“Nope. Fuck no!” I yelled. He was being completely irrational, and I was just seconds away from losing my shit again.

So many thoughts were running through my head. I just told the girl I loved her, and found out that she has some serial stalker, and he wants to take her away from me. How can he not see that I’ll protect her?

I’d protect her with my life.

“Fox!” She shouted. “You’re being ridiculous. He’s not going to hurt me. Why can’t you see that?”

Yeah. Why couldn’t he see that?

“You heard me. Get in the fucking car now.”

“You’re out of your mind.” My voice rose again. “You need to calm down. She’s not going anywhere.”

He was around her, and back in my face before I could even blink my eyes. “This is none of your business, and I won’t tell you that again. You stay away from her, or I’ll break your fucking neck.”

I shoved him hard enough away from me that he stumbled on his feet. “Don’t tell me what to do,” I spit out. My fists clenched at my sides.

We stood there eye to eye, neither of us willing to back down. I didn’t just put my neck on the line for some random girl, so that I could back down when things got too hard. I was all in.

Unfortunately, I should’ve paid more attention. I didn’t even see his fist coming. It only took one hit to my jaw, and I was on the ground. He packed such a punch that it took me a minute to realize what the hell had happened. My eye was already swelling, and I could feel it throbbing in my temple.

Damn that hurt.

“Now maybe you’ll keep your mouth shut. Get in the car Gwen.” Fox rambled as I did my best to sit up. When I shifted my body, I could feel the uneasiness inside my stomach twisting up in my core. I was going to be sick.

When I locked eyes with Gwen it made it worse. Her shoulders shook as she cried. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I have to go.”

I reached out my hand towards her, grasping nothing but air. My heart was pleading with her to stay, but every step she took away from me, felt like a knife to the heart.

She didn’t love me back, or maybe she did, but she was scared. I couldn’t tell. The only thing I knew was that she was leaving me. She made walking away seem so easy, and I don’t know why I expected anything different. She walked out of my life just as easily as she walked in. I should’ve expected as much.

I rested my back against the brick siding of the building, hunched over so I could catch my breath. I thought getting punched in the gut was the only way to knock the wind out of you. Man, I was wrong. Through rugged breaths, I watched as the three of them hurried from the alley. Feet pounding the pavement, and none of them looked back. She climbed into the car, and they sped off leaving me there to wallow. My bruised ego was hurting more than my bruised face.

I stood slowly, making sure the dizziness had worn off, before I made my way out of the alley. I kept my head down in hopes that no one had seen what just happened. If my eye looked anything like the way it felt, then it was horrible. Once I climbed into my car, I rested my head on the steering wheel for a minute. I had to calm myself down, before I could look at the damages to my face. At least that was the plan.

Lee obviously had other plans. I hadn’t been in the car two minutes, and my phone was blowing up. I had half a mind to toss it out the window, and watch it shatter into a million freaking pieces. I seriously wasn’t in the mood, and there was no way that word traveled that fast.

I pulled down the visor and pushed back the plastic covering of the mirror so that I could see my face. I knew it was going to be bad before I even looked, because I could feel the swelling.

It was worse than bad. Anyone who saw me would think I got my ass handed to me, not just sucker punched. It was already a purplish-blue color and it would probably be swollen shut by morning.

Slamming my palm against the steering wheel, I cursed him again. “Why am I so stupid?”

My phone buzzed again. “WHAT?!” I screamed into the receiver.

“Joshua Landon!” Lee yelled back.

“I’m sorry,” I replied quickly. It was just instinct to snap. My nerves were rattled, I was pissed off, and all I wanted to do was get wasted and forget about the whole mess.

“What’s going on? You ran off so quickly earlier, and I just wanted to know if you found out any more about Gwen. I’ve been worrying.”

I leaned my head back against the headrest, and closed my eyes. “It’s a long story, Lee. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Can I call you when I get home?”

“Yeah, sure,” was all she said.

I wasn’t trying to be a pain. Any other time she’d be the person I’d tell everything to. I just wasn’t in the mood. My head was throbbing, and I wasn’t ready to relive it all just yet.

“I’ll call you,” I promised.

“If you want me to come by the dorm later, I will. Just let me know.”

“I’m not going to the dorm. I’m going home.”

“To your parents’ house?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to go with you? I don’t mind.” She offered. I just wanted to be alone.

“I’m good.” I licked my lips. They were so dry that they hurt to touch. “I’ll text you when I get there.”

“Okay,” she hesitated. I could tell she had more to say, but she didn’t push it. Instead she said, “I love you. Be careful.”

“I love you too, Lee.”

After hanging up the phone, I backed out of the parking lot and made my way towards the highway.

If anything could give me peace of mind, it would be the long drive home.