Page 110 of After Us (Next Generation 6)

“Sammy,” Cyrus warned.

“What?” Sammy frowned. “He’s clearly itching for a fight.”

“Jaron.” Piper came up beside us. “Stop. We don’t want to do this here.”

“You should probably listen to your girlfriend.” Sammy stuck another smoke between his lips and that set me off.

I shoved him, pulled my arm back, and slammed it against his jaw.

He stumbled to the side, a slow grin spreading on his face.

“Jaron,” Piper gasped.

Sammy caught his bearings and in two steps, he threw his own punch. When his fist connected with my jaw, my head rang. Pain shot up the side of my face, but it felt so damn good at the same time.

“Stop this, please!” Piper cried.

But as much as I knew this wasn’t right, I couldn’t stop.

“What the hell is going on?” That was said by my dad, but I still didn’t stop.

Sammy and I landed blow after blow on each other. We fell to the ground, shoving and kicking. It was messy and not the least bit organized but the pain rushing through me forced these new feelings to the surface.

I was scared. No, I was damn near terrified that if something happened to Brynn, that it would be it for Piper and me. Our relationship was rocky at best. While we loved each other, we had already been through so much in such a short amount of time. I couldn’t lose her.

My chest tightened, a sob of anguish lodging its way in my throat.

“Jaron.” Sammy straddled my waist, clutching the collar of my hoodie.

“Fuck.” I lifted a trembling hand, trying to cover my eyes. I didn’t need him to see me cry. I didn’t need any of them to see me break.

“Go back inside,” Cyrus instructed. “There’s nothing to see here.”

“You heard him. Do as you’re fucking told for once,” Shadow barked.

Sammy slid off of me and knelt at my side. He helped me to a sitting position and wrapped his arms around me. “We’ll find her.”

I latched on to him, a sob finally breaking free. “I can’t…I can’t lose them.”

“I know.” Sammy squeezed me. “You won’t. If it’s the last thing I fucking do, I promise you, Jaron. You will not lose them.”

“Jaron.” Piper was suddenly beside me, her arms wrapping around my shoulders.

Sammy released me, giving me a crooked smile with his cracked lip and bloody nose.

A shuddered sigh left me. Roughly wiping the tears from under my eyes, I chanced a glance at Piper.

Her cheeks were wet.

“I’m sorry.” I swiped a thumb under her eye. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

She shook her head. “Thank you.”

“For what?” I asked, taken aback by her words.

“For finally breaking,” she said softly.

Instead of answering, I crushed my mouth to hers. A sharp pain shot through my bottom lip, forcing me to pull back.

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