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“Oh, I’m not leaving you alone with Cruz,” I said flatly, moving towards the table to get comfortable. “If a girl’s not going to protect you from her dad, then she’s not worth your time, Cruz.”

He chuckled, sitting beside me and ruffling my hair. “Good thing I don’t make a habit of meeting the parents then.”

I zoned out as they talked business, and I didn’t realize Tempest had walked into the room until her fist hit my nose. I cursed as pain spread across my face, blood starting to drip as I glared at her while trying to stop myself from crying. “What the fuck, Tempest?” I choked out as Dad shot to his feet and grabbed her around the waist to yank her back before she could hit me again. Cruz didn’t hesitate to pull his shirt over his head and swat my hands away from my face, gently pressing the material to my nose. I winced as he pinched my nose slightly, and he gave me an apologetic grimace.

“Sorry, Hendricks. Lean forward.”

I did as he asked, but Tempest snorted. “Everyone knows you’re supposed to tilt your head back to stop a nosebleed.”

“No.” He scoffed, keeping his eyes on me as he started cleaning my hands with the other end of his shirt. “That causes the blood to run down your throat. If you fill your stomach up with that, you’ll end up vomiting.”

“Who the fuck are you anyway?” she huffed, giving me a dirty look. “Does your girlfriend know you went and got a boyfriend on the side? And you think I’m a whore.”

I could tell Cruz wanted to tear into her but respected Dad too much to push it. I didn’t give a shit if Dad got upset with me or Cruz right now. She’d literally just punched me in the face.

“This is Cruz. He’s my friend, not boyfriend. Riley and I broke up. I don’t think you’re whore, but you seem to keep proving that you enjoy sex with random people so don’t get mad when people call you out for it. Now we’ve caught up on everything, you want to tell me why the hell you just hit me?” I asked, my voice coming out muffled from the shirt Cruz was still holding against my face.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Dad growled, keeping a firm grip on Tempest as she tried to come at me again. “Stop it!”

“It’s her fault Ryder’s gone! She lied and got him sent away! As if he’d want her!” she shouted, and Cruz finally looked at her flatly.

“Ryder’s that fucked up on drugs that he has no idea what he’s doing. He needs to get clean. Luna wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

“He wouldn’t touch her!”

“Why not? Druggies would hump the grass when they’re high if you let them. He was out of line, and he wanted to go and get himself straight. No one forced him. Why would you take his side over your sister’s?” he asked with irritation.

“This is why Riley left you,” she spat, trying to throw salt in the wound to make me feel like shit. “Even she saw how pathetic you are.”

“Enough!” Dad barked, starting to drag Tempest towards the hallway while speaking over his shoulder. “I’m sorry. Let me deal with this.”

“It’s fine, I’ve got Luna,” Cruz replied, giving me his full attention as Dad removed Tempest from the room. She’d never turned violent before despite our fights, and Cruz said something I was wondering myself.

“Pretty sure she’s on drugs too.”

“I think that’s what she and Ryder have been bonding over,” I mumbled, staring at the blood-soaked material on my face. “I’ve ruined your shirt.”

“It’s just a shirt.” He shrugged, pulling it back carefully to look. “I think it’s slowing down.”

“It hurts like a bitch,” I grumbled, making him wince.

“Yeah, a hit to the face usually does. I don’t think it’s broken, which is good. It’s going to swell though.”

“I figured. Ugh, I can’t go to school like this,” I complained, but he just smirked.

“Sure you can. Just tell everyone you got in a fight and you won. They’ll leave you alone if they think you’ll beat them up.”

“I basically cry when yelled at, so no one’s going to believe I’ll inflict violence.”

“I’ll teach you to throw a good punch,” he offered, but I sighed.

“I don’t like violence. It makes me feel sick.”

“If someone attacks you, it’s good to know you can try to hit them to escape. You don’t have to fight in the cage or anything like Beckett,” he explained with amusement. “Trust me, it’s helpful to learn self-defense.”

He talked about it for a few more minutes until my nose stopped bleeding, and by then, Dad had joined us with a firm look on his face. He looked frustrated, and I couldn’t blame him.

Tempest was out of control.