I hear voices outside and hurry up towel-drying my hair. I put my boxers and jeans on and walk to the front door where Dove's talking to some guy that's way too old to be delivering food.
She's laughing.
He's saying something and she throws her head back, laughing easily at what he's saying.
Jealousy bubbles under the surface. I want to fucking kill the guy, but I force myself to stand back and observe them. When they keep chatting, he asks for her phone number. My nails dig into my palms as I fist my hands. Like fuck am I letting this happen.
Dove stiffens as I walk up behind her, wrapping a proprietorial arm around her waist. "Thanks for the pizzas. You can get lost now."
"Nox," she hisses. "I haven't even paid him yet."
I pull my wallet from my jeans and hand the shell-shocked guy a fifty. "Thanks. Bye."
"So, about that phone number..."
"Are you fucking serious?" I hiss at him. "Can’t you take a goddamn hint?"
"Whoa, chill out," the guy mutters. "What are you, her keeper?"
"Exactly," I hiss, taking a step forward. The prick must be feeling extra fucking brave, which is too fucking bad for him, because I'm in the right mood to kick out some of his teeth. "You were leaving, I believe."
"I was actually waiting for your friend to answer my question," the guy says.
"I'm answering for her," I growl. "Get. Fucking. Lost."
The guy sighs, laughing lightly as he puts down a pizza box. "You want a fucking fight, man?"
"Maybe I do."
"Please, can you not?" Dove hisses at me. "This is freaking embarrassing, Nox!"
"Go eat the pizza before it gets cold," I tell her, never taking my eyes off the prick in front of me. "Go on, Dove."
She reluctantly takes a step behind while I face off with the guy.
"Last chance," he tells me with a smirk. "I take tae-kwon–"
He doesn't get to finish his sentence, because I've already slammed my fist into his face. He falls to the ground while Dove shrieks behind me. I'm pretty sure I’ve broken his nose, because the prick's blood spurts out moments later. He groans on the ground, covering his face with his hands while I keep hitting and hitting.
It's been a long time since the red mist descended like this. When I killed Robin, I did it out of necessity. There was no joy in hurting him – he was innocent. But not this piece of shit. Mr. Pizza Delivery Guy had it fucking coming for so much as looking at my goddamn property.
"Stop it! Nox, fucking stop it! Stop! Stop! Parker, stop!"
Finally, when she uses my real name, the word comes through and I stop with my fist mid-air. Dove is sobbing behind me. The delivery guy is barely conscious, groaning on the ground. He never did get the chance to show me his tae-kwon-do skills.
"You're fucking insane," Dove tells me as she pulls me off him. My knuckles are bloody and my heart's going a thousand miles a minute. I blink, trying to get back in the moment as the guy picks himself up and limps to his car, driving off with the screech of tires on concrete. "How could you do that? Are you fucking crazy? You could've killed him!"
"That's what he deserved," I snarl, ripping my hand away when she reaches for it. "He had no right, Dove. No goddamn right."
"No right to do his job?" she hisses. "You're fucking crazy. Off the rails. You're just like you used to be, and I'll never, ever trust you!"
In tune with her words, she starts shoving me backwards and I stumble into her street. I'm still shirtless, only wearing jeans and boxers. Now we've caught the attention of passers-by and Dove's nosy fucking neighbors who are staring at us from their windows. I want to kill all of them.
"Dove, calm down," I tell her, raising my hands to stop her and quickly realizing that would only piss her off more since they're still stained with blood. "Look, I'm fucking sorry, okay? I... I overreacted."
"No fucking shit!" She slaps me. It's so loud and shocks me so much I actually laugh out loud, but that only makes her angrier. "You're insane. You need to get the fuck away from here. I want you out of my house and out of my life."
"I'm not leaving," I shake my head. "I can't leave."
"If you don't, I'm getting a restraining order."
"You don't mean that." I furrow my brows and shake my head. She wouldn't do that to me.
"You just beat up some guy I've never seen before for no fucking reason! I'm afraid you're going to..." She glances around us, hissing the rest of the sentence at me in softer tones. "Kill someone!"
I groan. "Let me get my shoes and my shirt at least."