I didn’t. I sped toward the clearing. The dim orange glow of the bonfire flickered into view through the leaves.
“The fuck? You can’t run in there solo, dude! Goddammit, Ren! Argh... fucking great.” I heard his pace increase as he followed.
His argument made sense. I’d get my ass handed to me if I strolled in there holding nothing but my dick. That meant fuck all to me right now. Riley was there. I was here. I wanted her where I could see her, where I knew she was safe, and that would be as fucking far away from that bunch of morally bankrupt motherfuckers as possible. That was literally the only thought on my mind as I stormed toward a bunch of Dalton’s shitheads. Private school mama’s boys who, if you saw them alone or even two or three together, would piss in their pants and run in the other direction. Packed up like tonight, outnumbering us four to one? Yeah, they’d be ballsy as fuck.
“Oh, hell no!”
My eyes scanning the collection of bodies fanning out from the bonfire, I didn’t slow my gait or spare a glance as my entrance drew attention.
“You boys seen this shit? Looks like Claremont put all the trash out in our backyard tonight! Damn!”
My fists twitched. Fuck, I wanted to hurt him... Get Riley first. Fuck people up second.
“Ho, ho!” A second asshole hollered. “Dude, your ass needs to get the fuck back to that shithole town you call home. You fucking lost?”
This little bitch got inches from my face, fucking begging for a beat down. Lucky for him he had the money to fix his face after I rearranged it and shoved his shiny teeth down his throat. My fist lifted just as Le appeared in my peripheral and shoved the ugly blonde fuck, knocking him on his ass.
“Mack texted. Just pulled up,” he panted. He stopped to catch his breath, his eyes immediately shifting to locate Riley and Liss. This seemed to be a private gathering, but it was still early. I’d only clocked five, maybe six guys so far. It made me fucking crazy thinking how vulnerable Ri was right now. Le’s arm shot out as we rounded the fire, finger pointing. “There’s Lissa.”
My gaze darted in the direction he’d indicated. My legs kicked into action and my heart tried to fight its way through my fucking rib cage. Fuck, I didn’t need to see anything that would push me over the edge. I already knew I was skirting it. One semi-decent reason away from mauling someone to death. Since Brett and O died, it felt like a beast had taken up residence in my head, angry as fuck and looking for any excuse to get out. But if someone had put their hands on Riley, I wouldn’t need him. I’d kill them with my bare hands with a damn smile on my face, knowing that was all me.
It didn’t escape me that the thought of seeing some other guy touching her blasted a wave of pure panic and primal rage through me. The idea had acid settling in my gut, bile rising. I couldn’t handle that. Couldn’t even think about it without wanting to put my fist through someone. That was a reality I had no intention of dealing with. Not now. Not ever.
Rounding the other side of the fire in stride with Le, adrenaline pumping through me like a drug, my pulse kicked into goddamn overdrive when my eyes landed on her. And my knees tried to buckle. Fuck, she was beautiful. I was a goddamn volcano ready to blow, but the sight of her hit me like a sucker punch. Every-damn-time. I just wanted to get my hands on her. Controlling that impulse never got any easier.
“Maddox, the renovator,” the biggest cocksucker of them all drawled. “The fuck are you doing in my town?” Cool grey eyes observed my approach, but it was his arm I took issue with. The one draped around Riley’s shoulder. That had me grinding my teeth to dust and my vision growing hazy, turning blood red.
Riley’s blonde head shot up at the sound of my name, her glazed eyes finding me instantly. My heart fucking stopped. Her face lit up, eyes sparking, and her pink lips split into a wide grin, like she was happy as shit to see me. A split second later, they turned down and her eyes shadowed over as her whole face fell. It was fucking crushing. It damn near killed me to see how much I’d hurt her. The need to undo it was so fucking intense, I almost buckled under the weight of it. I wanted to carry her away from here and pretend like nothing could touch us. But I knew too much to fool myself. My eyes flicked back to dickhead number one.
“You value that throwing arm, Mateland, I suggest you fucking remove it right now.”
