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“You, asshole.” Rhett stands in front of me and points his finger in Alex’s face. Oh fuck.
“Aren’t you a tough guy? Coming to defend his whore. Too bad she doesn’t need it because she’s mine.” Alex snarls, and then all I hear is a sickening crunch.
Alex is knocked to the ground, and he cries out. Blood pours from his nose as Rhett steps back and shakes out his fist.
“Oh shit!” I shriek. “Oh my God!” It’s all I can manage, my thoughts replaced with panic. Do I help him?
Alex groans and rolls around on the ground. I fall to my knees. I should help him. It’s the right thing to do. There’s so much blood.
“Rhett, help me! Get a shirt from my bag.”
He unzips my bag and hands me a shirt all while glaring at me. “Let’s go, Maia. He’ll be fine.”
“But shouldn’t we help him? We can’t just leave him here bleeding!” I cry as I place my shirt on his nose and press down. Alex moans in pain.
“It’s probably a broken nose. They bleed a lot. He deserves it. Those things…those things he fucking said about you.”
“I need to get him to the hospital.” With one hand, I hold my shirt on Alex’s nose while using my other hand to dig inside my bag for my phone. The broken screen makes the task entirely more difficult and I curse Alex under my breath. Finally, I open the Uber app and request a ride to the nearest one.
“Maia, he’ll be fine. Have you never seen a broken nose before?”
I don’t know what to say. Alex deserved to be punched in the face, but how can I walk away? My head battles with itself and my temples throb.
“He’s an asshole!” Rhett says in exasperation.
“That doesn’t mean he deserves to lay here bleeding!”
“You know what? Fine. Take care of him. But don’t come crying to me when he hurts you again.”
Wow. I did not expect that crappy attitude. “Trust me, I won’t,” I snap, my heart shattering more. First Alex, now Rhett.
This is such a fucking mess.
A horrible, shitty ass mess.
Rhett walks away, one hand clutching his fist.
“Might want to get that looked at too,” I call as I help Alex to sit up. He moans and groans loudly, drowning out whatever Rhett says.
I watch him walk back over to his surfboard, pick it up, stop and look at me for a few minutes before he walks down the boardwalk in the opposite direction. Every step he takes hurts until I can’t take it anymore, and I have to look away.
“Such great taste you have.”
I refuse to take his shit this time. “You know what Alex? Shut the fuck up.”
I release his arm and my shirt and stand. The movement throws him off balance, and he stumbles back a bit onto his elbows before he composes himself upright again. My shirt falls into his lap, his face a bloody mess, his nose twice the normal size. “Ouch, you bitch.”
“Rhett was right. You do deserve it.” I take a few steps backward just as the Uber arrives. I open the back door and smile at the driver. “Can you take him to the closest hospital, please? I called the Uber on my phone, but I’m not going with him. Here’s some cash.” I hand him two twenties from my bag. “Thank you.” I look at Alex still sitting on the ground, looking like a pathetic fool. “Goodbye, Alex. Don’t ever contact me again.”
* * *
After texting Alice, the social worker I was supposed to meet up with an hour ago, that I was running late, I went home, took a long hot shower, and changed. Then I walked to the orphanage where I met Alice waiting outside for me.
The same two things float over and over again in my head.
I kissed Rhett.
Rhett destroyed Alex’s nose.
