“Because Teddy doesn’t suck donkey balls like you!”
The man tried to get past me. I shoved him back. He stumbled, tripped over his feet, and fell to the ground. He popped right back up, balling his fists.
“Don’t try me,” I said. “If I hit you, youwon’tget up.”
It wasn’t a threat. It was a warning. I tried to avoid fights at all costs, and when I did get pulled in, I tried to avoid punching anyone.
I was too big and too strong. It wouldn’t end well for any of us.
A big biker came rushing into the fray. I tensed. Fuck, was I going to have to fend him off too?
He and Knight both arrived on the scene at the same time.
“Need backup?” Knight asked.
“I’m his backup,” Bailey said defensively. “Or maybe he’s mine? Either way, we’re all set here.”
Luckily, the big biker—Teddy, it turned out to be—dragged away his angry friend.
“You’re just too good, kid,” Teddy said with a playful smile that rubbed me wrong. He was too old to be looking at Bailey like that.
“Tell him to learn how to lose gracefully!” Bailey called.
That enraged the loser all over again. He lurched toward us. Teddy wrestled him back. “CJ, stop letting him bait you! Jesus. That big guy can break you in half.”
“I’m tougher than I look,” CJ snarled. “Let me teach the brat a lesson.”
“Not happening,” Teddy said, holding him back with some effort.
“Maybe you should go,” Knight told Bailey. “That little dude is gonna force a fight, and we can’t get caught up in that. We’re still on parole.”
“Fuck,” Bailey cursed, his eye red and beginning to swell. “Yeah, okay. Sorry, Flynn. I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”
He skirted around Teddy, giving a cheerful wave while CJ fumed.
I turned to Knight. “I better make sure he’s okay. His eye is swelling shut.”
Knight raised one eyebrow, but he didn’t comment.
He could think what he wanted. They all could. I had a duty to watch out for Bailey. He was my bosses’ little brother, and he was young and injured.
I broke into a jog, catching up with him as he slipped out the door.
“Bailey,” I called.
He turned toward me, shoulders sagging, one hand pressed over his face, all the devil-may-care and brash confidence gone now that he wasn’t facing off with anyone. “No lectures, please. I’ve heard them all before.”
“No lectures,” I promised. “Just want to make sure you get home safe. Need me to drive you?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said. “Besides, I can’t go home. Can you imagine if Holden sees this?” He lifted his hand to display his shiner. “He’ll never let me hear the end of it.”
“Then where will you go?”
“I’ll just drive back to campus. I never should have been here. I just…”
He trailed off with a headshake.
“You can’t drive all the way back there at this hour,” I said, appalled. “You’ll hardly be able to see with that eye.”
