Page 13 of Life Blood
“What the helldo you call that thing on wheels that you just drove up in?” Zac folded his arms, “That piece of shit should be used for scrap metal.”
“You want me to kick your ass?” David glanced at me, then brought his toughest expression back to Zac. “Right here, right now.”
“Knock it off, David,” I interrupted, trying to avoid him from embarrassing himself and me any further. “He gave me a ride home, something that you should have done yourself if you weren’t so busy forgetting me.”
“Stay out of this, Elle!” he snapped.
Zac eyed my lame boyfriend, “Maybe next time, pipsqueak. I wouldn’t want to hurt you too much in front of Elle. She won’t get a chance to yell at you for forgetting her at school if she’s busy taking you to the hospital.”
“Hey!” I interrupted both of them, “There will be no kicking of anyone’s ass. Everyone, just go home. I need to go check up on my mom and get to work. I don’t have time for testosterone.”
“Have a good one, Elle,” Zac said as he waved a hand in the air at me.
Someone who actually listened to me for once.
“Get inside, Elle. Zac and I need to hash a few things out when it comes to hitting on another guy’s girl.”
“Are you an idiot, David?” I said.
I rolled my eyes, turned, and started toward the steps that led up to my front door when I heard a quick scuffle followed by a thud.
“Are you kidding me?” I glared down at David who was lying flat on the ground, and then over to Zac who had a shit-eating grin on his face. “You really stooped to his level? You’re as dumb as he is.”
All the feel-good emotions from earlier were gone, and I was pissed. I didn’t need this crap, especially right before checking on mom and getting to work.
Zac threw his hands up, exposing a tattoo that looked like it might have been a Latin word on the inside of his bicep, “Guy ran right into my fist. Sorry.”
“Just go,” I said walking over to where David was getting up to his hands and knees, “Come on,” I growled, pulling him up by his arm, “You had it coming, and you know it.”
Stupid idea to try and help David out, I wasn’t strong enough and lost my grip on him. He was still out of it, and he threw my balance off. I slammed hard onto the sidewalk, my elbow skidding on the pavement.
“Shit!” I shouted angrily.
Zac was at my side in less than a heartbeat. “Nice crash landing,” he said, amused, “Let me see your arm.”
He grabbed my arm and ran his thumb over my bloody elbow. He sucked in a ragged breath. His friendly, topaz eyes looked much darker than before. He squeezed his lips together as he watched the blood making a trail down my forearm.
“Can you take care of this?” he asked in a strained voice. “You need to clean it up and throw a Band-Aid on it,” he said, his mysterious eyes glancing at mine before he turned to David. “I’ll get him home and make sure he didn’t give himself a concussion from hitting the ground. You two are quite the couple.” He dropped my arm almost like he was sickened by the sight of blood and stood up. His features softened, “I meant to knock yourkick-assboyfriend to the ground, I didn’t realize it would have ended up taking you down too.”
“Smart ass,” I said, scrambling to get up. “David, get up.” I looked at Zac, “I can handle him, you can go.”
“You can do so much better than him, you know,” Zac said with a shrug.
“I know. I also know that I don’t needstrangerstelling me who I should date.”
“You’ll learn, and trust me, you’ll dump him soon enough.”
“Hey,” I called out, watching Zac walk like some damn Hollywood star to his car, “Thanks for the ride home. David is an idiot, and I guess I should apologize for him.”
“Never apologize for a guy who treats you like crap,” he said with sincerity that shook me a little bit. “You sure you don’t want me to drag him into the house for you?” He glanced down at David who lay groaning on the ground. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Nah,” I waved him off, watching David shake his head and try to get to his feet. “He knows the way inside once he figures out where he is again.”
Zac nodded at me and flashed me a flirty grin before he slid into his car and took off.
I was halfway through washing off my elbow when I heard my screen door squeak open. “I don’t want to ever catch you around that dickhead again,” David demanded.
“You know what, just stop right there,” I walked out to where he plopped down on my worn out sofa, “In fact, once you can walk upright, get out of my house. I’m not going to have some guy—boyfriend or not—telling me what to do. We’re done.”
