Page 77

He waits until I open my door, and Oscar and I walk in. The door shuts behind us, and I search for the light switch.
“I was thinking,” Oscar says, grabbing my wrist.
“Yeah?” I finally get the light on and freeze. Johnny is standing just two feet from us. His gaze drops to where Oscar grabbed my wrist and fury erupts.
“You motherfucker!”
He rushes Oscar, the force of his attack breaking our connection. He pushes Oscar up against the door, pummeling his fist into his face. It all happens so quickly I don’t have time to think, let alone move.
“I’ll fucking kill you!”
His words rattle me. “Johnny, Johnny!”
Oscar’s gaze meets mine. He doesn’t fight back, but there’s a steeliness in his gaze. Johnny cracks him in the nose and blood spurts from it, running down his lips. His eye is already swollen. Johnny pulls him off the door and pushes him to the ground.
“Johnny,” I say, moving forward, grabbing his hand as he kicks Oscar in the ribs. “What are you doing? Stop!”
Johnny turns his bloodthirsty gaze toward me. “I came home early to be with you.” He kicks Oscar again, and Oscar groans. My heart splinters down the center. Fissures crack all the way through. “And I find you with him!”
“We just came back from the after party,” I say, trying to calm him down. “I didn’t know you were coming home, or I would’ve skipped it.”
He brushes a bloody hand over his lips. “What’s he doing in your apartment? Where’s Magnum?”
“Johnny,” I say, trying to win back his full attention. He keeps looking back at Oscar who’s writhing on the floor in pain. I pretend he’s not there, so I don’t give myself away, but inside, I’m breaking. “Hey,” I say, once his ice chip eyes meet mine. I grab his cheeks. “Nothing’s going on here.”
“He touched you.”
“I’m sorry,” Oscar chokes out. A pool of blood from his nose and mouth forms around him on the floor. He’s fucked up. Damnit! “It wasn’t meant as anything,” he sputters.
“She’s mine,” Johnny growls.
“I know, I know,” Oscar says again. “I was just watching out for her like you asked me to.”
“That’s why she has Magnum here. Magnum in the tower. You at school. Do you need another fucking reminder, Drego? To think we fucking saved your sorry ass.”
Oscar pulls himself up to a sitting position, clutching his side. He’s pale, a hell of a lot paler than his darker skin ever is. Hell, he’s practically my shade of white. “I meant no disrespect, Rocket.”
“Apologize to her that your meaty fucking paws ever touched her.”
“I’m sorry,” Oscar says, eyes glued to the floor.
Johnny gets down to eye level with him. “To her fucking face, Drego!”
Oscar meets my eyes. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from making a reaction. “I’m sorry I touched you, Kyla,” Oscar says. The light recedes from his eyes, shadows replacing every last dark corner. “It won’t happen again.”
I swallow and nod, then look at Johnny to see if that’s going to be enough for him. I hope to God it is because Oscar can’t take another kick. He probably already has broken ribs, and his last fucking football game is this weekend. My eyes well with tears, but I hold them back. This all just got so fucked up.
Johnny stomps toward the door, whipping it open. I can’t even meet Oscar’s eyes. Not that I have that much time anyway because Johnny comes back within thirty seconds, Magnum in tow. “Now, I fucking said no one else in her room but me. How the fuck did Drego make it past you?”
Magnum stands tall. “They were discussing school. It didn’t pose a threat to me.”
“I saidno oneelse, and I fucking meant it.”
“It won’t happen again,” Magnum says simply.
He doesn’t look at Oscar nor I, but tension wafts off him. The guard I got in trouble last time was severely punished. If something happens to Magnum on top of Oscar getting his ass kicked, I don’t know what I’ll do.
We pushed the boundaries, that much is true. Now we’re suffering the consequences.