Page 47 of Offside Angel

She lunges towards me, and I just barely manage to hop over the mess of puzzle boxes at my feet and get out of her reach. “What the hell is wrong with you? I’m not the one who got you fired.”

Even if Evan is close by, he’s probably on the other side of the wall. He might have lost me in the crowd and not know where I am. It’s not ideal, but at least Dante isn’t here. I can manage Hanna on my own just fine.

“It’s not a coincidence that you show up and I’m out of a job. You were threatened by me,” she spits. “You turned Zane against me because you were jealous.”

“Zane and I almost never talked about you.” I have to bite back a laugh. “Why would I talk about you? I barely even know you.”

“But I know Zane.” Hanna’s face is as red as her hair. Her eyes are tiny pinpricks locked on mine as she reaches into the nearest bin and pulls out a hefty glass doorknob.

Okay, red alert. Crazy woman with a makeshift weapon.

“I’ve been there for him for years,” she hisses through clenched teeth, as if she hadn’t made that point abundantly clear already. “I was waiting for him to realize how perfect we’d be together. I was loyal to him.”

“Is that why you didn’t tell him his son was in the hospital?” I roll my eyes. “I didn’t get you fired. You got yourself fired by being a selfish bitch.”

Hanna’s mouth opens like she’s going to scream. If she does, I don’t hear it. I’m too focused on the doorknob she’s swinging at my head.

Years of kickboxing takes hold of the situation before I can even think.

I swat Hanna’s doorknob-wielding arm out of the way with my left and uppercut with my right.

It’s a solid hit.

Almost in slow motion, Hanna’s teeth clack together. Her head snaps back and she sprawls backward, taking another pyramid of puzzles and two bins of doorknobs down with her.

It’s a big enough crash that people take notice.

A woman with an armful of tapered candles bends down next to Hanna to check on her—ignoring me shaking out my fist less than a foot away.

“She hit me,” Hanna howls, pointing a trembling finger at me as blood dribbles down her chin. “She attacked me.”

“I defended myself!”

“I saw the whole thing. It was self-defense.” Taylor plants herself next to me and circles an arm in the air. “We need security over here!”

“Oh, I don’t know if?—”

Before I can even get the words out, a severe-looking woman with an earpiece walks over with a security guard already in tow. “I want both of you out of here. Now.”

“Bullshit!” Taylor argues. “My best friend was attacked in your store. She’s the victim!”

“She hit me first!” Hanna cries, holding her jaw with both hands.

Taylor looms over her. “Open your mouth and I’ll hit you again.”

Hanna shrinks back and the woman with the candles wanders off to stand with the growing crowd of onlookers.

I grab Taylor’s shoulders and pull her back. “Down, girl.”

“Was it really self-defense?” she asks under her breath. “Did she swing at you? Are you okay?”

“She tried.” I study my right hand. My knuckles are turning purple. “That’s the first time I’ve ever punched anyone. Turns out jawbones are hard.”

It also turns out…

I know how to fight.

Which means I have options. I can run, but I can also plant my feet and defend myself. I can fight back.

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