I struggled to break free, but the two of them held tight, refusing to let go. “I need to finish this.”
“It’s finished.” Rebel’s tone was hard, leaving no room for argument. “No more. Not tonight.”
The two of them forced me toward the church. I knew they meant business when Casper grabbed me by the back of the neck, painfully digging his fingers into my skin. I stopped resisting, letting them herd me along.
I didn’t care what they said. This was far from over.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NOAH
As Dom grew further away, he took one last chance to turn around and shout, “You and me after the party. Don’t make me hunt you down.”
Not a problem. I was more than happy to hang around after the party. With blood dripping down my face, my knuckles broken open, I was running high and hard on adrenaline. The cold night air didn’t touch me.
“We should get out of here,” Damon said, watching as Rebel and Casper dragged Dominik into the church. “I’m not willing to die tonight because you have a hard on for that guy.”
“No worries. You can take off anytime. I’ll find my own way home.” Returning to the headstone where I left my drink, I snatched up the bottle and finished it off. It was going to take a lot more than a hard iced tea to break through this violent haze that fogged my head.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, dude. He’s supposed to be a job now, Noah. What the hell is going on with you? If you kill him now, the Kings will know it was you.” Damon’s intense stare locked onto my face. “You should see what he did to you. This is too fucked up.”
I had a pretty good idea what he did to me. My left eye was actively swelling. My nose and jaw ached. Tomorrow I would really feel it.
“Let’s find something else to drink.” I didn’t want to have this discussion right now. We were here to party after all.
“I can’t do this. I’m out of here.” Having had enough of my shit for one night, Damon flipped me the bird and stormed away.
I wondered if Dom was getting this shit from his friends. Not that I blamed Damon. He had every right to be pissed with me. I knew this thing with Dom was screwed up. And I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t even want to.
After I found a group of guys handing out drinks from a giant jug of vodka, I retreated to the edge of the graveyard. Grabbing handfuls of snow, I pressed it to the sore spots on my face, finding some relief. Dom had yet to emerge from the church. No doubt the Kings were keeping him contained.
I was surprised they didn’t simply let him kill me. Maybe they didn’t trust him to handle it well given his emotional state every time he was around me. The man couldn’t keep himself together. I knew they weren’t doing it for me. They didn’t care whether I lived or died.
With vodka in my system and cold chunks of snow helping to cool me down, my body temperature began to drop. I slipped my hoodie back on, keeping my jacket close in case I needed it. I was content to wait out the party. Dom and I were not finished here.
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than he appeared. He stood outside the church with Casper hovering close. Our eyes locked across the distance. Unwilling to be the first to break, I held his steady gaze until he looked away.
A guy from one of my classes came over, offering me a joint, which I gratefully accepted. He leaned on the headstone next to me, giving my face a onceover.
“Are you all right, man? That looked fucking brutal.”
I took a deep drag from the joint, loving the way it mixed in my bloodstream with the alcohol. “It’s all good. Nothing a few painkillers can’t take care of.”
“That looked personal,” he said.
“It was.” I didn’t offer anything further, and he didn’t ask.
Instead, he changed the subject, steering it toward campus talk. Asking me about the latest class assignment. Simple bullshit meant to fill the space. I’d never hooked up with this guy, and I didn’t get the feeling he was angling for that. Just an acquaintance trying to make me feel better after watching me get my ass kicked.
Dominik didn’t know that though. From where he stood, we could’ve been engaged in a heavy flirtation. When I caught him staring hard in my direction, I knew that’s what he was thinking. Good. He deserved to suffer a little.
He went out of his way to keep his distance from me for the rest of the party. Or maybe that was simply because of Casper following him around wearing an irritated frown. As the night grew later and people began to disperse, a ball of excitement coiled tight in my stomach. I didn’t know what was going to happen when we were alone together, but I couldn’t wait to find out.
Once the first batch of people left, it didn’t take long for others to follow suit. They were ready to finish off their night in a warm location pressed against an even warmer body. I smoked a joint while waiting.
The Kings left one by one. Eventually, Dominik was the only one left. He stood on the broken concrete steps of the church, staring across the graveyard to where I sat on a headstone. The silence felt sudden and startling.
I didn’t wait around to be summoned. Pushing away from the headstone, I strolled over to the church. Discarding the remnants of my joint in the snow.
