Page 69 of Fight Or Flight

Relief washed over him. Being with her, hearing her voice, touching her lips, was the best feeling in the world. Way better than winning a stupid tournament. He put his hands on her hips, then slid them to her back. When he heard a loud whistle—probably Adam—and realized they’d drawn attention to themselves, he pulled back.

“Come on,” he said with a laugh.

He’d taken two steps toward his team when he felt a cold, damp hand grip his arm. He looked down at the long, red fingernails digging into his skin and shuddered.

“Ethan, can we talk?”

He turned to meet Lindsay’s mascara-smudged, tear-filled eyes.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He made a move to step around her, but she stepped in his path, wobbling and nearly falling over in her high-heeled shoes.

Derek stepped into view beside Lindsay, his face its normal rage-red.

“I think you’re drunk, Lindsay. We have nothing to talk about. Do you want me to call you a cab?” he asked.

“I . . .” She did a long blink as a sob escaped. “I don’t want to break up with you, Ethan.”

Yikes.

Ethan looked around at the crowd that had formed, then at Natalie, who was standing off to the side, looking uncomfortable. He didn’t want to deal with drunk Lindsay. He wanted to hang out with his friends and the girl of his dreams for however long she was going to stay.

He gently took her by the arm, trying to lead her away from the curious crowd and save her from herself, when Derek appeared in his path and blocked his way.

“Where are you two going, Ethan?”

Why had he never punched Derek before? The guy’s face brought out Ethan’s most violent side. “She needs to go home. I’m going to find her a ride.”

Lindsay wrenched her arm free from Ethan’s hand. “No! I want to talk. About us!”

Ethan looked around. The crowd had doubled. They couldn’t look away from the train wreck, and honestly, Ethan couldn’t blame them.

Derek came toward Lindsay, gripped her arm tight in his fist, then started dragging her toward him, but she resisted, leaning away from him and nearly falling.

“Whoa,” Ethan said. “What are you doing?”

Lindsay wrenched free from Derek and fell into Ethan, latching onto his body and sobbing into his chest. He held up his hands, not wanting to touch her, and completely clueless about what to do next.

He looked around, hoping an answer would fall into his lap, when Derek lunged at him. Derek fisted his hand, pulled back his arm, then exploded forward, aiming for Ethan’s face. But Ethan threw up his forearm at the last minute and blocked the blow. Lindsay was screaming into his chest. As annoyed as he was, he didn’t want her getting punched in the face, so he turned with her and started walking away. He needed some distance and a plan.

“I won’t fight you, Derek,” he said over his shoulder, and he took Lindsay by the elbow and started leading her toward the parking lot. Maybe he could find one of her friends to take her from there.

He’d got a few steps when Derek grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Rearing back his fist, same as before, he aimed for Ethan’s face. Ethan could see it coming a mile away. He even had time to roll his eyes before ducking. He had to admit it was satisfying to watch Derek trip and fall to the ground with the forward momentum that never connected, but he’d rather the whole thing just be done.

Derek let out a war cry from the ground, jumped up, and charged again with the same fist and the same move that hadn’t worked twice before .

Ethan could have easily shot out his foot to Derek’s kneecap and taken him down, but he didn’t want to lower himself to Derek’s level and start fighting over a girl he wasn’t even interested in. So he waited until the last second and was about to dodge his fist again when Derek froze midair, then flew backwards.

Adam’s face appeared over Derek’s head. His usual happy-go-lucky expression was long gone. He looked ready to kill. He held on to the neck of Derek’s shirt in his fist, gagging him.

“It’s time you go, asshole,” Adam said, dragging him away from Ethan, but Derek resisted.

“I’m not going anywhere!” Derek yelled, flailing around and swinging his fists, trying to hit Adam.

Ethan was watching Adam struggling to pull Derek back, and he didn’t notice Lindsay until she reached her hands up to touch his face. He took hold of her hands and removed her from him. He took a step away.

“Please, Ethan,” she said through tears. “Please.”

Ethan shook his head. “No. You need to go home.”

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