Page 25 of Toxic Obsession

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, trying to control the tremble in my voice as I backed away.

"Jayden's whore," Stanley taunted. Anger colored his tone. A flood of panic surged through me as my eyes darted between the three. There were three of them and one of me. My only chance was to run.

"Well, she was," Micah laughed, but it wasn't a normal laugh. It was evil. "He sent us to deal with you, and now I'm going to make you my whore." My heart sank. He sent them to do what to me? Was he so mad at me that he sent his teammates to hurt me? That didn't sound like Jayden, but Jayden was also so unpredictable.

I twisted to run, dropping my bag, but they were faster than me. Trey snatched my arm, tossing me to the ground in front of him. A jolt of pain surged through my knee and hands when they made impact with the pavement, but I didn't have time to worry about that now. I jumped back to my feet. Trey stood toe to toe with me, his lips curled into a smile that could only be described as threatening, his friends on each side of him. Their menacing glares locked on me.

I stumbled back, slamming into something. Someone. My pulse hammered, and my breathing hitched at the realization there were more of them. I yelped when two strong arms wrapped tightly around my chest, restraining my arms and jerking me backward as someone brushed past my shoulders on each side. My gaze shot up. Trey, Stanley, and Micah were all backing away with eyes wide.

Squeezing my eyes shut, a scream ripped from my throat as I thrashed against the strong arms. My chest heaving with fear and anger, I fought hard, kicking and screaming, trying to loosen his grip.

"Sadie," Jayden' said, releasing me. He whipped me around to face him. He leaned down both hands grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him, to see him. "Sadie, it's me. You're okay." I released a sound of relief as he pulled me into him. I had never been so happy to see him.

"Are you okay, Sadie?" KJ’s icy-blue eyes raked over me. "You're bleeding."

"They said you sent them," I panted through rapid breaths.

"Take her, and we'll meet you there," Jayden growled, side-stepping around me. His gaze fixed behind me. There was so much venom in his stare that I flinched. "I need to take care of something."

I whipped around, taking a minute to absorb the scene. The Untouchable 8. That was who brushed past me when Jayden grabbed me. That was why the trio backed away. I hadn't realized it then, but that was fear in their wide eyes. They surrounded the three dark-haired men forcing them to their knees to wait for Jayden.

"Let's go," KJ whispered. "You're not going to want to watch this." His fingers wrapped around my upper arm as he guided me away.

"Are they going to hurt them?"

"Yeah." He nodded, looking both ways before he crossed the street out of the alley. His tone was so normal, like we were discussing our day or any basic everyday thing. "But if they're lucky, he'll let them live." His gaze flicked over to me. "I wouldn't." He shrugged before his eyes snapped forward.

* * *

After we left the campus, KJ brought me to a local sports bar, Champions. The bar was so empty I would have thought it was closed if they didn't have all the big-screen TVs with different sports teams on them.

"Stop moving," KJ scolded, crouched down in front of me, pressing a wet paper towel to my damaged knee.

"It hurts," I whined.

Pushing to his full height, he glared down at me. Biting his lip ring, his blue eyes pierced through me with pure annoyance. Blowing out a breath, he shoved a hand through his thick curls. KJ was stupid hot. He was tall and built like a linebacker. He was covered in tattoos and piercings that only added to his natural hotness.

"Two shots of tequila," he barked at the pretty blonde bartender who was having trouble focusing on her job with him in the building. She flinched but immediately snapped back, reaching for the bottle.

"There's no need to be rude."

"There's no need to be a baby either, but here we are," he muttered, reaching out to grab the shot from her. He threw one back, then grabbed the other. "Here. Drink." He shoved the shot glass toward me and held two fingers up to the bartender.

I wasn't much of a drinker, but it had been an eventful day, and not in a good way. My nerves were shot, and I was in pain, so I took the shot and tossed it back. The bartender slid two more across the bar, and KJ handed me another.

"Now, can I please—" KJ started when a commotion towards the door cut him off. A smile spread across my face when Jayden stormed through the doors, and his friends followed, and I couldn't explain why other than he'd just saved me from being raped. Jayden infuriated me. He pushed me passed my limits, but right now, he was the only person I wanted to see. I guessed some part of me was worried about him.

Jayden was calm, but everyone else was pumped with adrenaline as they bounced in behind him.

Jayden scanned the room, stopping when his eyes locked on mine. He stormed at me, and my breath hitched. I couldn't read his facial expression. Was he mad? He wrapped his hands around my arms, jerking me to my toes. His throat flexed on a hard swallow. Nerves bunched in my abdomen as I waited to see what he would do. I braced for him to scream at me about being in the alley alone or walking by myself so late. It's what my dad would have done, but he didn't. Releasing my arms, my feet fell flat on the floor.

"Jay—" I started, but before I could finish, his hand slid behind my neck, pulling me into him as his mouth crashed against mine in a kiss that was every bit as possessive as he was. A kiss that sent electricity surging through me. The tension in my body released, and I melted into him. His tongue pushed past my lips as he dominated not just me but the kiss with each stroke. I'd almost forgotten we were surrounded by his entire team, well, minus three, until they all started hooting and making inappropriate gestures.

Jayden pulled out of the kiss, "Are you okay?" he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine.

"Yes," I breathed.

"I tried to fix her knee," KJ groaned, handing Jayden a beer. "But she's a baby." The corners of Jayden's lips curved up. "Hey, I'm sorry about what happened tonight." KJ's face turned serious. "I shouldn't have told anyone the reason we forfeited. I didn't know they would come after you like that."

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