“Prescott!” Blake sneers, puffing out his chest. “Just having a chat with your… companion.” His gaze slides to me, leering.
West stands a few feet away, lantern light carving him into shadow and muscle. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t need to. Every line of him hums with restraint.
“Walk away, Blake.” Not a suggestion. An order. Final. “Now.”
Blake’s face twists. Humiliation curdles into rage. Scarlett dismissed him. And now West is talking to him like a misbehaving child.
In front ofme.
He steps closer, jabbing a finger into West’s chest. “Or what, Pres? You gonna hit me?”
Blake has a death wish.
“No, Blake, don’t,” I say quickly. “Genuinely. This is a bad idea.”
“Stay out of this, bitch!”
West’s jaw tightens. His eyes never leave Blake’s hand.
“Last chance,” he says calmly. “Walk. Away.”
“He’s a professional athlete,” I add, because apparently I’ve chosen chaos.
“You’re drunk. The math doesn’t work.”
Blake scoffs and shoves West—hard.
West doesn’t budge. Not an inch. He absorbs it like a brick wall, only a slight tightening around his eyes giving anything away.
West exhales slowly. “You done?”
Blake shoves him again, harder—and nearly falls over from his own effort.
“Sober up,” I snap. “You understand West gets slammed into boards by men on skates going twenty miles an hour, right?”
West doesn’t look at me, but I hear the faintest edge of humor creep into his voice. “She’s not wrong.”
Blake growls and swings.
West leans back casually. The punch misses by a mile.
“…That was slow,” I blurt.
West finally glances at me. “Painfully.”
Blake stumbles, spins with the momentum, and winds up again.
“Blake, buddy,” I call out, unable to stop myself, “you’re gonna throw out your shoulder—”
“I said shut up!” Blake roars, swinging wild. Slurring his words, swaying on his feet, trying to puff his chest up again.
“Jane. Step back.” West warns me.
"—you think he’s so special with big muscles and big body—his little thing doesn’t work—where it counts—so take that—"
"Can you just knock him out?" I ask West, genuinely curious. "Like, one punch? End this?"
West's jaw tightens. His hand flexes at his side.
