“If I wanted to?”
“You’re too charming for your own good.” I slid the ring onto my pointer, turning it this way and that to catch the sinking sun’s rays on the colors. “I really love it. Thank you.”
Jun’s mouth quirked to the side in a smile. He petted my hair again, leaned down, and kissed my forehead. “You’re welcome.”
“What should I make for dinner tonight?” I asked, looking up from the ring.
He shrugged.
“Oh! I can make a really good seafood marinara pasta. I put shrimp and baby clams in it.”
“Sounds wonderful. Do we need to pick anything up at the store?”
“Nope. It’s all at home.”
Jun looked to the side, eyeing another merchant stand. “I’m going to grab a drink for the walk back to the car. Thirsty?”
“Water, please.”
Jun maneuvered around a few groups of people and got in line behind two women ordering some mixed drink served in a coconut. I stared down at the ring again, leaning back against the railing that overlooked the ocean. It wasn’t the gesture of buying the ring that I loved, although major boyfriend points because I’m too cheap to have gotten this for myself. It was the stupid simple fact that Jun didn’t make fun of me for liking octopuses.
It sounds so lame, I know. But they’re special to me, and Matt said I was creepy for liking them. When we had been dating, he asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I begged for a trip to Boston to visit the aquarium. Instead, he bought me a DVD of tentacle porn.
Hilarious.
So yeah, it was a cool ring, but it wasa lotmore than that.
“Grant!”
I looked up. Standing maybe fifteen feet away was Josh Moore with a plastic cup in his hand.
When our eyes locked, he dropped the drink and roared, running forward. “You son of a bitch!”
I pushed myself off the railing in a rush and jumped sideways as Josh tried to grab at me. “What the fuck?”
“Keep your fucking nose out of our business, you little twerp!” Josh grabbed the front of my T-shirt and yanked me close. He reeked of cheap beer, and his sunburned face was twisted up in sheer rage.
“Let me go!” I shouted, clawing at his meaty hand. “Dude! Are you insane?”
“Sending the cops after me?” Josh growled, ignoring the sounds of startled tourists moving away from our commotion and not helping. “Think you’re untouchable because you’re getting some dick that has a badge? I’ll make you pay.”
And a fist came at my face faster than I could react. Drunk or not, Josh landed a good hit to my jaw. My teeth chattered together, and I bit my tongue, tasting the tang of blood. Fear and adrenaline surged through my veins, and my raised-on-the-streets-of-Brooklyn-before-gentrification reflexes kicked in. On impulse alone I spat in Josh’s face, and a wad of blood and saliva drooled down his cheek.
He let go to wipe at it, and I jumped up, decking him hard.
Well—hard for me, but I’m tiny and he’s no less than the size of a small mountain, so while he staggered to the side but remained standing, I felt like I’d broken every bone in my hand.
“Son of a fuck!” I screamed, cradling my fist. I looked at Josh and saw his cheekbone was bleeding. My ring cut his face. Served him right!
“I’ll rip your goddamn heart out!” he snarled.
Holy crap!
Jun grabbed Josh’s arm from behind and yanked it hard, forcing Baldy McShit-Faced to spin awkwardly on his feet so they were looking at each other. Josh slugged Jun, and I swear to God, Jun let him, because in the same intake of air, Jun had Josh pinned on the ground facedown, arm twisted up behind his back, with a knee holding him still.
He looked up at me. “Call the police.”
It sort of took a second for Jun’s voice to register, because my head was still playing that incredible takedown even though my eyes were seeing something totally different.
