doll! It’s OK, guys, that’s just my girlfriend!”
Reluctantly, they let her pass, and she jogged over to us.
“You told her to come here?” I gritted my teeth. If she’d gotten here five minutes earlier . . .
“Psh! Naw, man. I got ninety-nine problems. I don’t need rich bitch drama on a night like this. Not like she didn’t have your last known whereabouts though. Must be true love.” He placed both hands over his heart and fluttered his eyelashes at me.
“You fucking prick!” Donna put the momentum of her jog behind a shove to Shady’s chest. He actually staggered back but laughed at the same time. Then she noticed me, and those gorgeous mismatched eyes went wide. “Oh, shit. Oh my god, what did they do to you?”
Her hands ghosted over my chest as she scanned my face. I must’ve looked even worse than I felt, because tears welled in her eyes, and her bottom lip quivered. Donna never cried in front of other people.
Keeping one hand braced against my aching ribs, I cupped her cheek with the other and pressed my forehead to hers. “It’s OK. I’m OK. I’m still standing.”
She just breathed, ragged, trying to get her emotions under control.
“How’d you get here so fast?” I tried to distract her.
“I was parked halfway between here and the nearest police station where I thought they’d take you.” She still looked as if she was fighting those tears, as if she was losing.
I quirked up the side of my mouth that wasn’t bleeding and tried for humor instead. “You should see the other guy.”
“The other guy is just fine.” Will’s cocky voice made me look up, and Donna froze. A police officer was leading him past us toward the back seat of a cruiser, while his dad was already being assisted into another one next to it.
“Bro, you’re in handcuffs.” Shady gave him an incredulous look. “You lost.”
Before he could reply, Donna turned toward him, putting her back to me. “You’re a piece of shit, Will. I hope you and your dad both rot in jail. And Hendrix might be too noble to hit you, but I’m not.” Lightning quick, she threw a punch. It was wobbly and off-center, but it still landed, making Will’s head snap back a little.
“Ow.” He lifted his hands to his face, prodding his nose, then balled them into fists at his chest. “What the fuck, Donna?”
I wrapped my free arm around her middle and pulled her back, wincing through the pain, as another cop rushed over.
“Ma’am, you need to step back.” The cop leading Will had let him pause, but now she was holding a hand out. “I’m going to have to place you under—”
Shady stepped forward and threw a punch of his own. His was much more powerful and accurate, and Will cried out in agony as blood started pouring down his face.
The cops rushed in, grabbing Shady and shuffling Will into the cruiser. Donna was forgotten as they roughly cuffed Shady’s arms behind his back and arrested him for assault.
Donna and I both raised our eyebrows at him.
“What?” He shrugged and grinned. “I like hitting people. Also, that guy was a dick. And I got a reputation to uphold.”
He winked at me as they dragged him away.
One of the cops eyed Donna disapprovingly, her hand hovering over the cuffs at her belt. But then she glanced at me—I made sure to look extra pathetic—and gave us both a warning look before walking off.
Donna turned to me as the two cruisers carrying Will and his dad peeled out of the lot. With a hiss, she held her hand out. “Holy fucking shit, that hurts so much.”
I smiled at her, and more blood trickled out of my busted lip. “I hope the pain was worth defending my honor.”
Her face was dead serious as she replied, “It was.”
An ambulance pulled in, lights flashing but siren off. I slung my free arm around her shoulders and started shuffling toward it. “Let’s get that checked out, Rambo.”
“Me? You’re the one who looks like you went into the ring with Ronda Rousey.”
“You know who that is? I’m impressed.”
“Don’t fucking patronize me, Hendrix.”
We bickered all the way to the ambulance. It was the perfect distraction from the pain of every step.
Chapter Thirty
Donna
The weather was warm enough that we could have the windows down as Hendrix drove us to school. With both our sunglasses firmly in place and Post Malone blasting from the speakers, we held hands over the center