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“Beck is scrappy. He and Justin used to get into fights every weekend at the bar.” Kira propped her elbow on the railing. “He’s really got his dander up though.” Her gaze was on me again, even more thoughtfully this time.
Annette disappeared but came back with a basket. “Popcorn?”
“Oh, thanks.” Lennon took a handful and shoved two kernels in her mouth. She nodded toward Kain. “Good technique.”
“How can you tell?” At this point, every muscle was locked in my shoulders and back. It just looked like chaos to me.
Lennon pointed. “See how Kain keeps his shoulders low. Probably has some martial arts training. He’s been deflecting most of the punches from Beckett. He’s probably trying to tire him out more than hurt him.Ohhhh.” She lifted a fist to her mouth. “Well, maybe hurt him a little bit.”
Beckett’s baseball cap tumbled across the flagstone as they crashed to the ground. He rose and weaved a little, then he took two giant steps back and shook his head.
“Oh, we might be done,” Annette said and extended the basket toward Kira.
Kira shook her head. “I’m good.” She straightened as Beckett bent to pick up his hat and put it on backwards. “Oh, here we go.”
I swung my gaze back onto the men. “What’s happening? Should I go down there?”
Kira shook her head. “Nope. Slow your roll, Barbie.”
My jaw dropped. What did she just call me?
Beckett rolled his neck and shook out his hands. He lifted the hem of his shirt and swiped at his face. His shirt was streaked with dirt and blood.
He was lightning fast. Beckett caught Kain in the middle with two shots, then he ducked under the battering ram of a fist coming at him. Kain might have height and bulk on him, but I was pretty sure I was witnessing the termscrappyin technicolor.
Beckett landed a punch, then just as quickly he skipped back out of the way before Kain could grab him. Kain gave a roar at the third combination of punches Beckett landed and finally he got a hold of the front of Beckett’s shirt, tossing him into a chair.
The chair rocked back, and Beckett tumbled to the ground, the chair making a mighty crack against the stone path.
I couldn’t stop myself from rushing down the steps this time. Lennon and Kira called after me, but enough was enough. They were being absolute idiots, and someone was going to end up in an ambulance.
And at this point, it might be me who put them there.
Chapter17
Beckett
Truths
The Adirondack chair splintered under me and the flagstone came rushing at me. I managed to twist my shoulder enough to avoid breaking some bones. Kira would give me enough shit about the chair, I didn’t need to spend half the summer in a sling.
A pair of ballet slippers came into view as Helena stood over me with her hands at her hips. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I groaned and gave up trying to get up.
Suddenly, I was lifted off the ground and put on my feet. The world tilted and Kain’s bloodied face came into focus. I flinched, waiting for another hit from his ham hock of a fist. Goddamn, he was a big dude.
“Kain, that’s enough.” Her voice dented the buzz in my ears from the number of times Kain rang my bell.
How the hell did she know Kain? And why the fuck was she talking to him like she knew him biblically?
After she’d just been in my goddamn bed. Hell, I still had her taste in my mouth, her smell on my skin. My bed was barely cool fromus.
The snarl rose up in me, the red haze at the edges of my vision threatening again.
“You good, son?”
I weaved a little, but I managed to not list to the left even though my ribs were on fire.
