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Thirty-Four
DAKOTA
Fists rained down again and again, pummeling my ex-boyfriend into the frozen sidewalk just outside my apartment building. I screamed out loud, not knowing what else to do. It was a scream of alarm more than anything else, but as the blood flowed and fists kept coming the screams turned into pleas for the madness to end.
“STOP! STOP!”
The man standing over Brian’s limp, bloody form whirled in my direction. The look on his face was so savage, so primal, I almost didn’t recognize my own brother.
“Tyler!?”
He threw one last punch that connected hard with Brian’s stomach, eliciting a final, strangled gasp. Then he lifted my ex by his shoulders and pulled him to his feet.
“Tyler, let him go! Please.”
My brother snarled into my ex-boyfriend’s face, and for a second I thought he might even spit. Then he kicked him hard in the ass, sending Brian sprawling down the icy, salt-strewn pathway leading up to my front door. With his arms pinwheeling wildly out in front of him, he somehow regained his footing and kept on going out into the street. It was a true miracle he didn’t go face-first back to the cement.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded with my arms crossed, shivering against the cold. Tyler looked back one last time, and apparently satisfied, ushered me back into my apartment before closing the door.
“Holy shit Dakota, what happened?”
I couldn’t immediately answer. My teeth were chattering as I hugged him tightly.
“I thought you were finished with that asshole?”
“I—I was finished,” I stammered. “I mean Iamfinished. With him, I mean.”
“Thank fuck.”
I looked down and saw my brother’s bloody fists. My mouth dropped open.
“Oh my God, Tyler!”
I dragged my brother bodily to the kitchen sink. He didn’t wince as I shoved his hands beneath the cold water, or when I used a paper towel to dab away the last remnants of blood.
“You didn’t even get cut,” I marveled. “Considering how hard you were pounding him, that’s pretty amazing.”
“The asshole deserved it,” growled Tyler. “First, for what he did to you. But tonight, when I saw him forcing his way through your doorway?” He shook his head. “He’s lucky he still has a pulse.”
I felt warm and loved, plus a measure of pride at my brother’s protectiveness. He looked me in the eye while drying his hands, and his expression softened.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought you had a party to go to.”
“I already went,” Tyler shrugged. “The party was lame. Besides, I couldn’t let my kid sister spend New Year’s Eve alone.”
I smiled, hugged him, then went into the cabinet where I kept the glasses. “Want some champagne?”
“Champagne?” Tyler laughed. He made a sour face and shook his head. “Fuck no. Got any beer?”
Five minutes later we were sitting on the couch, toasting nothing in particular as the adrenaline drained from our veins. I was pretty sure I’d seen the last of Brian. And that was a good thing.
“You talk to Jace lately?” Tyler asked, out of the clear blue sky.
I panicked. My brain flip-flopped trying to find the correct answer, until my lips spit one out.
“Yes. Sort of.”
