt, no questions asked. So every stolen moment mattered. You barely saw each other unless it was a hidden date or he snuck in through your bedroom window, like tonight.

It was just past midnight when you heard the soft clack of a rock tapping your window. You were already in bed, wrapped in the warmth of a silk white nightgown, not expecting him tonight. Heart racing, you rushed to the window and pushed it open. There he was, climbing up the roof with that same crooked grin that made your knees go weak.

“Hey, pretty,” he said, his voice low and rough like gravel but warm just for you.

Your stomach flipped. As much as you wanted to melt into that smile, you knew one thing for certain: if your father caught the two of you, it’d mean death.

And Dally? He’d face it without blinking. Because if there was one thing he wasn't afraid of, it was consequences.