by Heather Long
Karaoke? Anytime. Anywhere.
I meant it when I said I would do anything for her. Then Mitch walked his ass up with half the damn team at his back.
The fucking dick.
I’d put myself between him and Frankie. No way in hell would I let them get through me to get to her. I’d already broken his jaw once. If he wanted me to take the rest of him apart, sign me up. Even blocking them from getting to her didn’t stop someone from yanking her away. I twisted to go after her, and that earned me a flurry of blows.
Every single one would leave a mark, but I was too pissed to care. Somewhere between the fist slamming into my ribs and another catching me just behind the ear, I landed a fist right into Mitch’s shoulder. He had a bad one. Wrenched it in junior year.
A dislocation.
Real bitch of an injury.
His sharp scream pressing out between his teeth was a sweet sound, even as the taste of copper flooded my mouth. Another blow had my eyes watering, then Coop was there, wading in next to me. We were trading guys off.
If Coop was there, then Archie and Jake were there.
They would get Frankie.
I locked my sights on Mitch. I was going to rip that asshole apart. The railing buckled under us, and the sound of wood tearing ripped through the night air as we went down in a hail of fists, elbows, and kicks. I rolled away from the first blow that caught me in the ribs.
Thank God for adrenaline, because the faint crack, audible over the grunts and explosions of air left me gasping for a breath. But I managed to wrench the guy kicking me down with an arm around his knee. Two sharp blows to the side, and he was screaming as the kneecap popped.
Asshole.
I spat blood out as I rolled to the side. Coop had another guy down, and Jake tackled a third. We weren’t alone out here. Some of the guys from the party poured out. Some teammates.
How many were on our side, I wasn’t sure.
But I caught sight of Mitch, and launched after him. I made it the three strides through the broken railing and onto the porch before I landed on him as he tried to stagger away. He managed to land another punch, but I ate the blow before gripping his arm and twisting it back and up. That shoulder I’d popped earlier had to be screaming now, because he was.
I hauled him backward and threw his ass off the porch.
Anger boiled inside of me as I glared at him. My right eye was already swelling shut, and I couldn’t breathe through one nostril. My ribs ached, my lungs burned, and my fists felt like I’d put them through a cheese grater.
All I wanted was to completely rearrange his face.
Mitch stared up at me, our gazes locked.
Fear flickered in his eyes.
Even in the half-light cast by the pair of bulbs on the porch, I could read the pain and terror in the other guy’s expression.
“Not so fucking tough now, are you, asshole?” Good.
I wanted him afraid.
I wanted him to beg, too.
I wanted him to feel helpless.
I’d seen her when I got in that room. I’d seen her flailing, even as she lost the battle against the drugs in her system.
I’d listened to her whimpering in her sleep.
And I’d seen the absolute agony in her eyes.
But the worst of it all—when she’d cried at the hospital. Those terrible, gut-wrenching sobs.
Fuck this asshole.
Then a girl’s cry ripped through my fury.
Frankie?
Archie
Were they fucking kidding me? What was with all these assholes? The night had been going well. Now there were what, a dozen jocks here to deliver a beat down? Hope they weren’t planning on winning. I’d dropped the bottles of water I’d been carrying the minute Jake launched forward. He’d gone after the guy who’d had a hold of Frankie, and Coop cut toward Bubba, even as he told me to get her.
No problem.
Getting Frankie the fuck out of here was at the top of my list. I cut across the yard, heading to where she struggled to pull the bag off her head. I had to narrowly avoid a couple of the fights. Jake wasn’t holding back, and the sound of fists pounding flesh was a lot louder than the techno beat carrying from inside the house.
I just caught sight of her blonde hair as she tugged the bag off when a body slammed into mine. We went down, and I hit the grass with a painful explosion of air. I wasn’t a football player. Didn’t pretend any interest in sports beyond the casual. But I was no fucking lightweight. I twisted with the guy, rolling him over. Rising up, I slammed one fist into his face. One. Two. Three.
