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They watch him and then turn those eyes to me. “A friend was moving in nearby. Thought we’d stop by and take you to breakfast.”
“We already ate,” I say, balling my hands into fists.
“Is that what you were doing when we knocked on the door?” Mitch asks with a smirk. “Cause it sounded like someone was getting railed. Probably you, huh, Mag.”
Maggie told me about his siblings one night lying in bed. His fingers were tracing patterns across my chest when he told me that Mitch is the meanest. How he goes out of his way to degrade him with words, all the while pretending like it’s just a joke.
Maggie shrinks farther back, and I push off the wall and move toward him. I want to press him into me, and carry him away. Away from their ugly, hateful gazes and words.
“Back up,” I mutter, pressing my chest against Maggie’s back.
I lay one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hip, and he shrinks back into me.
Max, Mitch, and Matt glance at my hands on their brother, but I refuse to remove them. If they don’t like it, they can leave. They weren’t invited here anyway.
“I think you all should maybe go,” Maggie says, his voice so small. “We have plans. I’ll call you, and we can get together another time.”
I narrow my eyes at his brothers, who just shrug and meander around the apartment instead of leaving. Like they own it. I hate them in this space, tainting it.
“Can’t we hang a bit?” Matt asks. “We’ve been worried about you.”
“I’m fine. As you can see.”
Max leans against the wall sipping on his water. “You sure?”
“Of course,” Maggie says, and then when his brother turns away, he looks up at me.
“I want them to go,” he whispers. “Can you make them leave, Sem?”
But before I can move to do as he asks, Matt’s glancing down at something on Maggie’s desk.
“What the fuck is this?” he barks, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
He holds up the nude sketch I’d drawn of Maggie ages ago and waves it in the air. “Who drew this perverted shit?”
“Put that down,” Maggie gasps, stepping forward and then stopping suddenly. I hate how unsure he looks.
I clench my fists against my sides and stride across the room. “I drew it. Put it the fuck down.”
Matt glances at the drawing and hands it to me. I move to set it down when Mitch lets out an ugly cackle.
“I fucking knew it. All those gay clothes you wear in secret. I told you, Matt. Mags is a total fag.” He slaps Matt on the shoulder and then eyes Maggie, who has gone pale. “You take it up the ass, bro? This big guy fucking you? You always were a pushover….”
I don’t even think, my brain switches offline and I just let my arm swing. My fist clocks Mitch right in the jaw. A sharp pain zings up my arm as his head snaps back violently. I’m numb from the pain, adrenaline coursing through me. So I do it again, aiming for the nose this time. It cracks, and Mitch howls as blood drips down his chin.
He’s stunned. They all are. They’re bullies who never expect anyone to fight back.
Well, I fight the fuck back.
I’ll burn down the world if Maggie asks me to.
“What the hell, man?” Matt shouts, moving to his brother and then glancing back at me in horror. “It was a joke.”
“It wasn’t fucking funny,” I bite out. Then I swing my arm in an uppercut and knock Matt right under his chin.
His mouth snaps shut with a clack, and he stumbles back, knocking over the lamp on the end table. It crashes to the ground and shatters.
And that’s when all hell breaks loose.
