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“Is there a problem here?” Jack suddenly asked behind me.
Darren and Will didn’t get alarmed by his presence. They just started giggling. “Your neighbor is a narc, man.”
“I just don’t want to smoke with them,” I said.
Jack glanced at me, then took a step into the bedroom. Putting himself between me and the guys. “This is my brother’s room. He’s thirteen. If you want to smoke up, do it in your car.”
“Relax, dude,” Darren said. “You don’t need to be a cunt like Alyssa.”
Jack’s hands struck with lightning speed, shoving Darren backwards. He hit the wall hard, his bloodshot eyes widening with surprise, then anger.
“Hey,” Will said pleadingly. “Let’s all just chill out.”
“You’re forgetting who my dad is,” Darren said with a sneer. “So I’ll let that slide.”
Who is his dad? I wondered.
“I won’t let it slide,” Jack said firmly, “until you apologize to Alyssa.”
Darren scoffed. “For what?”
“For what you just called her.”
Darren’s eyes flicked toward me, then back to Jack. I could see him sizing up the situation. Doing the math. Jack was a big guy, broad in the shoulders and currently shirtless, his strength on full display. Darren played lacrosse, and was pretty buff himself, but less so than Jack.
Please, I silently prayed. Don’t fight over something stupid. Don’t fight over me.
Finally, Darren turned to me and sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Whew.
But Darren wasn’t finished. “I’m sorry you were acting like a cunt.”
Jack’s fist flashed out in a right hook, connecting with Darren’s jaw and knocking him to the side. “I won’t ask you again,” Jack growled at him like a wolf.
Darren let out a roar and slammed into Jack’s chest. The two of them fell against the wall, knocking a picture frame to the ground. Darren connected with two punches before Jack blocked the third, countering with a punch to Darren’s gut that doubled the stoner over. He stumbled out into the hallway, groaning.
“You’re… going to… pay for that,” Darren gasped.
Jack pointed down the hall. “If you don’t get the fuck out of my house, you’ll be paying for a new set of teeth.”
Will grabbed his friend and practically dragged him away. Jack watched them go, then winced and touched his face.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Think so,” he admitted. “He got me good on the jaw.”
“Is it broken?”
He moved his jaw around, testing it. “No, but it hurts like hell. Shit.” Jack bent down and picked up the joint, which was burning on the carpet.
“Stay here,” I said, then ran downstairs to the kitchen. There was no sign of Darren or Will, and the partiers in the kitchen acted like nothing was wrong. I tried getting some ice from the fridge, but it was already empty. I settled for a cold beer can and sprinted back upstairs. Jack was in his room at the end of the hall, looking at himself in the mirror.
“It’s already swelling up,” he muttered.
“This might help.” I handed him the can of beer.
“Is this for my face, or my stomach?” he asked with a grin.
