Page 20 of Magic or Madness

At least I try to, when Lex leans over, whispering in my ear, “Dude, you fucking smell like sex.”

I immediately burst out laughing, which pisses Max off even more.

“Ozzy, we get it. You scored pussy last night, and from the sound of it, she was pretty good, but we have to work to survive, ya know? Fucking pay attention!” He yells, and everyone joins in on my laughter.

As much as we love Max, he’s hard to take seriously when he gets angry. Probably because he’s shorter than all of us, much skinnier, and his body resembles a teenager. He’s our nerd, and we love to remind him who the muscle is.

“Fuck it. You guys plan this shit.” Max storms off, slamming his door for dramatic effect.

“Who pissed in his cheerios?” Journey laughs, and everyone looks at me.

“I did nothing to him!” I hold my hands up in defense.

“He’s probably jealous of the bombshell you brought here last night,” Oliver chimes in, and I shoot him a look that could absolutely kill.

“You can all call her Fallon, and not look at her like you want to devour her, fucking perverts,” I say, ready to kick all of their asses for talking aboutmy girlthat way.

“I think I’ll stick with Cinderella.” Journey smiles, testing my patience with his shit-eating grin.

“No, the fuck you won’t. She’s mine, and you can respect her.” I look around at them, watching as they nod, taking my assertion seriously.

Just when I think it’s settled, Journey snickers to himself, and I lose my mind.

“What did you say?” I ask, my hand wrapping around the blade's handle in my pocket.

“When you get bored with her, I won't mind taking that for a spin,” he repeats, looking dead into my eyes, and I jump across the table, pulling my knife and holding it to Journey’s throat.

His eyes widen, and a smirk spreads across his face, almost like he’s daring me to actually do it.

Journey is older than all of us, usually acting in a fatherly role, but ever since we picked up Fallon, his attitude has been different, and I don’t like it one bit.

Something about Fallon has me ready to slice the throat of one of my oldest friends. I know should run in the opposite direction of something that makes me feel this much, this fast, but I’ve never felt more at peace.

Last night was only the beginning, like some sort of vow was created within us that we’ll both uphold. That’s how deeply I feel about her, and I trust my intuition that told me she was special the first time I saw her.

“Take it the fuck back, J,” I say slowly, not letting my grip on him go, but he just laughs, and I push the blade into his neck harder, pressing into his windpipe.

“Oz, let it go,” Lex warns, standing directly behind me.

“No. I said something, and I meant it. If he can’t show Fallon respect, we’re going to have a problem.” My heart is racing, and I feel nothing but anger running through my body.

“Alright, Ozzy, alright. Fallon is all yours. I won’t mess with you anymore,” Journey whispers against my blade, and I stare into his eyes before letting him go.

“See? All good here boys,” Oliver says, and I shake my head, not ready to end this.

I cock my fist, landing one good punch to the side of his jaw before backing away, reminding him how shit works around here.

“Ozzy, are you done?” Lex asks, and I gesture to Journey, making sure he understands that I’m not fucking around about this.

It’s not unusual for any of us to fight, as long as it ends with one clean punch that signals the drama is over. If a fistfight breaks out, it’s an all-or-nothing battle until someone taps out.

Journey doesn’t want it to come to that, especially knowing everyone would be on my side and rooting against him. His silence speaks for him, though, and he was only trying to get under my skin.

“Are we done here? There’s no actual job to plan.” I ask, looking around the room.

“Well Max left, so I guess so,” Journey says, rubbing the indent from my blade on his neck.

I don’t shake his hand or say the beef is done because, to me, it isn’t. Something tells me we’ll find ourselves in a position like this again. His words don’t come across as genuine, and I have a gut feeling that this will come around again.

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