A moment later, Janey hands me the knife before balling her hands into fists. She squares herself and faces Emily.
Meanwhile, Emily comes out from the wall, giving herself space before dropping into some sort of kung fu style defensive stance.
“Fancy shit,” I note with a little laugh.
“If you're not going to help, then keep your mouth shut,” Emily snaps.
“Yeah, shut the fuck up,” adds Janey.
See? They're already finding common ground.
They circle each other, looking for an opportunity. I have no idea where to put my money. Janey moves with the experience of having fought her way to the top of the ladder, one slut at a time, but Emily's been trained in some kind of martial art. Of course she's gotten fancy self-defense lessons. Janey might've bitten over more than she can chew this time. If she looks like she's going to seriously fuck up Emily, sure I'll step in, but if Emily wants the sluts' respect, she's going to have to represent herself, not just hide behind us.
Janey lunges with a yell, and though it makes Emily jump, she sidesteps before trying to use the motion against Janey. No luck, though. Instead Janey gets her hand around Emily's wrist and pulls her off balance. She follows it up with a solid fist to Emily's gut before they separate again. Emily's coughing, but she isn't down yet, either. Fuck, this is better than streaming MMA, and sexy as fuck.
Emily's going to need someone to kiss her booboos better afterwards, after all.
The next time they crash together, Emily's throw works. Janey's knocked off balance and spins until she slams into the kitchen island. She grunts and falls, but picks herself up before Emily can get at her. She spits and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “I'm going to wash the floor with your fucking face.”
“I bet that'd be the first time you did an honest day's work in your life instead of lying around on your back waiting for someone to fall in.”
Holy shit. I can't hold back a laugh. I didn't think Emily had that kind of venom in her.
Janey's face twists in rage, and she charges with a bloodcurdling roar. Emily nailed her most sensitive spot, her pride, and now all my money's on Emily, because Janey just lost her head.
Emily's ready. With a grip on Janey's tank top, she rolls Janey over her outstretched leg, throwing her right into the wall. And this time, she's not standing around to see how it goes. She throws herself on top and starts hitting. “I. Am. Sick. Of. You. Messing. With. Me.” She punctuates every word with a punch. “Leave. Me. The. Fuck. Alone!”
I've created a monster.
Maybe it's Janey I'm going to have to save.
“Stop! Stop! I give! Fuck, quit it!”
Emily sinks one more fist into Janey's side, which is taken with a pained grunt, then rolls off, right up on her feet and back into a ready stance. Not taking any chances. Smart.
But Janey stays down. Her lip's bleeding and there's a shiner forming around her eye. She sobs.
Fuck, Janey sobbing? I never thought I'd see the day.
“Fine. I'm done. I won't fuck with you. You're the queen slut now, and I hope you're fucking happy.” Even downed and her nose running with snot, she's still made from venom and spite, not sugar and spice, but she's beaten. Though I can see that Emily's favoring one leg, she's the one left standing.
If I hadn't already fallen for her, I just fucking did it again.
“See? Don't you guys feel better now?”
“Fuck off, Wild Child,” sneers Janey before spitting blood onto the floor.
“Yeah, fuck off.” Emily doesn't look particularly happy with me, to be honest. And here I thought she might enjoy being the winner. She walks right by me, grabs a bowl of salad off the counter that somehow escaped the brawl, and pushes open the door. “This is your fault,” she snaps, then leaves.
Fuck. All I wanted was to help her out. She'll appreciate it later.
28
EMILY
“Jesus, what happened to you? Are you okay?” Hero looks at me wide eyed as I plot onto the couch next to him. I went back to my room to eat, and then took some time cleaning up in the bathroom, after chasing out Zoe and Alexis. They took off without a word. I guess word has spread.
In that time, I've developed a shiner on my cheek, scratches on my arm that look like I've been clawed by a cat and I find myself favoring my left leg a little. I'm sure it'll be all better tomorrow, but right now I feel like crap.
“I'm fine.”
He eyes me skeptically, but nods. “Sure. Fine.” I always knew Hero was the smart one of the bunch.
Wild Child comes by, and his eyes light up when he sees me on the couch. He makes as if to sit next to me.