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My jaw clenches so hard my teeth hurt. “Shut the fuck up and find somewhere else to go before I send you to hell myself.”

Victor laughs. “You wouldn’t touch?—”

Before he can even finish his words, my feet carry me forward and I launch my fist right into his face. I hear the crack of my knuckles against his narrow jaw before he stumbles backward, blood pouring from his mouth.

“What the f-fuck!” he spits out, his eyes wide like a terrified little baby’s.

“Didn’t think I’d do it?” I huff at him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

Victor sputters. “You’ll pay for this. Is it worth it? For your straight little bitch?”

I grab him by the jaw, causing him to yowl in pain and try to pull away from me.

“Say one more thing about him and I’ll fucking kill you!”

“Dante!” Ethan yells from behind me.

My ears are ringing. I can hardly hear him, but he manages to break through.

“Get the fuck outta here.” I let go of Victor, nearly throwing him to the ground. He runs away, nearly tripping over his own feet and cursing at me while blood drips from his chin, but he’s leaving, and that’s all that matters.

My shoulders move with my heavy breathing and my knuckles throb, but it’s of no matter to me. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.

After another second, I turn around to look at Ethan. He’s staring at me, eyes wide, and clutching his own coffee to his chest, his other hand shaking at his side.

“It’s alright, he’s gone,” I tell him. My voice is still rough.

Ethan nods slowly. “I…did you have to do that?”

“What do you mean?” I demand. “He was threatening you, talkin’ about you like that. I couldn’t let him do that.”

Ethan just stares at me. I take a step closer, and he steps back.

I see the reflection of my face in his eyes—the tightness of my expression, the darkness in my eyes.

“Are you scared of me?” I ask.

“No! N-No…I…” He takes a deep breath. “I just need to get to class.”

“Ethan…” I start, but he shakes his head.

“It’s just a lot, and we don’t have time. We should both get going,” he insists.

I take a step back, defensiveness creeping up into my chest. I want to tell him he’s being ungrateful, that I did it for him—but I can’t get anything out of my mouth. My throat feels tight just from the way he’s looking at me, like he’s questioning everything that’s happened between us.

“Fine.”

With that, I lead him back to the car, letting him get his things out, and I don’t stop him when he chooses to walk to class by himself.

But I think about it the entire time I’m walking to class.

13

ETHAN

The first thing I notice upon sitting down in class after practically fleeing Dante’s sight is that my ass hurts.

I shift in my seat and pull out my laptop so I can take some notes. It’s difficult to focus with my ass feeling both sore and tingly. I remember the way Dante repeatedly spanked me and ate my ass out last night, or…this morning? I’m not entirely certain what time it was. The last few days feel like a blur, but a really good one.