Page 69 of Rebel Revenge

He raised an eyebrow. “Anyone ever tell you you’re bossy for someone so short?”

“Only every other day. Can we go now?”

He grudgingly got off his bike and walked to the driver’s side of my car. “Don’t know what it is about you that makes me want to do whatever you tell me to.”

“It’s my charming personality,” I sassed him. “Now scoot to the passenger side. Nobody drives my car but me.”

He squeezed the handle. “Wasn’t planning on driving. Was just opening the door for you.”

I bit my lip. “Oh. That’s…nice. Nobody ever does that anymore.”

“Yeah, well, I do.”

I slid behind the steering wheel, and he closed the door before walking over to the passenger side. He crouched to adjust the seat, pushing it all the way back to accommodate his long legs.

It was still comical to watch him try to fit his six-five body into a hatchback made for short asses like me. He had to twist awkwardly but he did manage to get himself inside.

“I’ve had Matchbox cars bigger than this thing,” he muttered.

I sniggered the whole way to the hospital, laughing every time I looked over at him because he truly was like a pretzel and clearly uncomfortable.

After I parked the car, he undid his seat belt. “Wait there. I’ll get the door.”

But he groaned in pain as he tried to get out. It was more than him just being shoved in like a sardine. He’d taken a beating last night, and it was clearly bothering him more than he was letting on.

I got out and jogged around to his side of the car, opening the door for him.

He scowled at me. “That’s my job.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think we’ll ever be going anywhere in this car again, so at least now we’re even.”

“I’ll buy you a bigger one.”

“With the millions in your piggy bank?”

“I play lotto.”

I sniggered. “My mom always used to say that, too…”

Fang looked down at me. “You miss her?”

I shrugged. “It’s stupid. It’s not like we lived in each other’s pockets. I could go weeks or even months without seeing her in person. And yet now, because I can’t…”

“You want to.”

I nodded. “I know that’s dumb. I just wish I’d loved her harder when she was here. When I was younger, I’d prepared myself to bury her young. She was reckless, you know? And she had big feelings. She fell hard and fast for every guy she met, and so many of them were scumbags. For the entire six months she dated Linden the Loser, I thought I was going to come home from school and find her head crushed in on the kitchen floor. The man had a vicious temper, and he took it out on her all the time. It got so bad that I was almost surprised when it didn’t happen.”

The hospital doors opened for us, and Fang led the way to the nurses’ check-in point.

“I hate men like that,” he said softly as we joined the line. “Men who make a woman feel small to make themselves feel big.”

I had my own Linden the Loser, I realized with a start. His name was Caleb the Cunt. I clenched my fingers.

Fang took my hand, slowly massaging it, pressing warmth into my cold fingers, until I relaxed.

“He can’t hurt you anymore. That’s never going to happen again.”

I nodded. I knew. Not because Fang was going to protect me. As much as he might try, he couldn’t protect me every minute of the day.

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