Page 139 of Forbidden You

I expect him to snap. To hit me like he’s done many times before, and even though I refuse to untangle our gazes, the anxiety rises to a peak.

I can take it. I can take whatever punch he throws at me, but I won’t concede.

I willnotgive him that power over me.

The anticipation makes it hard for me to breathe, making me believe I’m about to pass out, until all of a sudden, his touch disappears from my face. Time acts in slow motion for a moment as I see how someone crashes Trent against the wall in front of me, a large hand wrapped around his neck.

Confused, I stare at the back of a brown head of hair, then recognize his tensed muscles etching through his army green shirt.

“Bodi!” I shriek in both horror and relief.

My body stays pressed against the wall, my hands covering my mouth as I watch how Bodi tightens his grip on Trent’s neck.

“You got some nerve,boy.” Trent’s eyes look like they are about to pop out of his head, fear dripping from them. It shows even more what I saw the moment I opened the door. He’s nothing more than a boy. Nothing more than a privileged college boy, thinking the world owes him everything he wants.

Bodi grabs Trent’s arm, twisting it in a weird angle while Trent keeps squirming under his grip.

“Was this the arm you just touched my girl with?” He cocks his head, making it able for me to catch the side of his face. He’s livid.

“No, please. Not my arm,” Trent begs like a baby.

“Why’s that,mate?” His Australian accent becomes thicker as his anger maintains. “Is this your tennis arm? The one that is supposed to give you victory and eternal fame?” Bodi twists his arm a little farther, and Trent cries out in pain.

“No! Please! No!”

“Don’t you know hitting women just gives you an eternal ticket to jail?” He pauses, lifting Trent a little by his neck. “Something tells me you wouldn’t survive jail. Do you want to see how far you’ll get?”

Trent shakes his head, tears streaming down his cheek as he shuts his eyes.

“Let me get one thing clear. If I ever see you within a five-hundred-yard radius of her, I’ll shove your racket up your ass, prepping you for a few years in jail. You got me?”

He frantically nods.

“You never get to touch her ever again. Do you understand?”

Another nod.

“Do you understand?” Bodi roars in his face, making me wince.

“Yes!” Trent’s eyes shoot open, with desperation etching in through his voice.

“Good. Now, look at her.” Bodi uses his thumb to twist Trent’s face a little toward mine and he meets my glassy gaze. “Give yourself one last look, because it’s the last time you’re ever going to see her again.”

I narrow my eyes, giving him a silentfuck youwith just a gaze before Bodi throws him away from us and into the hallway.

“Get the fuck out of here before I really lose my temper and decide to break your arm in ten pieces.”

Not wasting another second, Trent scrambles up from the floor, stumbling over his own feet as he runs, yesruns,away. When he’s no longer in sight, I suck in a deep breath and Bodi turns his head to me. His eyes are laced with worry and he takes a big step closer, pulling me against him by the back of my neck. I press my cheek against the warmth of his chest, letting my tears stream down my face.

“He hit you?” Bodi hums against my hair with a stunned tone in his voice. He holds me tightly against him as if I’m fragile, but for the first time in forever, I feel strong.

When I don’t reply, he takes my face in his hands, locking our gazes.

“He did, didn’t he?” There is a sadness in his eyes, but his green irises are also dancing with a fierce form of protection. They sparkle with determination, and it makes my heart gratefully jump for him. He’s in my corner, I just know it. It’s a feeling I’ve been missing for so long.

I nod, and he closes his eyes. The despair is embedded in his features, and he presses his lips to mine softly, as if my touch will be able to rub them away.

“He’s the reason I left Stanford,” I admit with a cracking voice.

---