It takes Kingston just a beat too long to get it, but that beat was all I needed to wrap my hand around his throat and bodily slam him against the wall. There are a few gasps and screams from the crowd, but I ignore it.
I don’t let either of us catch a breath while using the momentum of his body bouncing off the wall to pull him forward and lift him enough to throw him down on the marble top kitchen island.
A pained gasp of air leaves his mouth before he lifts his leg and knees me in the side. It’s not enough to throw me off, but it’s enoughto loosen my grip. But that's all he needed to twist his body and clip me on the side of the head with his elbow.
The impact has me taking a step back, and he uses the distraction to roll off the counter. He’s not even fully steady before he shoves my chest, pushing both of us a step back from each other.
Everything happened so fast, I’ve barely had a chance to catch up. But I’m pissed, full of ire and fire, and my body reacts before my brain fully hatches the thought. As soon as I get my back foot planted, I spring forward, ready to kick the everloving shit out of this asshole once and for all, when Derrick shoves his way between us. He pushes me back, reminding me of how Kingston isn't worth it.
However, while Derrick tries to reason through the red haze in my brain, movement to his side is catching more of my attention. With an angry expression on their face, Qiang is making their way towards Kingston. With Derrick focused on calming me down, he doesn’t see the precarious position Qiang is putting themself in. ButIcan see it. I holler at Tristan in a panic to give him a heads-up.
Everyone was a beat too late, though, because by the time Tristan notices what’s happening, Qiang is already kneeing Kingston in the groin with as much force as they can.
"Don't hit," they're hollering before throwing a punch and knocking Kingston on his ass, “my boyfriend!" they finish, tossing their hair back with a flourish while Kingston stares up at them with pained, watery eyes.
For a moment, everything is quiet; the only movement is Qi stepping up to high-five their sibling.
“See! I told you those classes would come in handy!” he crows proudly while Qiang's face breaks out into a massive grin, until their eyes meet mine and widen.
“Oh my god, babe, are you okay?” they ask, rushing to my side and brushing their fingers across my cheek where Kingston’s elbow had connected.
The clip may have been hard enough to throw me off, but I doubt it’ll even leave a bruise. I’m not so much worried about any of the hits I took asI am just caught up in how ridiculously hot Qiang looked while knocking his ass to the ground. Okay, and maybe I’m soaking up the fact that their wide eyes are on me, full of care and attention too. Not gonna lie, it’s kind of nice to have my most important person baby me for a minute.
There’s a rush of murmurs through the crowd, probably speculating what started the fight and whether it’s over yet. But I hear Derrick’s voice over the din, while he tries to lend Kingston a hand up.
“Come on, big guy. Just walk it off,” he coaxes, and I don’t know why he bothers because Kingston is too hot-headed to everwillinglyaccept someone else’s help.
It comes as no surprise when Kingston slaps Derrick’s hand away and hauls himself up.
“Get the fuck away from me,” he grunts brusquely.
Derrick shakes his head at him. “Dude, when is it gonna be enough?”
Kingston glares at him. “Fuck you!” he barks at Derrick before looking over at Qiang and me. “And fuck this,” he spits out before slamming out of the house.
A few more murmurs run through the crowd before it breaks up. Everyone is going back to their previous party mode now that the drama has subsided. Qiang is still trailing their fingers down my face, prodding my cheekbone a bit to make sure I’m not bruised.
“Goddamn, pretty. That was so fucking hot,” I praise, nuzzling into their fingers.
Qiang snorts and rolls their eyes. “Leave it to you to focus on some way for me to be hot even in the middle of a damned fist fight.”
I roll my lower lip between my teeth, trailing my eyes across them appreciatively until their cheeks flush and they shove my shoulder.
“Stop it,” they say, getting shy at being so brazenly ogled.
I huff out a laugh before Qiang looks at the door that has long closed after Kingston’s retreating back. They glance back at me with a slight frown.
“Why do I feel kind of shitty right now? I mean, definitely glad he’s gone, but…” they trail off, leaving the thought in the air.
I reach up and hook my finger under their chin. “Because you know there's more to him than what's on the surface, and you know he has feelings, and it bothers you knowing that you hurt them. Even though he came here specifically to hurt ours.”
Qiang looks pensive at that, and I heave out a sigh. Not because I’m sad that they care about Kingston’s feelings, because I’m not. That’s very much how Qiang is. But I don’t like that there’s space in their head being taken up with guilt over someone who so thoroughly hurt them, either.
“Don't worry, we're taking care of it,” I tell them, not really ready to divulge everything just yet because we don’t have all the details.
“What does that mean?” Qiang’s eyes search mine, fear surfacing as I realize how much they read into my simple admission.
“It’s nothing to worry about right now. You'll see soon enough,” I try to reassure them, but the fear only grows as they hold my gaze sternly.
