Page 61 of Need Him Like Oxygen

I stumbled forward, heartbeat punching against my ribcage, pain screaming through my head as I fought against the swirling in my brain, trying to keep my equilibrium and turn back toward him, face him, fight him.

But he was faster, hands landing on my shoulders, sending me flying, crashing.

I threw out my arms, coming down on my forearms, protecting my still-healing wrist.

Pushing, I rolled onto my back, bringing my legs up, knees to chest, feet out, kicking out as he got closer.

But the blow wasn’t enough to send him flying, just stumbling back and rushing forward, this time grabbing my legs when I tried to kick out again, wrenching them around, forcing me to twist and flip onto my stomach.

Panic screamed alarm bells through my head as I scrambled up, wanting to get off my stomach, knowing how badly things could go in this position.

But he was too quick, moving to stand over me, grabbing me around the throat, fingers pressing just right, making my breath catch, making my head go fuzzy.

There was a horrifying moment of clarity.

I was going to pass out.

And then he could do whatever he wanted to me.

My hands clawed at his, scratching over his skin, making him hiss in pain, but his hold stayed true.

My vision was starting to go blurry.

Then, suddenly, there was a loud crash, and my attacker’s body came crashing down on me, crushing me to the floor as he let out a groan of pain.

What just happened?

I pushed up, groaning against the effort to shove him off of my back and roll away.

To find Joel, the kid, standing there with my lamp in his hands, wide-eyed and shaky.

My little fucking savior.

“Joel, go!” I yelled, rushing up to my feet to get between him and the kid.

“Little shit,” my attacker snarled, reaching back to rub his head, his hand coming back red. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

“Over my dead body,” I said, reaching back to keep Joel behind me as I inched toward the side, mind on my gun on the ground.

“That’s the plan,” the attacker said, charging forward, slamming me backward. Into Joel. Who crashed into the wall. Crushed by the two of us. He let out a grunt as I cocked back my hand and swung, landing a bit to the side, catching the guy on his jaw instead of his nose.

But there was a satisfying grunt of pain in response, at least.

His own fist shot out, and I couldn’t dodge it, not unless I wanted Joel to take it, so I turned my head to try to have his blow graze instead of strike.

He had a ring on his finger, though, and I could feel it slicing across my skin, a burning sort of pain that helped me focus past my panic.

I brought my knee up, slamming hard between his legs, stealing his breath, and sending him stumbling back a few steps, giving me enough room to move away from Joel, so I wasn’t crushing him anymore.

“Go, Joel,” I hissed as I rushed forward, trying to take advantage of the guy’s incapacitation.

I charged at him, landing an uppercut to his jaw, sending him sprawling.

The grunt as he landed chased back more of my fears.

This.

This was what I was good at.

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