Page 112 of From Drummer to Gamer

Like a firecracker.

My firecracker.

“The next time he decides to upset you, he will have a bloody nose and the inability to function for a few days,” I said in a calm, glacial tone that made her eyes widen.

“Wh-What?”

“You heard what I said,” I muttered, leading her toward my G-wagon. I didn’t want to remain another extra second here.

I all but lifted her straight to her seat and hurried to the other side.

The slam of my door shutting hung in the quiet of the car like a sizzling current.

“Do you like him?” I asked, cutting my eye at her.

“Wh-Who? Tin?” Her eyes rounded so wide that I worried they might jump out of her head.

“Yes.”

“No,” she blurted, shaking her head. “I mean, I do like him as a friend, but never like that.”

I nodded, but the uncertainty still wouldn’t leave my bones. “So you realize that he likes you?”

A heavy sigh left her lips as she slouched back. “Yeah,” she mumbled, picking on her jacket with her fingers.My jacket. “I think it was obvious after today. I-I just can’t believe how stupid I was not to even see it.”

“What did he have to say?” I forced a steady tone when my blood fluctuated unstably.

Another sigh escaped her. “Just the usual… how I shouldn’t trust you, how I’m young and stupid, and how you’re just using me.” With each word, her decibel rose, holding the hint of her fury.

The vein in my forehead throbbed. “What did you say?”

“That he shouldn’t be worried, and it was none of his business who I date, and I also informed him that even my own parents didn’t care.”

“But he said something else.” My eyes dragged over her face, and that little frown on her lips was still there.

Her eyes glazed for the tiniest bit. “He said my parents only agreed because they think I’m smart enough to go to Columbia and that they didn’t know their daughter played games for a living.” Her voice cracked at that last sentence.

“That’s fucking it.” I gritted my teeth. I didn’t care if that fucker was in the darkest pit of hell, I’d still find him for making my girl small when she was anything but. Even then, he had no fucking right. She was mine.

“Matty.” Sierra’s hand gripped mine just as they closed around the door handle. “What are you doing?”

“Teaching him a lesson to never speak to my girl like that.”

Her gaze melted, and that frown vanished. “As much as I appreciate you fighting my battles, I can fight them too. Trust me to handle this. Tin, I know he sounds mean, but he is my best friend, and he is an important person in my life. He is confused right now, but he is a very good person, Matty, you’ll come to know.”

“I find that hardly likely.”

“He is, trust me.”

“Fine,” I muttered, starting the engine. I needed something to busy myself with all these unfamiliar emotions flooding my blood. I wasn’t a jealous person. All my past girlfriends had male friends, and I didn’t bat an eye or give it a second thought. But predictably, when it came to Sierra, that changed.

“Are you mad?” Sierra asked in a solemn whisper exactly ten minutes after. I knew because I was intently staring at the time on the dash like it would give me an answer.

“Like I said, I could never be mad at you, Sierra,” I said softly, squeezing her thigh, my fingers gliding snugly over the bare skin peeking between her stockings and skirt.

She smiled, the one she reserved just for me, the one that makes her hazels shine amber and her dimples curve adorably.

“But would you have?” I cleared my throat. “Would he have been your boyfriend if I weren’t in the picture?”