She holds my gaze for one more second, then finally releases him. The boy rolls onto his side, clutching his arm and groaning. AJ stands, brushing her hair out of her face like she didn’t just body a kid twice her weight in front of his peers and countless livestreams.
“Hey, Val. Ready to go?” she says, picking up her bag and dusting off her uniform skirt.
I say nothing, just watch her stroll past as the crowd breaks into laughter and hoots.
“AJ, wait,” I call after her, and she halts the moment we’re back inside and out of earshot.
“Look, before you go full mom-mode on me, he deserved it, okay.”
Her sincerity makes me glance back, wondering if I should go finish what she started.
“What did he do?”
“He’s a lying, perverted bastard. His fragile ego couldn’t take being shot down, so he started spreading rumors. And when I confronted him, instead of apologizing and admitting he’s a piece of shit, hegrabbedmy ass.”
She glares over my shoulder, and I don’t miss the tremor in her hands. Not out of fear, but the urge to do more than give him a sore arm.
“I’m sorry,” I say, pulling her into a hug. I need her close to ground me, to stop me from doing something that’ll land me on the evening news. Too many witnesses and too many phones. But this isn’t over.
“He’s lucky I didn’t knock out his teeth and break his fucking arm. I would have if you hadn’t stopped me.” She shrugs. “But I guess kicking his ass in front of everyone will haunt him for a bit.Pussy.”
“Are you okay?” I say, throwing an arm around her as we head toward the parking lot. “I’m sorry that happened to you. Has he ever done anything like that before?”
“He wouldn’t be breathing if he tried that a second time.”
I laugh and tug her closer. “That’s my girl.”
She smiles, her eyes lighting up when she sees my bike. “Not that Poison Ivy isn’t cool, but I need one of these.” Her hand glides over the leather seat. “My birthday is coming up. Hint, hint.”
“Yeah, so Mom can kill me.”
“Fine. I’ll take the Supra instead.”
“Keep dreaming, scrappy.”
Poison Ivy’s still with Remi. The mad scientist is patching her up after Balterra clipped her, bled all over my door, and Maksim punched a hole through my window. She’ll be out of commission for a while. I need to smooth things over with Casper before word of Balterra spreads and things go sideways.
Speak of the devil.
CASPER: Val, meet me at my shop. Need to talk.
Shit. I wonder if this is about Balterra.
ME: Be there in one hour.
CASPER: Going out of town. Need you asap.
I look up at AJ, already perched on my bike with her helmet on.
ME: Are you alone?
CASPER: Of course.
ME: Okay. Be there in ten.
“I need to make a quick stop before we head back home.”
Her arms circle my waist, voice filtering through the speaker. “I’m certainly not complaining. Just watch out for cars this time.”
