Page 72 of Save Me

“I’m fine, truly, but please tell me you had nothing to do with what Rhett did to Evi…” She trails off as tears glisten behind her eyes, and Bryce has enough decency to look ashamed. “Fuck, seriously, Lockwood?” She wipes a tear away.

“I’m sorry,” he says, looking straight at me.

I open my mouth to respond to him but am cut short as Jax stands up, and I can feel the anger rippling through him. Suddenly it’s as if a switch has been flipped, and Jax’s personality shifts.

“So, you’re the infamous Bryce, or should I call you Lockwood?” he says with a smile and feigned confusion as he walks towards him, extending a hand.

I freeze at the gesture, knowing Jax, and wondering just what game he is playing right now, and what his end goal is.

Bryce reaches forward to return the greeting, the hesitancy clear in his movements, and rightfully so. As soon as their hands make contact, Jax launches himself towards him.

Sam screams, but I’m too shocked to make a noise, my hand quickly covering my mouth as he turns into someone completely unrecognizable. He’s a flurry of fists, moving so fast I can’t even see the next punch coming before it hits Bryce with a sickening thud or crunch.

I’ve never seen Jax fight before, never even thought about what he might look like, but now I would caution anyone before doing something that would land them on the receiving end of this.

Blood spatters as Bryce drops to the floor, and yet Jax shows no signs of stopping. Sam rushes towards them both, to do what I’m not sure, but Ryan wraps his arms around her tightly, holding her back despite her thrashing against him, wanting to get to her brother.

He’s going to kill him.

I look at Ryan, desperate for him to intervene. “Stop him before he kills him.” The panic in my voice is audible.

“Would that be so bad?”

“Ryan!”

Ryan gives a sigh, as if bored. He leans over, placing his mouth beside Sam’s ear and says something quietly to her.

Whatever he says has an immediate effect. She stops fighting him and he releases her, quickly pulling Jax off Bryce, who lays on the kitchen floor, groaning and clutching his—probably broken—nose as several cuts on his face drip with blood.

Jax shakes out his fists and walks out of the room, and I’m quick to follow behind him.

“Jax!” I yell after him, and his footsteps slow, allowing me to catch up to him.

I stand between him and our bedroom door, my eyes searching his.

“Before you say I went overboard, I want you to know the only reason I didn’t kill him is because he tried to help you. He did a shit job, but he tried. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let Ryan stop me.”

I nod, not sure what else to say, reaching my hand down to hold his.

He winces as my fingers interlace with his.

“You’re hurt.”

“I’ve had worse.”

“Come on, let me take a look.” I lead him into the bedroom, the door shutting softly behind us. “Sit,” I say, pointing to the bed.

“I like it when you’re bossy.” He smiles at me playfully, the familiar green fire dancing behind his eyes.

I roll my eyes in response as he moves towards the bed, sitting on top of the dark duvet, his legs wide and his eyes devouring every inch of me as I move towards him.

I lift his hands in mine, examining them carefully, both sets of knuckles are red, and a few spots have split open from the impact of his punches, blood pooling within the cracks of his skin. I bring my lips to one of the cuts, kissing it gently, and Jax watches me intently. As I move my lips to his other hand, I notice just how swollen it already is.

“You know, this could have been avoided if you were a little more rational and a little less… unhinged.”

“If you think that was unhinged, then you don’t want to see my definition of the word. Plus,” he adds, “if I had been more restrained, then I wouldn’t have you here, taking care of me.”

My heart skips a beat as I look at him, his fingers brushing softly against my lips.

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