Page 17 of Scattered Glitter

And I’m not into cock.

The guy who was dancing behind her earlier storms up to them, yelling and getting into Sparkle’s face. She tries to slide away from between them, but Angry Guy grabs her wrist, keeping her there. His fingers dig into her skin, and even from behind the bar, I see pain flash across her face. The guy she fucked walks off as if she isn’t his problem anymore.

Hell no.

I jump over the bar and charge toward them, my heart hammering in my chest and adrenaline flooding my veins.The pounding music fades to a dull throb, replaced by the roar of blood rushing in my ears. Just as I reach them, the asshat releases Sparkle’s wrist and raises his hand, ready to backhand her. Without thinking, I seize his wrist a second before it connects with her beautiful face, feeling his bones grind under my grip.

Letting go of the fuckface, I’m ready to rip him a new one when Sparkle swings hard, landing a solid punch right on his nose.

Holy fucking shit.

I’m stunned, almost ready to drop to one knee and propose on the spot, but she shakes out her hand, wincing, and I instinctively move to pull her toward the bar to get some ice to cool her knuckles. Before we can take a step, the asshat clutching his bleeding nose grabs my shoulder and jerks me around. His fist crashes into my jaw, splitting my lip open.

Ahaha, fuck.

Pain explodes through me, but it only takes a second for shock to twist into something darker. I raise a hand to my lip, feeling the warm, wet blood trickling down my chin, and I taste its metallic sting in my mouth. My vision narrows, focusing solely onhim.

I wipe the blood away with my thumb, a twisted grin spreading across my face as I step closer. His scowl falters when he realizes the shift in my expression.

“Youreallyshouldn’t have done that.” I chuckle before lunging at him, slamming him down onto the filthy, sticky dance floor with one punch.

A dark thrill pulses through me as I pin him down with my knee, the crowd around us dissolving into nothing but a blur. My fists come down, and his cheekbone cracks under my knuckles as his blood spatters onto my hands.

The crowd around us scatters, and security shouts inthe distance, but all I can focus on is making this guy pay for daring to hurt my Sparkle. My fists connect with his face repeatedly, each impact sending a jolt through my arms. I’m vaguely aware of Sparkle yelling something, but the roar in my ears drowns out her words.

Then I hear Oscar’s voice in my mind.

“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, Sylus.”

I immediately stop my assault and feel Sparkle’s small hands gripping my elbow, her voice cutting through the haze, “They called the police!”

The panic in her tone clears the last of the red mist from my vision. Reluctantly, I stand, still looking down at the guy who’s now a bloody mess on the floor, groaning and barely moving.

Yeah, I don’t need to get an earful from Ezra for this.

Sparkle tugs at me insistently, and I let her pull me away. We weave through the crowd, bodies pressing against us from all sides. Grabbing her hand, I intertwine our fingers, not giving a fuck about the blood that coats mine, and make a beeline for the bar.

“Sienna, I’m done for the night!” I shout over the thumping bass, and without waiting for a response from my coworker, I pull Sparkle out the back door, shoving it open with my shoulder. We stumble to a stop in front of my bike.

I turn to look at her, noticing how the streetlights make her glitter-covered skin shimmer like she’s some kind of ethereal being.

“What the fu—” she starts, but her words falter as her eyes lock onto my face. Her gaze narrows, focusing on the blood trickling from my split lip, pooling at my chin, and dripping down onto the pavement.

The coppery taste registers again, and I turn to spit out a mouthful of blood, the crimson droplets splattering across the sidewalk.

Fuck, that damn small nick is bleeding like hell.

“Oh my God, you’re bleeding!” Her voice rises with panic, her hands fluttering aimlessly at her sides before she reaches up to grab my face in both hands, which is only possible because I lean down to meet her. “You got hurt.You got hurt because of me.” She starts trembling, her breathing becoming shallow and rapid, a whisper escaping her lips. “This is my fault.”

“It’s only a split lip, Sparkle, a little blood.” I chuckle, trying to downplay it, but she doesn’t seem to hear me, so I put my hands on top of hers, stroking the backs of them.

So damn soft.

She steps back, and I release her reluctantly when her eyes fix on the blood-stained pavement, her whole body trembling. Her face turns pale, and I see the panic attack building when her gaze comes back up to mine. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“What?” I laugh. “No, I’mfine.”

“What if it gets infected? I can’t… I can’t let you—”

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