"You think you're so much better—" the blonde hisses.
"Better than you?" Serena cuts in, her voice lethal. "Please. Literally everyone here is better than you."
The bigger of the two guys shoves Serena so hard she almost loses her balance. "Hey," he barks, "don't talk to her like that, you fat—"
I don't think.
I just barrel in, grabbing the guy by the collar and slamming him into the wall so hard the drywall cracks.
The second guy roars, trying to pull me off, but I don't budge. Instead, I swing an elbow back, catching him square in the jaw.
He stumbles, dazed.
The woman's mouth drops open.
"Don't ever fucking talk to my girlfriend like that again," I snarl at the three of them. My voice is so cold it feels like it's coming from someone else.
The woman recovers first. "Girlfriend?" She laughs in disbelief. "She's using you, Austin. We were just trying to help."
Serena steps to my side, her face pale even though her eyes blaze with fury. "Helping him? Please. You're embarrassing yourself."
"Fuck off," the woman spits. "You don't deserve him."
"She's right," I say, my voice flat, my hand still tight around the prick's throat. The way the woman lights up like she thinks I'm talking to her would be funny if it weren't so goddamn ridiculous. "Even if I weren't in love with her, I wouldn't fuck you. I don't do desperate and pathetic."
Serena jerks beside me, and I realize what I just said.
Fuck.
Fuck my life.
It wasn't supposed to come out that way. But I don't even have time to address it right now, not with these three still here.
Thankfully, the woman seems to get the hint. Her eyes fill with tears. "You're an asshole," she shrieks at me, stumbling away.
"If I ever see you near my girl again, you will regret it," I warn the motherfucker I'm still holding by the throat. "We clear?"
He jerks his chin in a nod, silent.
I hold him for a moment longer before releasing him. He stumbles before catching himself with a hand on the wall. He and his buddy stumble after their friend without a word.
The second they're gone, I wrap my arms around Serena, pulling her close. She leans into me like she needs the anchor, her whole body shaking.
"You okay?" I whisper, ready to kill if she says no. I've never been this pissed before. The second that prick touched her, I wanted to kill him.
She nods, but there's a tiny tremor in the movement that she desperately tries to hide. "I'm good," she whispers.
"Serena, I—"
"Can we just go?" she says, not looking at me. "Please?"
Fuck my motherfucking life.
"Yeah, baby," I sigh. "Let's go."
We're halfway down the hall when I spot the guy hiding in the shadows, his phone up, filming everything that just went down.
Serena spots him at the same time, going rigid at my side.
