Page 16 of Fight for You

It gave me a few moments to catch my breath as I clutched my aching head. But they weren’t giving up. Both of them rose to their feet, looking angrier than ever.

*****

Troy

I smiled when I spotted Avery’s car in the parking lot, and I pulled in next to it. After I made sure my truck was locked, I strolled along the sidewalk to Mitchell’s, the steakhouse where I was meeting my love.

But when I reached the front door, Avery was nowhere to be found. Even though he texted that he would wait for me outside, I tried not to let panic set in. Maybe he got cold and changed his mind.

So, I opened the door and stepped inside. The hostess greeted me, but I ignored her; I was scanning the dining room for Avery’s handsome face. The restaurant wasn’t that big or busy, so it only took a moment to search every table. I didn’t see him anywhere, and my stomach dropped. I instinctively knew something wasn’t right.

With one last act of desperation, I sprinted to the restroom, hoping to find him there, but the stalls were empty. The hostess called out something as I ran out the front door, but I didn’t listen. My only focus was to find my sweet Avery. My gut told me something was very wrong.

I jogged down the sidewalk towards my truck, ready to jump in and scour the city, when a familiar sound struck my eardrum;beep, beep, boop…beep, beep, boop.Avery was in trouble.

I followed the sound into an alleyway, and nothing could have prepared me for what I found. Two men - the same ones who were harassing him outside the cafe a couple of weeks ago -were attacking my Avery. Fury tore through me; two against one was absolute overkill. They were out to hurt him. Or worse.

But they weren’t without their battlemarks. Both of them were bloodied and bruised, and although he was obviously winded, tired, and hurting, Avery was still standing, and still swinging at both of them. My man put up one hell of a fight, but he was never going to fight alone again.

I sprinted over to the men and grabbed them both by their hair before slamming them to the ground. Once they were away from him, Avery dropped to his knees. He gave me a look of mixed relief and anguish before he laid down on his side. He needed to rest and recover. I needed to finish this.

One of the assholes got to his feet, but I wouldn’t let him get any farther. I unleashed my full strength with a punch to his temple. He spun on the spot before landing with a thud on his stomach, slapping his face against the pavement.

The other man was struggling to stand, so I gripped his shirt collar and hauled him to his feet. I wasn’t letting him off easy. He hurt my love and he was going to pay.

The fuckwad didn’t know when to quit. Instead of begging for mercy, he still tried to taunt me. “You’re too late. He got what was coming to him. You won’t be able to fuck him for a long while.” His lip curled as he gave a gravely laugh, and I got sick satisfaction from the fact that his mouth looked like raw hamburger. Avery was small, but mighty.

I placed my hands on the man’s shoulders to steady him. I leaned down to look him in the eye and smiled before answering simply, “Actually, he fucksme.” His look of utter confusion was priceless, but short lived. I laid him out with a powerful hook to the mouth. He went stiff as a board and fellback against the asphalt. His head rolled to the side, and a bloody tooth fell out from between his lips.Good.

I hustled to Avery’s side, dropping to my knees next to him. He was conscious, but just barely. His eyes focused on me, and he whispered my name.

“I’m here,” I reassured him. “I’m here and you’re gonna be okay.” I turned my attention to his beeping monitor on his hip. I was thankful he showed me how to read it and work it in case of an emergency.

The word ‘High’ flashed on the screen, making me curse under my breath. It meant that his blood sugar had risen beyond what the meter was capable of reading. When his body was under stress, his hormones raised his sugar, and I couldn’t imagine a more stressful situation than this.

I pressed the ‘Bolus’ button to deliver a dose of insulin through his pump. It would help until I could get him to the hospital. When his meter stopped beeping, I took his swollen, bloody face in my hands. “Avery, you are so brave and strong; you’re incredible. You’re my fucking hero, you know that?” His lips tipped up into a weak smile.

“I’m going to get you help.” I scooped him into my arms as gingerly as possible, though he still groaned with pain. “I know, sweetheart; I’m so sorry. I’ve got you, and everything is okay.”

His eyes cast over to the motionless lumps of worthless humans on the street. I could see the question he didn’t speak; what should we do with them?

“Fuck them,” I told him callously. “They’re knocked out, but they’ll live.”Unfortunately, I thought, though I kept that wickedness to myself. My only concern was Avery. I rushed himto my truck; we were only a few blocks away from the hospital, so I could get him there quicker than an ambulance could get to us.

I settled in behind the steering wheel, cradling him against my chest as I drove like a bat out of hell, telling him over and over how proud of him I was, and how very much I loved him.

His monitor was no longer beeping, and he was staying awake. He surely had a concussion and countless cuts and bruises, but he would be okay. I’d seen enough fighters to know when someone had internal damage, and Avery’s injuries all seemed to be on the surface, though he was surely in horrible pain.

But my man was a badass. He took on two guys nearly twice his size, and was the only one left standing. They saw him as small and weak, but they couldn’t douse the fire inside of him, and ended up getting burned. He was strong and obviously capable of taking care of himself, but I still didn’t plan to ever leave his side again.

Epilogue

Avery

18 Months Later

I stepped onto the next stair as the person ahead of me was called across the stage. After years of studying, projects, and classes, it was my graduation day. I was receiving my Bachelor’s Degree for Cybersecurity, with a minor in mathematics.

I’d gotten top marks all throughout my college career, and my future looked bright. A few months ago, I was approached by a headhunter from a major financial firm. They offered me a salary position upon graduation, where I would protect sensitive data and ensure the integrity of financial transactions.

---