“I’m not training with you,” she says, sliding the gear off of her lap and onto the floor.
“C’mon. I know you’ve been thinking about hitting me since the day we met. Worried you are going to like my hands on you a little too much?” he says playfully, bouncing back and forth. “I promise, I won’t hurt you. Unlike your precious little Reaper, I don’t get off on making women cry.”
Anger bubbles in her chest.
Liz shoots to her feet, shoving her hands in the gloves. Once the mouthguard is in her mouth, she steps up. Training with Riley all these months has given her an edge she never expected to have. Maybe he was on to something, having her train with only the best of the best.
Matt swings, very obviously pulling his punches, treating herlike some weak woman who can’t handle a proper fight. He may be holding back, but she has no intention of doing the same.
She ducks, avoiding the next wave of hits, swinging her arm out just before he finishes his own. Her fist connects with his jaw, a satisfyingthudechoing throughout the room. So focused on the fist swinging toward her face, she never saw the leg sweep coming. Liz goes careening into the mat, rolling out of the way just before Matt drops on top of her. Liz is up in an instant, kicking her own leg out, her shin connecting with the back of his head, sending him tumbling forward. She tiptoes around him, watching him climb back to his feet.
“Alright hold,” Mikey exclaims.
Liz tumbles to the ground, the taste of blood filling her mouth before she can even register what happened. She heard hold and looked away for a second, that much she knew.
“Fuck!” Mikey shouts as she hits the mat, hard, unmoving as footsteps race to where she lies. Her ears ring and her head throbs, but she is conscious and that’s all she needs. She prods her lip with her tongue and all she can taste is the coppery tang of blood. Her mouth guard is long gone, flying out of her mouth at the impact. Fighting past her mind screaming at her to stay down, she climbs to her feet. Her pure, unfiltered rage takes on a mind of its own.
“I am going to fucking kill you,” she spits. Ripping the gloves off and throwing them, she ignores the symphony of voices surrounding her, all sounding panicked and lunges for him. She screams in frustration as too many hands grab her, pulling her back as she lunges for Matt.
It is too late.
She fights back like a captured animal, bending and twisting to get free, but there are too many of them. The moment she gets an arm or leg free, another pair of arms grips it again. Her vision is stained red, blood from somewhere on her face pooling into hereye. One minute she is fighting her way past three overgrown men, the next she is turned sideways, being swung onto one of their shoulders. She can’t scramble out of Mikey’s grip. He holds firm, fireman carrying her out the door and across the parking lot.
Each bounce as Mikey jogs with her pinned to him has drops of blood falling from her face. She watches them hit the cement below her, trying to focus on that instead of strangling her friend until he lets her go.
“Put me down,” she seethes in his ear, resisting the urge to bite him so he drops her. “People are staring”
“Yeah, because you’re covered in blood with wild eyes. They probably think you have rabies or some shit,” he says, continuing his slow jog, each bouncy step making the throbbing in her head worse.
“I will be good, just put me down before my head fucking explodes,” she begs.
He loosens his grip enough to hold out a pinky. She wraps her own around it with a sigh and is placed on her feet. When she sways, Mikey’s arm comes around her, helping her stay upright.
“Ry is back,” he states after catching her head turning back, anger flaring when she locks eyes with Matt, watching her be pulled away. She curses at him under her breath for saying the one thing that has her rethinking her need to sprint across the lot and finish what she started. “He is stuck with Ty and Alex, darlin. They might not show it, but they are just as protective as Riley and me. They will make sure he is taken care of.”
She ignores him, forcing one foot in front of the other. She does her best to ignore the pain throbbing behind her eyes, not stopping until she is ripping the door to the housing unit open. Mikey trails close, letting her storm her way through the halls. Her anger fades the moment she charges into their living room. Thefear and wrath painted on Riley’s face is enough for the both of them.
He rushes to her side, gingerly gripping her face in his hands. She smiles, watching his eyes scan every inch of her, lingering on her lips. No words are spoken as he leads her into the kitchen, helping her settle into one of the chairs. She smiles through the pain, forgetting everything that happened while she watches the mountain of a man fumble with a first aid kit, trying not to wince when he starts to clean the blood from her face.
“Who?” he asks. She has never been afraid of Riley before, but in this moment, when she sees the murderous look behind his eyes, she feels what she never has, fear for the man in front of her. Not fear for herself, but for what he will do when he finds out who hurt her.
The haunting look turns soft as soon as his eyes settle on hers, gently wiping the blood from her brow with a damp cotton ball.
“Someone better tell me what the fuck happened,” he orders.
“Matt gave her a two piece combo when she wasn’t looking,” Mikey says in one big rush. “The guys came in, I told them to hold, she looked up and he got her. Ty texted that the medic should be here anytime to stitch her eye up.”
“Is he still breathing?” he asks.
Liz can see it in his eyes, the shift from Riley to Reaper. They darken, his soft gaze hardening, like all emotion was ripped away from him. It is truly terrifying.
She grips his hand in hers, refusing to let go. The last time she saw him this mad was the day he left to find her brother and, as much as she would love to give Matt that same treatment, Liz knows it is not so easy.
“Only because the three of us were there, and even that was a struggle. She was going to kill him,” Mikey explains.His eyes find hers, softening when he finds her glancing up at him, even with her eye swelling.
Riley hands her a cool, wet rag, helping her press it against the side of her mouth.
“That’s my girl,” he coos. Liz and Mikey exchange a confused glance. Riley seems to be taking everything a little too well. They watch him disappear into the bedroom, returning a moment later, sliding a loaded clip into one of Liz’s handguns. Liz stares at him with wide eyes, knowing that should not have turned her on.
