AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Right, makes sense that Char doesn’t fight fair.
“Go,” Hayden shouted to me. “Get her out of here.”
I nodded and pulled Kenz along with me, going to flank the group who all seemed caught up with the three men causing them all the problems. Kenz went with me despite her wide eyes. I could read her expression easily, knew she didn’t like the idea of leaving them, of running away, but that was too bad.
Just before we reached the car, someone hit my side, knocking me down. It felt like a tackle in the middle of a football game and knocked my breath from my lungs.
A crushing weight landed on top of me, and I let Kenz’s hand go so I didn’t yank her to the ground with me.
In my other hand I had the keys, and as I rolled to my back, I found a man on top of me. He was a hulking bear of a man with cauliflower ears—a sure sign that he’d spent plenty of time fighting. He lifted his arm, his hand clenched into a tight fist, which gave me two choices.
Try to block the hit or toss Kenz the keys. It took me back to how often people told me that my face was my only redeeming quality. Still an easy choice, though.
I tossed the car keys toward her just as my cheek exploded in pain. The hit fragmented my thoughts, making me wonder just how the hell the others could take a hit and keep moving so well.
Probably because they were used to it.
I tried to shake away the pain and when he went to strike me again, I lifted my hands to deflect the punch. Instead of his fist landing directly, it grazed my other cheek. I wanted to look to the side, to see Kenz getting into the car and gunning it, but I couldn’t pull my gaze from the man above me.
The man was a fucking idiot who couldn’t read a room, it seemed. Anyone with half a brain would have realized that I was nothing in the scheme of things. They’d come for Kenz, and they needed to grab her to succeed. Instead of going after her, though, he focused on me. When my face became too difficult a target, he shifted and struck me in the ribs.
I couldn’t draw in air, the pain instant in a way that shocked me.
He chuckled, and the next thing I knew, silver flashed above me. He had a pocketknife in his hand and a crazy grin on his lips, neither of which signaled anything good for me.
He lifted the knife and tensed, no doubt ready to bury the thing into my stomach. I recalled Char having done the same thing earlier, but I sure hadn’t thought I’d end up in the same position.
Except, just before he did it, as he savored that moment of triumph, something struck the side of his face, knocking him aside.
I didn’t wait around to figure it out, taking the advantage, ignoring the pain in my side and the way I still struggled to draw air. I grabbed a rock from the ground, curling my fingers around it, and swung it as hard as I could at the man’s head. The sickening crunch made my stomach uneasy, but I staggered to my feet, ready to do whatever I had to.
I turned, searching for the person who had knocked him off me, expecting Char or Hayden.
I didn’t expect to find Kenz there, her hand in a tight fist with silver points showing from between her fingers.The keys?She’d tucked the car keys into her hands, each sharp point sticking out from her fist, drops of blood escaping from them.
“That’s not why I gave you the keys!” I told her, hating how strained my voice came out.
“Well next time, be more specific!” she yelled back.
And I couldn’t help it. I walked up and caught her by the back of her neck, pulling her close, not caring that my lip ached or that I could taste blood. The thought of her endangering herself for me pissed me off, and I couldn’t think of any other way to deal with that frustration.
“I told you I’d wait, so tell me no.”
She blinked, staring up at me with eyes I’d completely fallen for. I expected her to say nothing, to be passive, but why was it that she never did what I expected?
Kenz curled her fingers into my shirt and leaned up to take my lips in a clumsy, messy kiss. It wasn’t sweet or practiced or with any finesse at all. Instead, it felt as hungry as my own.
“This isnotthe time!” Hayden’s harsh words forced my mind to work again because, no matter how little I liked the reminder, he was right.
I pulled away, peering down at Kenz’s flushed face, a red spot on her lip from my blood.
Right. Focus.
I took her wrist in my hand and extracted the keys from her grasp, which she easier gave me. “Next time, you run when you’re told to.”
“And leave you? Think again.”
I narrowed my eyes but let it go. We could argue later.And we sure as hell will!
