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Wasn’t going to happen.
Because she had the nerve to put hands on my man.
“Who the hell are you?” Bella demanded, casting a menacing glare in my direction.
Oh, you poor, sweet summer child.
“Oh, I’m your worst nightmare, bitch,” I snarled, knocking her off Joey’s back and onto the flat of her own. “You like terrorizing little girls? Try someone your own size.” Losing my ever-loving shit right there and then, I straddled her chest. “Think you can call my boyfriend a scumbag? Think you can bully his sister, huh? Think you’re safe because you’re a girl and he can’t hit you back?” Narrowly avoiding a nail to the eye, I reared my fist back and socked her in the nose. “Well, I can!”
“You’re a psycho,” she screamed as she tried to tear and scratch at my face.
Bitch, please. She was about to get schooled real fast.
“Nails?” I spat out, deftly pinning her arms to her sides with my knees—a skill I’d honed to perfection after countless battles with my asshole twin. “You think nails are going to do it?” I reared my fist back and hit her again. “Rule number one, you boundary-absent, morally lacking, conniving bitch: If you put hands on another girl’s fella, make damn sure you know how to throw a punch!”
“How’s your money faring out for ya now, rich boy?” I heard Joey taunt from nearby as he got the better of Bella’s beau and pinned him to the ground. “Being a scumbag has its benefits, doesn’t it?”
“I’m calling the Gards,” I heard their principal command. “Stop it this instant or I’ll have every last one of you arrested!”
I couldn’t stop. People were shouting and arguing around me, but I couldn’t hear a word of it. All logic had flown out the window and I was running solely on temper fumes.
Six years.
Six long-ass years I had watched Joey Lynch take beating after beating.
Seeing Bella put hands on that boy had been the straw that broke the camel’s back in my mind.
Besides, she had this coming. Fucking around with other girls’ boyfriends when their backs were turned. Bullying and tormenting girls younger and weaker than her. She deserved everything she got and more.
“Molloy—come on, baby.” A pair of strong arms came around my waist then, lifting me off my target and away from the fight. “She’s not worth it.” With his hands wrapped protectively around my middle and his chest heaving against my back, Joey continued to pull me away from trouble. “You can’t be fighting in your—”
“She called you a scumbag,” I choked out, struggling to rein in my fury now that it had finally been unleashed. “I’m not having it, Joe.” My voice broke and I sucked in a shaky breath, feeling like I needed to scream at the top of my lungs to project the anger raging inside of me.
“I know, baby.” Breathless and panting, he turned me in his arms to face me and cupped my face between his hands. “But I need you to be careful.”
My heart jackknifed as reality smacked me square in the chest.
The baby.
“Oh shit.” My hand automatically moved to my bump hidden beneath his oversized hoodie and I sagged against him. “Oh god, Joe what did I do?” Disgust filled every pore in my body. “I didn’t think.” I shook my head, feeling helpless and filled with self-loathing. “I’m so stupid! What if I hurt the baby?”
“No, you didn’t. It’s all good, Molloy,” he was quick to soothe, tightening an arm around me. “You’re grand, and the baby’s grand, okay?”
“But what if—”
“Everyone, follow me to the office. I’m calling your parents,” the principal yelled, commanding everyone’s attention as he ordered Bella and her bloodied beau in the direction of the school. “All of your parents.”
“You do that,” Joey sneered, still keeping ahold of me. “Be useful for something!”
Parents meant Gards.
Gards meant handcuffs.
Reality hit me like a wrecking ball, and I stiffened. He was over eighteen now. The Gards in this town weren’t going to give him any more chances.
“Joe.” I couldn’t hide the fear in my voice. “You’re on a warning.”
“Listen, I need you to get out of here.” Catching ahold of my hand, Joey led me toward where I had haphazardly parked my car, sounding more composed than he had in months. “You weren’t here, and you didn’t see shit.” Stopping when we reached the driver’s side door, he turned to face me. “You got that?”
