Page 62 of Need Him Like Oxygen

Fighting.

Winning.

I had a perfect track record, in fact.

No matter how close it got, I always walked away.

Even that last time, as bad as it had been, I’d gotten up. I’d gotten away.

They weren’t going to win.

They couldn’t break me, damnit.

He was fast, though, popping up like a ridiculous hero in an action movie.

But he didn’t charge at me.

He went for my weak spot.

He made a beeline for the kid.

Joel’s attention was on me, still wide-eyed and disbelieving, like he wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten here, let alone found himself in the middle of a fight.

“No!” I yelled, making Joel stiffen.

But it was too late.

The guy had grabbed Joel by the wrist, dragging him away from the wall. There was a popping sound followed by a loud howl from Joel. Like he’d dislocated the kid’s shoulder as he pulled Joel in front of him.

One hand produced a knife and pressed it to Joel’s throat. The other held him against his body. An actual human shield.

Joel froze.

Not that there was anything he could do, anyway.

The kid was all skin and bones.

The attacker wasn’t super tall, but he was bulky, strong. There was no getting away from him if you didn’t at least have some kind of training.

“Let him go. He’s no use to you,” I said, inching around as he kept moving, arching in half a circle, forcing me away from the exit, putting himself between me and it.

As if I could run and leave the kid.

Maybe others might.

Maybe he would.

But there was no reality where I was leaving Joel to deal with the consequences of my actions.

“Oh, I think he is. Got you squirming,” he said, a sick grin tugging at his lips. “Now walk your pretty ass over to the couch and sit the fuck down.”

Joel’s big eyes were watching me, and his head shook slightly side to side. Like he didn’t want me to do what I was being told.

But what choice did I have?

“Don’t even think about it,” he said as I eyed my gun on the way toward the couch. “Matter of fact, toss away your knife.”

“I don’t—“

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