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When his driver’s side door suddenly opened up, his grip loosened up inadvertently. A pair of hands gripped onto his suit lapels and extracted him out of the car.
Layne stepped out of her door to look across the roof of the vehicle to see one livid, masked Joey standing there with Liam in his grasp. Joey’s hands harshly shoved her brother back against the side of his car, pinning him there with an unmatched rage in his gaze.
“You put your hands on her again, and I will break them,” he growled through gritted teeth. “One bone at a time. Do you understand me?”
Liam was breathing heavily as his rage was going from a rolling boil and coming down to a mild simmer. “Only if the same applies to you.”
She shoved herself between the two of them to break up the pissing match. “Enough!” She placed her hands on the front of Joey’s chest looking up at him. “I’m fine. Okay?” Then she half-turned to look at Liam who was brushing himself off and straightening out his clothes, “Go home.”
The two boys were still staring at each other with chests puffed out.
“Jesus, just go home, Li.” She urged so that the testosterone in the air could at least be brought down by half.
He shook his head, clearly annoyed and he got back into his car. He pulled out of the parking spot, squealing his tires as he took off down the street.
Once he was gone, she looked at Joey with a sigh at this mess that was now on their hands. Crossing her arms in front of her as the night air began to bite at her skin she stepped up onto the sidewalk. “I don’t think you understand, I don’t need you hovering over me waiting to fight my battles for me.”
“I don’t think you understand,” he stepped up to her, “it’s now my job to fight your battles.”
She dropped her arms down to her sides tiredly. “Don’t give me that macho bullshit.” Layne turned and began walking past the Death’s Door entrance towards the other end of the block where there was a sign for stairs leading down into the subway.
“Where are you going?” He didn’t move from where he was standing.
“Home!” She called back to him without so much as looking over her shoulder.
He squeezed his hands into fists, this woman was going to be the death of him. She was driving him crazy with her fiercely stubborn temperament. Joey finally gave in and broke into a light jog after her. “Hey, I will take you home. Will you just stop?” He ran down a few steps ahead of her so he could stop her from going any further down the stairs.
Layne stopped short as he blocked her path. “I don’t need you to take me home.”
He moved one more step up closer to her, his height still towering down over her despite the six-inch difference in where he was standing.
“Don’t make me ask twice.” His hands cradled both of hers.
“And if I do make you ask twice?” He often said it, but now she was ready to call his bluff.
His eyes shimmered with excitement, snaking an arm around her waist, and pulling her up against him. “Try me and find out.”
Her hands settled on top of his shoulders as she bit into her lower lip, and felt her heart skipping every other beat. Layne tried to ignore the fluttering sensation dipping into her lower stomach, but all her senses tended to fly out the window the second he pulled stunts like this.
Before Layne could test him to find out exactly what he would do, his attention shifted to the quarter-dome mirror posted to the top corner of where they were standing allowing him to see a few MTA police officers approaching the stairway.
“We have to go.” He dropped his hold on one of her hands and led her back up the stairs. Instantly picking up on the change in his demeanor and seeing exactly what he saw, Layne didn’t ask questions and she followed him back up to street level.
With his hand firmly holding onto hers, Joey led her around the corner to the next block. He cut down between the wide alley between two industrial-looking buildings. About halfway down, she recognized the Challenger she had driven the night they both met.
The proximity sensors unlocked the doors as Joey got within a few feet. Without being told, she got into the passenger seat. Joey got behind the wheel, pulling his mask down around his neck now that they were behind illegally tinted glass.
“Friends of yours?” Layne strapped herself in.
“As much as they are yours.”
“I’m not the one walking around in a mask like I’m on my way to a Call of Duty convention.”
He grinned as he pulled out of the alley onto the street. “Maybe I will use that the next time I get questioned.”
Layne giggled at the absurdity of anyone believing that, although in this city you saw a lot of strange characters that nobody batted an eye at. The Naked Cowboy, need anyone say anything else?
When they arrived back at her house, she pulled her arms out of her jacket tossing it onto the coat rack near the front door. Joey carried a small black bag inside with him, slinging it over his shoulder.
