Page 48 of The Sound of Us

“This is not going to end well,” Dante muttered under his breath as they made their way to the door. “We’d better go with them. I’ll round everyone up and meet you outside.”

I followed Nick and Isla out into the cool night. Dante joined us a few minutes later with Chad, Haley, and Derek.

“We need to get out of here,” Dante said. “They’re not going to let this go.”

Too late. Before we even had a chance to process what was happening the three guys from the bar were blocking our path.

“Hey, man.” Nick held up his hands in a placatory gesture. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“I want my fucking money.” The tall guy grabbed Nick’s shirt. Nick responded with a punch that sent the guy reeling. Two of the dude’s friends grabbed Nick and held him while the tall guy positioned himself to return the blow.

Before he could swing, Dante moved to stand between them, all cool and casual like there wasn’t a storm brewing. “I don’t want to fight you,” he said.

“I got no beef with you,” the tall guy snarled.

“They’re my friends and that means their issues are my issues,” Dante said calmly. “And I repeat, I do not want to fight you. Just go back inside, have a drink, and—”

“Fuck you.” The dude threw a punch, clipping Dante’s jaw. Dante recovered quickly and slammed his fist into the guy’s stomach, sending him staggering backward. His friend with the spacers released Nick and joined in the fight. Dante dodged his punch effortlessly and countered with a swift right hook, knocking him to the ground. The impact reverberated through the air, drawing the third guy into the fight. He landed a solid punch that made Dante grunt, but Dante countered quickly, sweeping his assailant’s feet out from under him and jabbing an elbow into his back as he went down.

The first assailant came at him again with a left hook. Dante ducked the swing and drove his fist into the guy’s face. The sound of bones cracking echoed through the air as the dude crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from his nose.

“Behind you,” Nick yelled.

Without even a moment of hesitation, Dante whipped around and delivered a vicious back kick to the guy with the spacers, sending him flying into the street. Cradling one arm, the dude pushed to sit and spat out a mouthful of blood along with a string of curses.

Still wired with adrenaline, Dante spun a full circle, hands up and ready to fight as he glared at the three men sprawled on the ground around him. His eyes were pure black, his face taut, lips pulled back in a grimace. He looked feral, vicious, almost out of control. “Who’s next?” he shouted. “Who’s fucking next?”

“Dante.” I put a hand on his shoulder and spoke quietly in his ear. “They’re not getting up. No one wants to fight you.”

“Yeah, bro.” Nick gently tugged his arm. “Let’s go.”

“Skye,” Ethan shouted from the doorway. “Come back inside. You and your friends can join us. We’ll keep you safe.”

Dante and Nick had already gone ahead and were cresting the grassy hill that led back to campus. I hesitated for only the briefest second before I shook my head. “Thanks,” I called out. “We’re all good. Everything is under control.”

CHAPTER TWENTY“The Sound of Silence” by DisturbedDANTE

I didn’t know why the whole stupid gang decided to follow me to the station, but there they fucking were. Five little shadows and Skye. They didn’t seem to realize the danger. I’d tried my whole life not to be like my dad. I thought I had a handle on my anger. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Thanks, man,” Nick said. “I mean, really, thanks. No one has ever stood up for me like that before. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. You killed it out there with that spinning back kick. You could go pro.” He jogged beside me yammering like a puppy, replaying the fight scene by scene until I was tempted to hit him, too, just to shut him up.You meant business. Three guys down. That punch. That kick. So much blood.

“It was my fault.” Isla came up behind us. “Nick was in trouble because of me. You saved us both.”

I didn’t want their gratitude. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to listen. I felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I couldn’t breathe. No matter how fast I walked, they wouldn’t go away. I just wanted silence. I wanted to crawl back into the darkness and pretend the fight had never happened.

“I think he needs space,” Skye said quietly behind me. “Just give him time to chill.”

“Back off, everyone.” Nick dropped back a few steps. “Skye’sright. This is what happens in a big fight. You’re pumped up on adrenaline and it’s hard to come down. I’m looking after him.”

I would have laughed if I hadn’t wanted to throw something. I knew exactly what happened in a fight. People got hurt. Over and over and over again.

“You’ve still got a couple of hours before your show,” Nick said when we reached the road that led to the student center. “Do you want to grab a beer? Or just come to my place and chill?”

“I need to prep.” It was an effort to form the words, harder still not to just yell at everyone to go away.

“I’ll make sure everyone gets home,” Nick said, pumping my hand so hard I thought he was trying to rip it off. “I’ve got your back. You don’t have to worry.”

I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t responsible for these people. I didn’t give a damn whether they got home or not. But something in his face stopped me from sharing those thoughts. No one had looked at me like that since Sasha died. Like I mattered. Like I’d done something good. Like I was a goddamned hero.

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