“One more word and I’ll deck you, Taylor,” Jake growls. “Let’s go, baby.”
I flash him a smile. “Sounds good. Tristan? Leave Cece alone, or I’ll burn your life to the ground.”
He tosses the cigarette onto the lawn and takes a step toward me. “You psycho bitc?—”
Jake moves like lightning, his fist slamming into Tristan’s face with a brutal crack. Cece’s brother reels, stumbling backward, his hands over his nose. “You hit me!”
“I did.” Jake’s voice is cold. “I told you I would, and I did.”
“But we’re friends,” he moans, blood running through his fingers. “We’ve known each other?—”
“Forever. So why were you making a move on the girl I love behind my back?”
“I didn’t know?—”
“You did,” Jake says. “You fuckin’ knew. But you wanted to stick one up me, didn’t ya, Taylor? Because you’re a sore loser who couldn’t have made the grade if you’d paid your way in. And you probably tried, you weak-shouldered cunt.”
“Fuck you,” Tristan gasps.
“Fuck you right back. You’re a shit tackle and a shit friend, and you lied to Ada to try and take something that wasn’t yours.”
Tristan drops his hands long enough to smirk. “Didn’t have to try too hard. She’s a pretty easy?—”
Jake lunges, fisting Tristan’s shirtfront and yanking him up. Theirnoses are almost touching, Jake’s curled in rage, Tristan’s streaming blood.
“Do you…” Jake asks with chilling calmness. “... wanna spend the night in A&E?”
“N-No.No.”
“You’re not acting like it.” Jake yanks Tristan’s shirt higher. “I think you might be lying to me again, T-Bone.”
I watch Tristan’s already blotchy neck turn redder from the pressure. “Jake?”
He turns to me, and to my relief, drops Tristan like a sack of garbage. He hits the ground, hard, blood spattering onto the ground.
“Lucky for you, I’ve got better things to do tonight than put you in Emergency,” Jake says. “You can still go fuck yourself, though.”
He nudges Tristan’s side with his foot. Not a kick but close.
Tristan curls into himself with a moan. “We’refriends,J.”
“I’d go with ‘used to be.’” Jake lays a hand on the small of my back. “C’mon, babe.”
I let him steer me around Tristan Taylor.
“Give Cece the building,” I tell him as we pass his curled-up body. “And maybe lay off the blow tonight? Bloody nose and all that.”
“Drink as much as you want, though,” Jake adds. “Not like you’ve got a woman to satisfy later.”
It’s too good an exit line to burst out laughing, so I wait until we’re at the curb before throwing my head back and cackling. “You’re such a bitch!”
“I know,” Jake says smugly, then he turns his face upward and exhales. “Why didn’t anyone ever tell me righteous anger feels this good? It’s like a drug.”
“It’s my favourite drug. Or it was before you, anyway.”
Jake’s smile is pure malice as he bends to kiss my cheek. “Good girl. Now get ready. I’m gonna fuck you so good you wake up pregnant.”
“Jake!”