With a grunt, the guy went still and his eyes rolled back.
Pussy.
Snapping my head up, I stared at where Frankie was supposed to be.
She wasn’t there.
I scanned the fighting. The only blonds I saw in motion were Bubba and Coop. Where the fuck…
There.
Oh.
I was already on my feet and striding in her direction as she caught a handful of Sharon’s hair and yanked the other girl’s head back. Any other time, a chick fight sounded like fun. Rumor had it that Frankie was no slouch in the fighting department. Coop and Jake were forever telling stories about it.
Then again, I hadn’t really seen her in any fights, and I didn’t want to see her in one right now. I could just toss Sharon on her ass and get Frankie the hell out of here.
The last thing I expected was Frankie cracking Sharon right across the face with her cast or Sharon’s shriek of pain as she went down, blood spurting from her nose.
Another shadow loomed up behind her, and I was on the move. I yanked Frankie to me and away, just in time for the latest assailant to take a face full of pepper spray.
His shrieks were even louder and more high-pitched than Sharon’s had been.
Rachel prowled forward, a can outstretched in her hand, and she scowled.
Arms around Frankie, I swept her from head to toe. “Are you all right?” I demanded.
“I’m fine,” she muttered, more anger in her voice than fear. She glared to where Sharon rocked on the ground, clutching at her face. “Bitch tried to sucker punch me.”
Was it any wonder that I loved her? A grin pulled at my mouth, then I glanced to where the guys were almost done taking out the trash.
Rachel stalked forward to stand next to us, just as red and blue flashing lights lit us all up.
“Well,” she said. “This is a shit show.”
That was one word for it, but Frankie was safe.
Right now, that was pretty much all I cared about.
Chapter Two
Bloody Knuckles
Frankie
“You and your boyfriend were just talking when the others arrived?” It was the fourth time I’d been asked the same question.
“Yes,” I told him flatly, arms folded together. We’d been outside long enough that I’d actually gotten chilled, and my arm was killing me. I couldn’t see Ian or Jake anymore, since they were both placed into the back of police cars. Coop was standing near the police cars also being questioned. The whole area was lit up in flashing lights.
Mitch had been carted away by an ambulance. He wasn’t the only one. The only saving grace? A cop had also gone with him. Sharon had also been loaded into an ambulance, crying hysterically.
I should have hit her harder.
“Are we done yet?” Rachel demanded. Archie was also being questioned, and they’d separated all of us. Rachel had managed to stick with me. Hell, I hadn’t even had a chance to ask her where her girlfriend went. If nothing else, Corey Kaplan’s party would go down in infamy, and I had zero doubt about whether we were all featured in posts online somewhere.
Dread curled in my stomach as the police officer who’d been questioning me focused on Rachel. His name was Talbot. Or at least, his last name was. He seemed nice. He also seemed vaguely familiar. Like he’d been one of the detectives who questioned me at the hospital. Some of that was blurry. He w
asn’t dressed in a blue uniform, but rather a button-down shirt and a jacket.
“Almost, Ms. Manning. I appreciate your patience. You don’t need to stay here for the questioning. It’s my understanding you’ve already been released.” She’d also surrendered her pepper spray. Rachel had been the one to call the cops. I owed her for that. Big time.
She looped her arm around my shoulders and glared at the cop. Seriously? I wanted to elbow her. The last thing I needed was her getting arrested, too. My stomach was in knots. Archie had pulled out his phone and fired off two text messages before the cops had swarmed in, and he’d stuck with me until they made us separate for questions.
I’d barely gotten two words in with Ian or Jake, just a couple of long looks. They, along with a good half of the football team, had been cuffed almost immediately.
“Rach,” I murmured. “Don’t borrow trouble.”
“I’m not borrowing trouble,” she argued. “You’re freezing. Your arm hurts. You were assaulted again, and you’re being interrogated and asked the exact same set of questions over and over. Could you guys get together and share notes? I’m pretty sure you’re not getting graded, so no one will fault you for copying each other’s work.”
