Page 49 of The Venom We Bleed

“What the fuck!” he bellows and I’m pretty proud of my reaction time. Or at least, I would be, if I didn’t try to shove him forward and trip over yet another twisted root on the ground. Instead of pushing him, I end up letting him go completely to catch myself before I land on my knees.

The other man laughs, a low grating sound. “I don’t think she likes you much, Josh,” he says, sounding amused.

Great, at least now I have their names. Rich and Josh. I straighten away from the two of them as Rich steps off the tree he’d had the girl—Cara—previously pinned against as Josh rounds on me with a scowl.

“Fucking bitch,” Josh spits, rotating his arm as if trying to relieve the ache there. “That hurt.”

“I promise you,” I snap back. “It won’t hurt nearly as much as what I’ll do to you if you touch me without my permission again.”

My heartbeat thunders in my ears. I take a step back and the two of them follow the movement with not just their eyes. The sound of leaves shifting under their feet seems to echo into the night. The gates holding back my adrenaline are shuddering, waiting to be opened.

“Whatever you’re thinking,” I say in warning, “I suggest you don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Rich asks with a sneer, his eyes moving down over my loose flannel and black tank. I’m not dressed to impress, but somehow, he must still find me worth looking atbecause his sneer turns into a smile. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to hurt you at all,” Josh agrees, his earlier anger at me dissipating quickly. “In fact”—he grins, sidling closer—“we’re more about pleasure than anything else.”

Blood rushes in my ears, the sound so incredibly loud. I flick a glance back. I’m too far from the party now for anyone to hear me if I scream … or to hear iftheyscream.

“Play bitch ass games. Win bitch ass prizes,” I grit out, the warning like acid on my tongue as I take another careful step back.

I reach out, feeling along a tree to keep steady. Something rough and hard bumps against the back of my ankle. It’s a bad idea to let my desires get the best of me here. These guys might be dumb assholes, but there are two of them and only one of me.

“Ah, come on. Don’t be like that,” Rich says, advancing forward. He offers me a placating smile but I know it for what it truly is—a fucking mask.

Everyone wears a mask in this world; I know that for a fact. I was raised in a masquerade of smiling faces and razor-sharp teeth. It’s where friends stab you in the back, fathers fuck you over, and mothers abandon their only daughters to the not-so-tender mercies of the world.

“Don’t even think—” I start to say but nearly bite down on my tongue a second later as Josh dives forward, fingers locking around my wrist.

Twisting out towards his thumb, I silently curse when instead of breaking his hold, Josh’s other hand comes up and wraps around my neck, thrusting me backward. A gasp startles out of my lips as my spine slams into the bark of a tree. The air rushes from my lungs on a wheeze.

“You should be grateful anyone wants you now,Donovan,” Josh says my last name like a filthy curse. “Your rich prick of a boyfriend dumped you as soon as he heard about your dad.”

I curse and raise my other hand up against his chest. “I dumped him,dickhead.” I match his tone as I shove hard against his sternum. He doesn’t move, though that’s not much of a surprise.

My breath saws in and out as I try to think back to Cory’s training. It all flies out of my head—just like that. I thought I would know what I was doing when something like this happened. Now, I know the truth. I’m fucked. All those long weeks of working out in the gym and going up against trainers and sparring partners ain’t shit in the face of real danger.

All I have left is the festering anger inside—wickedly sharp and volatile. I could unleash it. It would be so easy to let it all go. To start swinging and see what happens. A small, invisible rope snags around it, though, holding me back.

I close my eyes and draw in a long breath even as the hand around my throat tightens marginally. What will happen if I finally just … let it go?

In a blink, I see what could happen. Blood spurts from Josh’s nose as I shove the base of my palm into his face. My knee slams into his groin and I relish in the soft whoosh of air escaping his lungs right before I grip the back of his skull in two hands and bring my knee up again. If his nose isn’t already broken from my first attack, it would be by my second.

Red on my fingers, wetness oozing down the side of my throat—a lingering spurt from his nose? I like that idea. Bathing in someone’s blood. Fucking them up and releasing all of the rage I’ve held in for so fucking long.

Good girls do as their mother tells them, Juliet.

Good girls listen to their daddies.

Good girls don’t ask questions.

Good girls don’t care if their boyfriend cheats on them.

Good girls forgive their best friend for fucking their boyfriend.

Good girls smile even when they want to scream.

Good girls don’t cause problems.

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