“Fuck!” I yelled.
“Tell me what’s going on, Trace.” Worry laced Cierra’s voice, but I didn’t have time to explain anything. I sprinted after the jerk and just as he got in his car, I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out. He fell with a thud on the asphalt.
“You sonofabitch!” When he came up, he swung at me and I ducked. Then he nailed me with a hard one to the side of my face.
From the corner of my eye, I saw his other arm coming at me. I jerked back, avoiding one flying fist, but then another one clipped me. Hard.
Drop to the ground. Roll clear. Stand.Not expecting it, I rolled a bit and came up quick, lunging for his midsection. He grunted when I jabbed at his rib cage.
Then I lashed out, aiming for the bastard’s gut, and punched him over and over.
The blows fell hard from both of us, our grunts and curses sharing one voice. Sweat mixed with blood trickled down my face. I licked my lips, which tasted like salty copper.
Dimly aware of the front door opening, I pulled my arm back and slammed my fist into the asshole’s mouth with all my strength.
“You fucking bastard!” he yelled as his hand went to his lips. Red stained his fingers.
A woman screamed. I looked over and saw Cierra wide-eyed, breathing hard.
“Stay where you are,” I said as I wiped the blood from my face with the back of my hand. I was too late. She dashed over to me.
“You’re hurt.” She reached out and touched my face that was already starting to swell. She glanced over at the guy, who spun around and tried to get into his car.
“No fucking way,” I said as I blocked his movement.
“Cory? What the hell?” Cierra said.
Cory? She knows this jerk?
“Cierra. I came by to see you and this lunatic jumped me.”
“You know him?” I couldn’t believe it. Then suspicions popped in my head like maybe she’d been dating him all along.
She nodded. Her gaze darted to the car and recognition glimmered in her eyes. “It’s you. You’ve been watching me. Why?”
He pushed me out of the way and opened the driver door. “I’m not having this conversation in front of this disturbed person. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He slid inside and slammed the door. We stood in the street watching him drive away until we couldn’t see the red taillights any longer.
She hooked an arm around my waist. “Let’s go upstairs. I’ll clean you up.”
Still in shock over the two of them knowing each other, I nodded and let her lead me back to her apartment.
As she dabbed antiseptic cream over my cuts, my mind raced a million miles a minute.Has she been fucking this Cory dude?
She kissed my forehead. “There, all cleaned up. But your face looks like a melon. What happened?”
“I approached him and he shoved me. You saw the end result. How do you know the jerk?”
“I met him at Tipsy Cow the night I bumped into you. He seemed nice enough, so we went out a few times. It was no big deal. I didn’t feel a connection to him the way I do to you. When we spent the weekend together, I knew I wouldn’t be going out with him again. I can’t believe he’s the one who’s been watching me. And it doesn’t make sense because that Saturday when I saw the car, he was out of town. I don’t get it.”
“How do you know he was out of town?”
“He told me. I’d asked him to go to the launch with me and he said he couldn’t because he had a business trip.”
“He lied.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. “Maybe he didn’t want to go to the launch.”