Craig Mateland. Star-fucking-Quarterback, about to get well and fucking acquainted with my fists. There was already bad blood between us. This topped it. He smirked, his head tilting to look down at Riley. I inhaled deeply through flared nostrils, my hands itching to pluck his fucking eyes from the sockets. Riley pushed up unsteadily, her skin-tight dress riding high on her thighs and her arms flailing for purchase as she wobbled on the skyscraper heels she'd worn to a damn field. I immediately lunged forward to catch her, as did Liss, but it was me her sharpened gaze snapped to, unfocused but aflame with anger and hurt. Her palm shot out, holding me off.
“I don’t need your help, Maddox. As you can see…” She waved her arm around clumsily, hitting herself in the eye. “I have new friends now.” My throat worked as I fought to control the effect her words had on me. “The kind that aren’t afraid to talk to me.”
Her words slurred, and that fact provided me with something else to focus on, something besides the evidence of how much I’d hurt her. My thoughts turned murderous, furious gaze slicing back to Mateland. “Did you fucking give her something?”
His lips kicked up as he got to his feet and raised both hands. I took a step forward, the veins in my neck bulging, and grabbed his shirt in my fist, twisting and tugging until we were nose to nose.
“Easy,” he said, laughing, full of bravado surrounded by his boys. “She came to us like that.”
Teeth bared, I sneered down at him. “The fuck. She. Did.”
Eyes swaying back to me, he shrugged like he didn’t give a fuck. “No need to drug a bitch when they show up begging for it, is there?”
My fist connected with his right eye. Three of his teammates jumped up, and then all hell broke loose. Le tackled one of them. Mateland rebounded and landed a blow to my stomach, doubling me over, and the other two fell on my back, taking me down to the ground. Riley screamed. Through
a set of legs, I saw her lunge forward, collapsing to her knees in the mud as Liss grabbed her from behind and tried hauling her away. Reaching back with an elbow, I launched it up with force until it connected with something that felt like a jaw. A body fell away followed by a groan. Le straddled someone on the ground, raining punches on their face. Feet came running. A boot connected with my kidney and I grimaced, sucking in a lungful of air, eyes still seeking Riley. I saw Mack racing for us, with Danny and Jason following behind. He got to Riley first, his brawny arms circling her and carting her away, passing her off to Jason as he yelled instructions. A fist made contact with the side of my face, sending my head spinning. My vision danced but my eyes held fast to Riley as Liss and Jason dragged her, kicking and screaming, from the field, her tear-streaked face straining back to me. Blows landed on me, head, back, sides. I could take a punch. And I needed Riley away before I could get in the game. Leon grappled with some big ugly bastard. Mack faced off against two guys, Danny another two, and then they were all throwing fists. These fuckers, though, had no idea what a real fight was.
I felt a blow to my jaw and shook my head, smiling as I spat blood on the ground. Pushing up a little, I shifted my lower leg and struck out hard, heel connecting with Mateland's ankle. He screamed and released me to clutch at his foot. Maneuvering into a kneeling position, I wrapped an arm around the leg of the second guy and hauled him forward until he was on his back. Sensing Mateland’s approach, I swung to my feet, fist already pulled back, and landed a solid blow to his face. His head snapped to the side, blood spraying from his nose. He went down hard, shoulder taking the full force of the impact with a crunch. When I turned around, chest heaving and fists drawn, blood rushed in my ears. Adrenaline had turned to bloodlust. I wanted to maim every single one of these fuckers. But the guy I’d taken down had disappeared. Mateland writhed in the mud, hands covering his face, and the rest of these pricks had their hands raised in goddamn surrender. Growling, I bent to Mateland’s level, snatching a handful of hair and dragging his battered face toward me. He screeched, his fingers digging into my skin as his body twisted.
“Fucking look at me,” I ground out.
Wary eyes lifted to mine. “I didn't touch her, man. She was fucking wasted when I saw her. Nothing to do with us. Her friend showed up right after and stayed with her the whole time, tried to get her to leave. I didn’t fucking touch her.”
Eyes narrowed to slits, I hauled him closer, until my mouth was at his ear. “Bull. Shit. Your slimy hands were all over her when I walked over here. You ever put your hands on my girl again, I’ll rip your fucking arm off. First and last warning. This time, I’ll settle for breaking a few fingers.”
“What?” he sputtered. Then his head reared back as my heel smashed down onto his hand. He slammed his eyes shut and a cry of agony erupted from his open mouth.