stepped on the first rickety brown stair, which was one of three leading up to the huge wood building, a shadow crossed over my face. I reacted on instinct, swinging my body so the heavy bag slammed into the person's side.
"Fuck."
His tone was harsh, two-pack-a-day-smoker harsh, and I swallowed my groan at who I'd just hit. Jonnie was half sprawled by the side of the building, and even worse than that, he was covered in snow that had been knocked loose from a nearby tree he'd clipped.
Yeah, I was going to pay for that, but...
"You shouldn't grab women," I snapped at him, exhaustion and the lingering lack-of-sleep headache getting to me. "What did you expect would happen?"
Going on the offensive was always the right path. It threw people off track.
Jonnie's beady eyes bore into me as he straightened, dusting off his jacket. "Listen, bitch. You mouth off at me again, and I'll make Blake look like your best friend. Where the fuck were you all night?"
He grabbed me again, dragging me away from the hall—it felt like I sprained my damn ankle stumbling off the stairs. No attempt to wrench myself free worked as his grip grew tighter with each step, and I was worried he might break my wrist if he kept this up. Not to mention, he was dragging me toward his "shitty" cabin.
The one thing I'd managed to hold Blake off on was raping me, and I'd be dead before I allowed his fucking goon to do it either.
Looking around for a weapon, I used my boots to slow his stride, catching the thickly treaded soles on rocks and sticks. Even though it killed my wrist, I'd take a broken bone over this creep touching me any day. "Fucking walk, Brookie," he said, mocking me with the nickname my brother pulled out when he was beating me the worst. "Or I'll make you, and it will hurt."
Fuck. This. Jonnie was not my brother, and I knew Blake wouldn't appreciate anyone else beating me. He liked to save the good stuff for himself. Jonnie just thought he could push his luck out here, and I'd be too terrified to say anything.
He had no clue.
I scanned the ground again, more thoroughly, and when a decent-sized stick came into view, I kicked it up between us, not even caring that it smashed into me at the same time as it hit Jonnie in the back.
He cursed again but let me go, and I turned tail and ran, this time not looking down once. On ground this rough, it was only a matter of time before I tripped, and sure enough, I went down in a heap, not two minutes later. Before I could get up, Jonnie reached me and smashed his boot right into my ribs. As he went to kick me again, the sound of returning campers filtered through the clearing, which stopped him.
As I dragged myself up with a new ache in my side—and a graze on my face, if the pain there was any indicator—a group paraded into view, complaining loudly about the avalanche they'd had to dig through to get out. No doubt an obstacle orchestrated by the asshole guides.
I kinda wished I'd been there to dig instead of dealing with Jonnie and his bullshit.
"This is not over, bitch," Jonnie murmured in my ear before he turned and walked away. As he did, Dylan appeared on the path, his gaze meeting mine as his eyes narrowed. He shifted focus, looking over my face and down to my arm, held stiffly at my side.
I dropped the hold immediately, but it was too late. Dylan’s face hardened, and then faster than should be possible, he was in front of Jonnie. Blake's goon threw his hands up in surrender the moment he saw the sheer size of Dylan. He didn’t dare try and take him on. He was—unfortunately—smarter than that.
Dylan didn't look my way again, just spent a few minutes saying something to Jonnie, his expression darkening with each word. Jonnie, the arrogant fuck, wouldn’t be happy to be questioned, and this would get back to Blake.
My entire world was going to implode, I just knew it.
9
I was on tenterhooks all through breakfast and, despite how starving I was, barely touched the food as I waited for Dylan to ask about Jonnie.
Only he never came near me.
The rest of the room was loud, the guys having recovered from their night away. We’d lost about four who didn’t make it