I groaned. “I’m sorry,” I managed to say, trying to get the detective focused back on me. “It’s been a long night.”
“I know,” Talbot said. “Part of the reason I want to clear up these questions here is so I don’t have to ask you to come down to the station. I think you’ve been through enough.”
Yeah, he was definitely one of the cops who’d come to the hospital. My stomach bottomed out. I wasn’t sure whether I should be happy about that or not. “I appreciate that.”
“Hmmph. Well, let’s get this over with,” Rachel said, and I bit back a sigh. She bumped me with her hip, then rubbed my back gently. “You’re freezing.”
“I’ll live.” All the adrenaline from the fight had drained out of me. The sudden terror. The panic. Then the anger. I was still pissed. When Sharon lunged at me in the middle of all that chaos, I’d locked on her as something I could do something about. My arm ached from the impact.
Worth it.
I’d definitely broken her nose.
She deserved a lot worse. I was so over her shit.
“Walk me through it,” Talbot said, and I just sucked it up and got on with it.
“Ian and I were talking. We were minding our own business, when Mitch and the guys walked up on us. Mitch said he’d been looking for us, and Ian got in front of me. The next thing I know, there’s a bag over my head and someone is yanking me backwards over that railing.” My back still hurt from where I’d scraped over the wooden railing. “You know, before it got broken. Anyway, I was struggling against someone, and I could hear them hitting Ian. Then someone knocked the guy away from me, and I hit the ground pretty hard.”
Probably going to bruise from that impact, too. That just added a fresh log to the anger burning away in my gut.
“Um, I got the bag off my head, and there were fights everywhere—there were a lot of guys piling onto Ian. Coop and Jake were trying to help get them off. Then Sharon—she tried to hit me, ran at me from out of nowhere. I ended up hitting her with my cast, broke her nose.” I almost smirked, but I swallowed it back.
Rachel didn’t bother. “Damn good hit.”
Yeah, I wasn’t sure that was the help I needed at the moment, but I spared her a faint smile, and she grinned.
“She deserved it.”
Hell yes, she had. “Anyway…then Archie was there trying to pull me out of it, ‘cause another guy was running at me.”
“Jimmy Trainer,” Rachel supplied. “He didn’t make it ‘cause I pepper sprayed his happy ass and put him down. The last thing she needs is to get hit again.” Pride resonated in her voice.
“Yeah you did.” We shared another grin, then looked at Talbot who, while not smiling, did manage to look a bit amused. “Then the cops showed up and started arresting everyone, including Ian and Jake. They were the ones being assaulted and shouldn’t have been arrested.”
Raising his hands, Talbot said, “I understand that, but there was a lot of property damage and injuries. We’re going to sort this all out. Is there anything else I need to know?”
“You mean like the fact that Mitch already assaulted her once, and you assholes haven’t actually charged him with anything?” Rachel demanded. “He drugged her, broke her wrist, tried to rape her…”
“Rachel,” I said, and she frowned, fiercely, but went quiet.
“That’s an ongoing investigation, Ms. Manning,” Talbot told her, but he gave me an apologetic look. “Did you feel threatened tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Did he touch you in any way?”
“Tonight?” I shook my head. “Ian didn’t let him get anywhere near me.” I actually had no idea who dragged me off the porch. I was pretty sure he was one of the unconscious guys they’d loaded onto stretchers. No regrets there. I hope he hurt a lot when he woke up.
Asshole.
“Okay, but did you feel threatened by him?”
“He showed up and said he’d been looking for me and Ian specifically, and he was pissed. So yeah, I felt threatened.” What a stupid question.
Talbot didn’t comment on my sarcasm, he just made a few more notes, then said, “Do you feel you may have antagonized him in any way?”
Was he serious right now? “I haven’t seen him since Homecoming.” My gut churned. “But then again, I didn’t antagonize him that night either.”
He gave me a small smile. “I have to ask these questions, Ms. Curtis. I understand they’re uncomfortable.”
