Page 148 of Forever Relentless

“I broke his arm.”

“Holy . . . What?” I was back on my feet.

“I read about how the best way to break an arm is and how to make a clean break.” He let out a small huff of disappointment. “The book didn’t mention body-to-weight ratio, and I think I overcompensated.”

“You broke his arm by following a tutorial in a textbook?” If I sounded like I didn’t believe him, it was because I didn’t believe he had it in him.

“Yes.” He giggled. “I think that’s why I’m suspended. They said it was premeditated.”

“Was it?” I needed to know so I could defend him properly.

“No! Violence is never the answer!”

Says the guy who read how to break an arm and then carried it out on his bully. “Okay, I’m coming down. I’ll fix this.”

“I don’t think you can,” he said, sounding miserable. “They suspended me for a week. It will go on my record. You might make this worse. Because, you know . . .”

“Because I have a bad temper when my little brother gets fucked over?”

“Yeah. That.”

“Too bad. I’m coming. I have a friend who might be able to help.” Would Savvy know how to get out of this?

“You do?” he sounded more surprised that I had a friend more than I had on discovering he’d willingly gotten into a fight.

The bedroom door opened, and Briar came out wearing my shirt.

Jesus . . .

“Don’t sound so surprised,” I scolded him. “I’m a very popular guy.”

I saw her eyebrow raise, and I couldn’t hold back the smug feeling of satisfaction at seeing her so disheveled.

“I’ll talk to my friend Savvy. And Dustin said I could use his air miles. I’ll sort this out.”

“Noah—”

“Trust me, I will fix this.” I reached out to Briar, who took my hand and let me pull her into my embrace. “I’ll call you.”

I hung up and looked down at the woman in front of me.

“What’s happening?” she asked, her voice husky and still full of sleep. “What are you fixing?”

“My little brother got suspended for breaking his bully’s arm.”

She blinked a few times. “How?”

“He read a ‘how to’ guide, and carried it out.” I dropped a kiss onto her nose. “I’ll fix it, but first, let’s fix you. You look sleepy.” I walked her back to the bedroom. “I think you should be in bed.”

Briar gave me a look of protest, already shaking her head. “No. We’ve done enough bed.”

I kissed her neck, over her shoulder. “Have we? I dunno, I still feel like I need more.”

“Noah . . .”

“Shh.” I kissed her. “Let’s not pretend we’re not going to end up in here anyway.”

I got a look of resignation mixed with hesitation, and then she simply lifted my shirt over her head and got back under the covers.