Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,55

there’s anything to talk about anymore.” And I didn’t want to fucking talk about it with them or anyone for that matter.

I stalked back to the doors, then halted when I saw Peggy’s car pull into the lot.

The guys fell silent behind me as she took her time getting out, boots on, hair curled and bouncing around her shoulders.

She locked the car, her mustard leather bag hanging over her arm as she crossed the lawn.

Rage and betrayal brewed inside, creating a wildfire of heat that needed a way out. Silently, I begged for her to just look at me, lift her head and show me that what I’d heard wasn’t true.

When she reached the stairs, she glanced up, tilting as she almost tripped on the first step. I saw her chest heave as she inhaled, and then it happened. Tear soaked eyes searched mine, and I knew.

They weren’t gossiping for no reason. There was always a reason among the lies, and today’s reason was my best friend.

The girl I’d stupidly gotten hung up over.

I headed for the other set of stairs, taking the long way around the gardens to the parking lot.

“Dash?” Her voice was like ice over a burn, but I wouldn’t let it soothe me, not when she was the one who’d inflicted the pain in the first place.

“Dash!”

I heard Lars tell her to leave me be, and then I heard nothing but the quiet, pitiful thud of my own heartbeat as I shut myself in my car and got the hell out of there.

I didn’t get far.

No, that was impossible.

I parked, and I waited. And when the clock struck two, I drove back and parked right next to his ghastly fucking truck.

The trees ceased their swaying, and the air felt stickier than it should as I balled my fists at my side, clenching and unclenching while he took his sweet-ass time to get to his car.

Come on, asshole. Look up and see the wrath that awaits you.

As if hearing the silent command, he skidded to a stop, the smile he’d worn while typing on his phone slipping as quickly as he pocketed it. “Wondered where you might be.”

Was that resignation I detected? Good. He should be resigned to this. But that wasn’t enough. I cracked my knuckles, and his steps slowed as he heard the sound. I didn’t want him resigned. I wanted him dead or as close to it as possible.

He threw his hands out, his gym bag hitting the asphalt. “What can I say, man?” His lips wiggled into a smile. “I’m so far from sorry I forget what the word even means.”

I launched at him, taking both of us to the ground. The concrete bit into my elbow, jarring my arm, but I didn’t care. The thud and pained sound that came from Woods as he hit the ground was music to my ears. My fist smashed into his face, and he landed an uppercut to my jaw. My head spun, but my rage couldn’t be stopped, and blindly, I kept landing blow after blow. His chest, his cheek, his mouth, and then I heard a pop, and blood gushed over my fists.

Yelling and shouting had ensued, but I was too far gone, trapped beneath waves of agony that needed release, to hear much of anything.

Hands wrenched at my shoulders, and a fist met the side of my mouth, the tang of blood smearing over my tongue as I shouted, struggled, and cursed for them to release me.

“Fuck, stop.” Raven’s voice penetrated.

“You’re going to kill him or give yourself a damn heart attack. Fucking chill.” Lars slapped at my face as Rave and Jackson held me back, and a teacher helped Byron sit up on the ground.

“Mr. Thane.” Principal Denham stomped over in his crocodile knock-offs. “My office. Now.”

I ignored him and the hellfire look twitching his pudge-infused face, tearing my arms out of my friends’ grip. “No need. I’ll see myself out.” I wiped at my lip, my heart thrashing like a wounded beast as I watched Byron stand, one of his eyes already swollen shut.

It wasn’t enough. The fact he’d wake up and maybe be able to see a slit of sunlight wasn’t anywhere near enough.

“Mr. Thane, I won’t tell you again.”

“What about that dickhead?” Lars pointed at Byron while I spat blood on the ground, then finally, I took a good look at the crowd that’d gathered.

“Language, Lars,” Denham said.

Half the school had left, but the other half that hadn’t were