Page 102 of Perfect
I don’t even try to stop myself.
I grab his head with both hands and slam his face into the kitchen counter twice in quick succession, his nose making a loud crunching noise. He yells in pain, and Alex screams my name as I pull him up and finally punch him in the face. He’s trying to hit me back, but he’s obviously never been in a fight before because he’s just flailing his arms towards me. I hit him in the stomach, and he doubles over, and I throw him to the floorand follow him down, jamming my arm across his throat and pressing my weight into it.
I punch him again with my other hand as he starts turning purple. He’s hitting me in the ribs and pulling at my arm frantically, but I’m too angry to feel any pain. Alex is yelling at me, her voice terrified and pleading, but I can’t tell what she’s saying. It doesn’t matter, anyway.
The only thing that matters is that this motherfucker pays for what he was going to do to her.
I pull my arm back to hit him again, but Alex grabs my elbow, yanking back hard. The moment I register the feel of her hands on me, my mind clears just enough to hear what she’s saying.
“Baby, stop,” she begs in a low, terrified voice, and I freeze. Ben takes the momentary interruption as an opportunity to punch me in the face. Alex screams at him and lets go of my elbow instantly, and I press more of my weight into the arm across his neck, making him choke harder as I hit him in the face once more before I shove off him. Alex grabs me around the waist the second I stand up, but it doesn’t stop me from lifting my foot and driving my heel into Ben’s side. He screams as one of his ribs snaps, and Alex starts yelling at me angrily.
“Theodore,stop it right now!” She tries to pull me away from him, and I let her, angling us towards the front door and keeping myself between her and Ben. I slide a hand behind me to grab her hip, focusing on the grounding feel of her arms tight around me and her body pressed into my back.
She’s okay.
Ben scrambles off the floor and backs into the living room, looking furious and scared once he realizes he’s blocked from leaving. His face is dark red, his lip is split, his nose is bleeding freely, and he’s bent over, clutching at his side. It’s so fucking satisfying to see him in pain that I can’t help smiling at him, andhis eyes widen until there’s a rim of white completely circling his irises.
“You’re a fucking psycho, man! I’m calling the cops!” The smile drops off my face immediately. Shit, I didn’t even think about that. Alex lets go of me and walks towards him, her hands out in front of her like she’s trying to calm a skittish horse. I keep close behind her, one hand hovering over her waist, and he backs away towards the wall quickly.
“Ben, this is all just a misunderstanding, okay?” Her voice is shaky, but she’s trying to be calm and placating. “I’m so sorry. You misread the situation, and Theo’s a little…protective. We don’t need to call the cops, right? We can deal with this ourselves. I can give you money for the medical bills, and Theo can apologize.” I bark out a harsh laugh, and Ben flinches. “Um, just hang on for a second. Please don’t call the cops, okay?” She rounds on me and mouthsapologizebefore she hurries out of the room, and I wait until I hear her rifling through her closet before I step closer to him, keeping my voice quiet.
“You touch her again, and I’ll fucking kill you,” I hiss as I lean towards him, and the blood drains from his face as he shrinks away from me. From the look on his face, he knows it’s not an empty threat. “I wouldn’t recommend calling the cops, either.” Ben shrinks against the wall and nods once.
“Theo?” I back away from him the second I hear Alex’s shaky voice. I see her walk back into the living room with a small stack of cash that’s easily a thousand dollars, looking nervously between me and Ben. I cross my arms and glare at him, working hard to keep myself from hitting him again.
“Get the fuck out,” I snap. He takes the money from Alex and bolts, slamming the door behind him. I’m still so fucking angry that I’m breathing hard, clenching and unclenching my hands, anything to calm down as I turn back towards Alex. She wraps her arms around herself, her mouth a thin line as she looks atme. She just watched me beat the shit out of someone for her and she doesn’t seem afraid of me, which is a good sign. I take a few deep breaths, trying to keep my voice calm.
“Did he hurt you?” She stares at me but says nothing, and my temper spikes again. “Did he fucking hurt you?” She flinches a little at how loud my voice is but shakes her head. “Why the fuck was he here?”
She looks at her feet and shrugs, turning away from me. “It was raining, and he offered me a ride,” she says, slurring slightly as she heads into the kitchen. She wobbles a little as she reaches for a bottle of wine, and I exhale loudly when I finally realize she’s drunk.
Oh, goddammit, of course.
I follow her into the kitchen, staying close to her as she unscrews the wine and takes a long sip directly from the bottle. I shake my head, gripping the counter behind me to keep myself from grabbing the bottle and pouring it down the sink.
“You promised not to be alone with him, so why thefuckwas he in your apartment?” She won’t look at me, but her face contorts with anger.
“He said he needed to use the bathroom,” she says in a quiet, bitter voice.
“Because he was trying to get youalone,” I snap at her, snatching the bottle of wine out of her hands as she goes to drink more. “You’re not stupid, sweetie, and you would have realized what he was doing if you weren’t so fuckingdrunk.” Her face hardens into something cold and resentful.
“Oh,fuck you.” My blood boils and I slam the bottle of wine down on the counter.
“Goddammit, Alexandria! He was going to fuckyou, whether or not you wanted him to!” She starts crying the second it comes out of my mouth, and guilt overtakes me.
“You think I didn’tknowthat? You think I didn’t…you think Iwanted…He thought…I couldn’t…I just…” She drops her head in her hands and sobs, and shame courses through me.
I want to hold her, but I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do. I need to give her a minute to calm down, and I need a minute to calm down, so I stare at the ceiling and force myself to take deep breaths as she cries. I fucking hate myself right now. It’s not her fault, and I shouldn’t have said that to her. When she finally calms down a little, I can’t help but reach out and touch her lightly, running my hands up and down her arms in a way I know she finds soothing.
“You don’t get to be mad at me about this,” she whispers.
“I’m not mad at you, sweetheart, I promise. I’m upset because that piece of shit could have hurt you, but it’s not your fault at all.” Her shoulders relax a little under my hands. “You should be mad at me right now because I’m such an asshole. I’m so sorry I yelled at you. Are you okay?”
She shrugs, her movements sharp. “Nothing happened.” She sniffles a little, wiping her cheeks and looking up at me, her face twisting into an expression I don’t understand. She sighs and pulls away from me, grabbing a dish towel from the counter and wetting it in the sink before stepping toward me again.
“Your nose is bleeding,” she says as she gently wipes blood from my chin and lip before pressing the towel against my nose, putting her other hand on my jaw and gently tipping my head back. Warmth rushes through me the second her fingers touch my skin, and I feel a soft humming in my body as I realize she’s looking at me withconcern. I stare at her out of the corner of my eye, but she won’t make eye contact.
This is the first time she’s ever tried to take care of me.
