Page 13 of Dirty Love

I can’t get a real job yet, mostly because I can’t be away from Nicky for hours at a time, but also because our dad doesn’t want us to be independent like that. He doesn’t want us to leave this shit town in a few months like we’re planning to. He wants us trapped here under his thumb, for us to stay like that until we’re old enough to join the police academy like he did. He wants to control us in every way possible, and I’ll be damned if I sit back and do nothing to stop him.

I’ll fight a hundred grown ass men if that’s what it takes to protect my little brother.

“Yo, Kade,” Skully calls once he spots me, walking over to clap me on the back. “Sup, baby Rivers?” he jokes, ruffling Nicky’s hair beneath his hood.

My jaw ticks and I grab his shoulder to push him back a step, making a point to remove his hand from Nicky’s head. “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry,” he chuckles, tossing me the bag I texted him for earlier, waving me off when I take my wallet out to pay him. “Forget about it, man. This one’s on me.”

I shake my head and slip him the cash, just like he knew I would because we don’t take handouts from anyone. Nicky takes the coke from my hand and I snatch it back, glaring at him from beneath my lashes while I dip my head to take a hit. Once I’m satisfied it’s not poison, I hand it over and he smiles to himself, shoving my key into the bag to snort his own hit. He wipes his nose with his sleeve and I scan the crowd to look for the college senior Skully managed to set me up with tonight, fucking itching to rid all this pent up energy inside me.

“Where is he?”

“Over there,” Skully answers, tipping his chin at the blond haired, quarterback looking guy who just so happens to be talking to my ex-girlfriend. “His name’s Avery. He’s, uh… he’s cocky, you know?”

I smirk at that, raising a brow when I catch Nicky sneaking another hit of coke behind my back. Skully moves to talk to the guy I’m fighting and I take the opportunity to grab my brother, roughly snatching the collar of his hoodie to yank his chest to mine.

“You think I can’t see you?” I ask quietly, leaning over him until our noses are almost touching.

The little brat just grins, his hot little tongue trapped between his teeth, his gray eyes shining with something that looks an awful lot like defiance. My nostrils flare and I pull him along with me, shoving his ass down on one of the logs next to the boys where I can keep an eye on him.

“Don’t fucking move.”

He grins some more but I ignore it, looking over when I catch Arianna practically throwing herself at the guy on the other side of the circle, staring at me over her shoulder while she trails her fingernail over Avery’s chest. She’s been acting like this for weeks now, constantly trying to rile me up or make me jealous or some shit, but what she keeps failing to realize is that I don’t give a damn about her or who she’s fucking.

The only fucks I have to give are for Nicky.

Everyone else can burn in hell for all I care.

Skully finally calls me over and I pull my hoodie off, tossing it down next to Nicky before I do the same with my t-shirt. Venom by Eminem blares from the speakers set up on the ground near the fire, the sound mixing with the crack of thunder overhead. The eager crowd surrounds us on all sides and Skully hypes them up even more, not even bothering to state the rules before we start because there aren’t any.

Whoever taps out or passes out first loses.

It’s as simple as that.

Nicky sits with his elbows on his knees and his fingers linked together, his knuckles touching his lips while he watches my every move. Avery stalks towards me just as the first drop of rain hits my cheek, then Skully shouts fight and the crowd starts shouting, too, most of them high and hungry for blood. Instead of hanging back and waiting to see what I’ll do first like most of them do, Avery rushes forward and tries to tackle me, the fucking idiot. Just as he reaches me, I catch him by his throat and toss him back like a rag doll, enjoying the shock on his face when his big ass hits the ground. I laugh to myself and shove my hands into the pockets of my sweats, damn near bouncing on my heels at the adrenaline coursing through me.

I fucking love this part.

He stands up to his feet and moves in to crowd my space, mouth open like he’s about to say something mean, but he doesn’t get the chance before I pull my arm back and punch him in the nose. He falls over again and I look at Nicky, doing a quick double take when I spot the new kid standing just a few feet behind him. He’s leaning back against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest and a lit joint between his teeth, his creepy eyes zoned in on my little brother like he wants to eat him.

Over my dead body.

“… the fuck? Kade.”

I frown at the sound of Nicky’s panicked voice, looking back at him just in time to watch him jump up to his feet. At first I can’t figure out what’s wrong with him, but then I feel the hand gripping my hair and the fist smashing into the side of my face.

This motherfucker.

Something hard hits my head and I blink a couple times, locking my jaw when I realize I’m on my back and Avery’s on top of me, his weight crushing my chest and ribs as he punches me again. I lift my forearms up to protect my face and take a second to get my bearings back, then I grab the bastard by his shoulder and flip him over, straddling his waist with both hands wrapped around his throat. I cut off his airway and he kicks his legs out like a lunatic, his nails digging into my wrists as he tries to buck me off of him. His eyes widen with fear when he catches the look on my face, and I almost feel sorry for him.

Almost.

I should drag this out a little bit and make him suffer for that little stunt he pulled on me just now, but all I can think about is getting back to Nicky, which is why I release my grip on his throat and lay into him as hard as I can, over and over again until his body goes limp beneath me. My knuckles are on fire and my head is killing me, and I barely even register Skully calling me off before the boys are dragging me up to my feet, all three holding me back by my arms while I fight to get away from them.

“Dude, enough!” Mark shouts over the crowd, laughing like an idiot as he looks down at the guy passed out on the ground. “Goddamn.”

I shove him away and stumble back a step, only relaxing when Nicky appears in front of me with his hands on both sides of my neck. His lips move but I can’t hear what he’s saying, and it’s only now I feel the heavy rain pouring down around us. I’m soaked from head to toe, my arms and chest caked in a thick layer of dirt and a mixture of mine and Avery’s blood.

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