“Do you?” Rachel demanded, and I nudged her lightly with my elbow. I appreciated her defense, but I really didn’t want this to take any longer than it already had.
“Actually, I do. Now it’s my understanding you have a restraining order in place for Mr. Hooper.” Hooper? Was that Mitch’s last name? A part of me felt like I should know that, but I honestly didn’t know him beyond the fact that he was on the football team with Ian and Jake.
“Um…probably? Mr. Wittaker was taking care of a lot of things for me.” It sounded like something he would do.
“Can you give me his information?” Talbot’s tone had changed to something far more solicitous. “If the restraining order is in place, then Mr. Hooper violated it tonight.”
Well, whoop-de-doo. “Does that mean you’ll do something about him?”
He sighed. “Ms. Curtis—can I call you Frankie?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Thank you, I’m Rick.” He waited a beat, so I nodded to acknowledge what he’d said, and he continued, “I understand how difficult it is to think we’re sitting on our hands and not doing anything. I wish investigations in real life were as fast as they are on television, but there’s a process. We’re going through the process. You’ve done everything right. You made your statements. You released your medical findings. You told us you wanted to press charges. These are all important steps. I know it’s a lot to ask for your patience, but we do need it right now.”
“And if he shows up again?” Because he’d done it once. Twice if you counted Homecoming. At this point, I never wanted to go to a party again. So far, they’d all sucked.
“We’re going to work on that so he doesn’t.”
I sighed.
Movement beyond him had me shifting my weight. Archie was on his way straight toward me with Mr. Wittaker. Where was Coop?
“My lawyer is here.”
“He is?” Talbot turned as Archie and Mr. Wittaker got there. Mr. Wittaker didn’t waste any time introducing himself, shaking Talbot’s hand, and drawing him away from me and Rachel.
Rachel let me go when Archie wrapped his arms around me. “You okay, babe?”
“No,” I said. “I’m really fucking mad.”
He grinned a little. “That’s my girl. Hold onto that, ‘cause it’s going to be a l
ong night.”
That was what I was afraid of. “Did Coop get arrested too?”
“Detained. They’re taking him to the precinct, too. There was blood on his clothes.”
Rachel snorted. “Of course there was blood on his clothes. Did they not see the carnage out here?” Thankfully, she didn’t shout the words, but Archie just shook his head.
“It’s procedure. They probably won’t be charged. All of it is self-defense. They’re also going to have to get Bubba looked at. He had a lot of guys whaling on him.”
My stomach bottomed out. Jake wasn’t eighteen. They were probably going to call his mom. He’d gotten hauled down to the precinct a month ago. “We need to go get them.”
“We’re going to,” Archie said. “I’ve got Jake’s keys, so we’re going to take his car. Mr. Wittaker is going to meet us there as soon as he takes care of the detective.”
“I’m going to go get Skylar and take her home,” Rachel said. “Then I’ll meet you guys at the police station.”
“Rach…”
“I want to,” she told me. “Besides…you know the after party is always more fun than the party itself.”
I snorted, then pulled away from Archie to give Rachel a hug. “You’re a badass.”
“Yes, I am,” she agreed, squeezing me gently, but she didn’t miss my wince. “And you need to get looked at, too.”
Suddenly, Archie was in my space. “Did they hurt you?”
“Bruises.” But I didn’t really get to object as he hauled me toward the paramedics. I glared at Rachel, and she blew me a kiss.
Every once in a while, I remembered why we’d had a love-hate relationship for so long. I just stuck my tongue out at her before I flipped her off, and she finger-waved as she strolled back toward the house where Corey Kaplan was getting reamed out by his parents.
Yeah, this hadn’t been a good night for anyone.
The paramedics made me go to the hospital. I wanted to kill Archie. I didn’t want to go get x-rays, I wanted to check on the guys. But he was unmovable. I swore we had our first real relationship fight. Only we would save the argument for later, since I wasn’t speaking to him right now.
