“Avery, go back inside,” I demanded when I stepped out onto the black pavement.
She scowled at me right before something behind me caught her eye. I swiveled my head back in time to catch a right hook to the jaw.
“Danny!” Avery shrieked. She ran to my side, but Nikko curled his arms around her and held her back.
“I deserved that,” I said, working my jaw.
Danny swung again, and his fist exploded into the other side of my face.
“AH, dude!” Tic shook his head.
My hands closed into fists at my sides as I took steady breaths, trying to calm the fire burning in my stomach.
“Danny, knock it off!” Avery shouted, twisting in Nikko’s hold.
“Let them work this out,” Nikko muttered back.
She threw him a look I was glad to not be on the receiving end of.
I stood up tall and looked down the two inches I had on Danny. He reared back again, and I shook my head.
“I deserved the first one and probably the second. But if you hit me again, you’d better make it a good one because if I get back up, you’re going down.”
Danny lowered his fist and then shook it once. His knuckles were already turning pink. “Fuck you, man.”
Lexie put her hands on her hips. “Okay. Do you feel better now? Are we done with this, boys?”
“Shut up, Lex. Go back inside,” Danny told her.
“Fine. I will. Someone has to make sure Nina’s birthday isn’t ruined.” She jerked her head at Nikko. “You coming? She’s your girl.”
“My girl?” Having any sort of title or claim to a girl was a foreign concept to Nikko. He hesitated but released Avery and followed Lexie inside.
Tic stayed behind.
“This is all because I kissed him?” Avery asked, stepping forward.
Danny ignored her and narrowed his eyes on me. “How long have you been screwing my sister?”
I saw Tic’s head snap up out of the corner of my eye. “Wait. This is the girl you told me about?”
“We’re not—” Avery began.
“About three weeks,” I answered.
Danny’s eyes flickered between me and Avery, letting my honesty sink in. “Th-three w-weeks?” he stuttered. I could see his anger turning up a few notches in eyes that looked like Avery’s but were much, much colder.
“If you want the truth, I kissed her when we played at the Warfield last month. We could’ve started then, but we didn’t.”
“Are you looking for a gold star? Go to hell, asshole.” Danny’s chest puffed.
“Look, it wasn’t supposed to happen. I tried to—” I glanced at Avery and then back at him. “I screwed up.”
“No fucking shit you did!” Danny paced back and forth, giving me a look similar to the one my dad had given me when he was being handcuffed outside our house.
I’d betrayed him.
“And you…” Danny charged at Avery.
