He tries to laugh it off, but it comes out fake. He looks so young, so stupid, not at all like the tough guy he’s pretending to be. “Come on, bro…”
“I mean it,” I snarl.
“What, you’re going to assault me, are you?” His voice is whining now. “I was just messing around.”
“She doesn’t like it. She doesn’t need it. And you’re going to stop.”
“Listen, bro. You’re making this into a way bigger deal than it is.”
“Did you call her Manatee Maddie?”
He laughs, and that’s when I snap. I raise my fist, second from smashing it into his face, but Maddie calls out for me to stop.
I look past Dirk, spotting her there with her mouth hanging open, her eyes glassy. With an effort, I lower my fist and take a step back.
Dirk is still laughing, grinning at me with a victorious glint in his eyes, clearly reveling in the fact there’s nothing I can do to him.
I sigh. I don’t want to do this, but I can tell he’s not going to swing on me first. I want to tear him apart physically, to make him pay for what he said to Maddie, but know I have to take a different route.
I step forward, moving closer to him. He flinches and leans back. Despite how he tries to act, he looks like a frightened little boy. “Hey, man…”
“There are three routes out of this. The first is that you and I go outside and settle this like men.”
He bites down, shaking his head, then stops, seeming angry at himself for his reflex. “Because I called her a name? That seems a little harsh. Come on.”
“No, because you’ve been bullying her for years. Because you think your size and your little jacket mean you can treat people like shit. Because you’re a fucking worm.”
“I’m not fighting you,” he says, lowering his voice. “That’s just crazy.”
“Why?” I snarl. “I’m an old man, according to you. You’re half a foot taller than I am. You clearly weigh more than I do. So what are you scared of?”
His eyes widen but he says nothing.
I grin. “I get it. You’re scared because I’m not scared, eh? Fucking bully.”
“Come on…” he whines again.
“Option two is you leave Maddie alone, you never insult her again, you never talk to her again.”
He swallows. “And option three?”
“I use my considerable resources to hire an army of private investigators to dig into your shit. We uncover every bad thing you’ve ever said or done and completely destroy your life. I’d prefer option one. I’d prefer to settle this like men, but you clearly don’t want to go that route.”
The chatter in the cafeteria dies down and Dirk swallows again. I feel a strange pang of guilt when I see how terrified the kid is. But I bury it deep, reminding myself of how he spoke to my woman, of the tears shining in her eyes in the parking lot.
“I’ll… I’ll leave her alone.” Now he looks like he’s about to cry. “We don’t need to do anything drastic.”
I look at Maddie, leaving the final decision to her.
She’s got a small smile on her lips and a devilish look in her eyes, as though she’s debating telling me to go feral on him anyway.
But she nods.
“Good choice,” I snarl, pushing past him. “You better keep your word. I’ll find out if you don’t.”
I walk toward Maddie, about to take her hand, but she takes a step back and gives a frantic shake of her head. I get it. People are watching. As things stand, I could simply be a family friend coming to her defense… I don’t think anyone heard me telling Dirk that Maddie is my woman, she belongs to me.
Fuck.
What if they did?
“Let’s go,” I tell Maddie.
We leave the cafeteria together, close but not touching, even as every instinct I possess roars at me to hold her and tell her I’ll never let anything bad happen ever again.
Chapter Nineteen
Madelyn
“I’ve never seen him look like that before,” I say, chuckling. “Does it make me a little bit evil if it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen?”
“Not after what you told me,” Maxton says firmly. “I didn’t want to threaten him with my money, but the worm wouldn’t fight.”
I reach over and place my hand on his arm, squeezing tightly, glad we can touch now after not being able to in the cafeteria. I know there’s going to be lots of talk around campus, but right now we have plausible deniability.
I feel his corded muscles, the strength in his body.
“I’m glad you didn’t fight. I wouldn’t want to see that.”
“I would’ve been fine,” he says fiercely, sounding like he wants to spin the car around and drive back there.
“Are you a secret kung fu expert or something?” I ask jokingly.
He smirks, glancing at me briefly before turning back to the road. “When I was a kid, I guess you could say I was a little obsessive. All through my teenage years and into my early twenties, I had two major obsessions – martial arts and computers. I thought about nothing else. I did nothing else. I even fought a few amateur fights when I was younger. And today, I still train hard, and spar every now and then. I’m not saying it would’ve been easy – he’s a big bastard – but I would fight anyone to defend you, Maddie. Always.”