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Without a glance back, he strides toward the door. “You’re winning, and that’s final,” he barks as he pulls my apartment door open. He walks out without looking back, slamming it behind him.
I fall back onto the couch, tears pricking my eyes. Desperate loneliness crowds around me. I have no idea where we stand right now. What was that even? My instinct says it was a power struggle, but for what? Over me? Against me? Againstthem?
I stay where I am for a few minutes, just staring blankly ahead, not knowing what to do. I could go after him. But should I?
What he did was wrong regardless if my body liked it or not.
I groan, and a soft knock sounds on the door, snapping my head to attention.
I don’t bother getting up, and I don’t have to either. My phone buzzes on the table in front of me. It’s from Mag, telling me he’s coming in.
He must have a key to my door too because after a moment, he steps inside, shutting the door behind him.
I don’t look over. I’m sure I already know what this is about. Johnny left, but he sent Magnum to watch me.
“You guys argued?”
“I guess?” I answer, lifting one shoulder helplessly. I still don’t really know what it was. “He told me I had to beat Brawler, and I told him I wasn’t going to do that.”
Magnum bites down on his lip and then brings his phone out.
I eye him. “What are you doing?”
“Warning Brawler in case he goes over there.”
Shock races through me. I get to my feet. “You think he’s headed over there?”
Mag puts his phone away and looks at me. “I don’t know what he’ll do, Kyla. Sending Brawler a warning is the smart thing to do though.”
I shake my head. “This was supposed to show Johnny what the real world is like. Somehow, it fucking backfired on me.”
“Maybe it did show him,” Mag says, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Maybe it did, and it scared him. No one said this was going to be easy.”
“But what’s he going to do?” I ask. “Lash out? If he goes to Brawler’s, what the hell is he going to do to him? If he hurts him—”
“Brawler can handle himself,” Mag says, trying to soothe me.
I know the guy can, but that doesn’t mean that the son of the most powerful man in the Heights could be on the way to his place right now.
“He’s probably not headed that way, okay?”
I bear down on my teeth. “Now you’re just saying that to patronize me.”
He pushes me further away so he can look at me. “For the record, it’s been a while since I’ve looked at you like a girl, so patronizing isn’t the word for it. I’m—”
“So, you’ve finally realized my past and maturity level makes up for our age difference?”
His face heats. He drags his gaze down me, firing my skin up in a delicious way that melts away the feelings Johnny just invoked. “What age difference? I see a brave, sexy as fuck woman who has too many crosses to bear.”
I pull my shoulders back and lift my chin, emulating the woman Mag thinks he sees. I need my strength now more than anything. I take several breaths. “I’m not beating Brawler in the fight. He needs to beat me to keep him safe.”
He frowns. “I was worried you were going to say that.”
“Tell me another way this works out,” I beg. I’m desperate for another option. I don’t want to do this.
“Short of having you fight someone else, I don’t see a way out of it. The problem is that it has to be convincing. I’m worried you could get seriously hurt on top of the injuries you already have, and I worry Brawler won’t be able to do it.”
“Leave Brawler to me,” I say. “What I really need help with is convincing Johnny. He can’t hate Brawler right now. Johnny’s going to need all of us when his life implodes, and that’s going to be sooner rather than later.”