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“Get away from him,” Darius yells at her.
“Don’t raise your fucking voice at her,” I shout at him.
“What are you going to do about it, tough guy?” Darius asks.
“Knock it off!” Coach shouts, louder than any of us. “Darius, take a walk and cool down.”
“Yes, sir,” he says, turning away.
When Evie moves to go after him, Coach shakes his head.
“Ryder, I’m going to go talk to my brother,” Calista tells me.
“No, stay with me.”
“Ryder, he’s not going to hurt me. I need to talk to him before tomorrow.”
I nod. “Okay. But if he’s disrespectful to you, I’m seriously going to kick his ass.”
She smiles. “Aww. My hero.”
“You better believe it, Lis.”
“And just to be clear, I can kick my own brother’s ass.”
CHAPTER20
CALISTA
I takeoff in the direction I saw my brother go, but I can only walk so fast with these high heels on. I catch sight of him as he exits out a side door and I take small, rapid steps, hurrying after him.
“Darius,” I call out, and he peers over his shoulder. When he sees it’s me, he stops to wait. “Hey, can we talk?”
“I need to walk some of this anger off,” he says.
“We can walk and talk at the same time.” I briefly tug on his arm to get him moving once more.
He rakes his hand through his dark hair. “I don’t think there’s much to say right now.”
“I think there’s plenty that needs to be said. You and two of your friends have black eyes.”
“One friend and one ex-friend,” he clarifies.
I laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asks.
“You sound like a sulky child who didn’t get his way.”
“I sound like a brother who’s trying to protect his sister from the big, bad wolf.”
“What if I don't need or want protection? What if I’m happy for the first time in a long time?”
“It’s a false sense of happiness. Ryder will rip the rug out from under you when you least expect it. He doesn’t know how to have a relationship.”
“Darius, do you think I’m dumb?”
“No, of course not.”
