Page 62 of Beautiful Soldier

“That’s easy,” Johnny says with a quick lift of his shoulders. “You’re going to kick his ass.”

I swallow, my throat suddenly tight. Considering I’d come to the exact opposite conclusion, I don’t know how to react. “What happens if he loses?”

“None of your concern. He brought it upon himself when he decided he wanted to fast-track it into the Crew.”

I stare into Johnny’s ice-blue eyes. Despite the words coming out of his mouth, I detect a hint of hesitation on his side. He has to think of Manning when he sees Brawler. He’s just saying all this for me because Johnny would literally give up everything for me. “It is my concern,” I say. “Brawler’s not going to get hurt because of me.”

Johnny’s jaw ticks, and he moves me off him. He stands, hands perching on his hips as he glares down at me. “So, you’re willing to let him beat the shit out of you, so he can get his way? That’s what you’re saying?” A chill creeps through me. It’s the sudden lack of him that’s the problem. Couple that with the daggers that are now being sliced through me, and I sit on the couch like a chastised child while he continues. “It’s not happening, Kyla. Brawler’s not going to touch you, and if he tries, I’ll—”

I stop him before he can make that threat. I don’t want to hear it, and I don’t want him to put it out there either. He’s better than that. We’re better than that. “Your father did this. Not Brawler.”

He gives me a look like he’s telling me to get real. “My father’s running the Crew like he always does. You think him making this fight was just a spur-of-the-moment decision? It wasn’t. He knows you’re friends. When people want into the Crew, we tear them down. We make sure they know the only family they have is the Crew family. You guys in the ring will show him what Brawler’s about. If he tries to take you out, he gets a plus sign in the Crew column. If he wusses out—if he phones it in—that’s all the information Dad needs to make his decision.” He glares at me. “The same goes for you, too. You need to fight for your own survival.”

His words harden my bones. I get to my feet, not letting him glower over me any longer. “We can figure something else out.”

Johnny shakes his head. “He won’t be satisfied until you’re both shedding blood out there. I let you have your little dinner. I didn’t kick his ass out, but from here on out, Brawler is not your friend.”

Johnny turns, but I stop him in his tracks. “No.”

He peers over his shoulder, his shocked gaze biting, as if threatening me to disagree. “No?”

“No, Johnny. That’s not how this works. I care about Brawler, and I’m not going to just kick his ass and not give a fuck what happens to him. We can come up with another plan.”

“He’ll kick your ass without a second thought.”

“Bullshit.”

“Not bullshit,” Johnny growls. “That’s the way things happen here. It’s everyone for themselves.”

“You have got to get that notion out of your head,” I growl right back. “That’s not how the real world works. Brawler’s upset we’re fighting. If you took two seconds to look at him, you’d see it written all over his face. He joined so he could help keep me safe just like you want to. He’s worried your dad might actually try to hurt me.”

Johnny’s jaw ticks.

“So, I’m not going to just turn around and screw him over before he screws me over first. I’d rather be wrong than do that to someone I care about.”

Johnny turns, exploding. His hands ball to fists, and a ball of rage detonates from his chest in a scream that makes my heart stop. The tension in the thick air burns hot. Goosebumps skitter up and down my skin. He turns slowly. “You keep saying you care about him. What’s that mean, Kyla? You keep saying you care about all of them. What are you saying?”

My heart wrestles for control in my chest. It’s hard to know if this is the right moment. I have to go with my gut. He’s asking me a direct question. If I lie to him now, it’ll hurt even worse when he learns the truth. I send a silent prayer that I’m not signing anyone’s death warrants and then turn pleading eyes to Johnny. “It means I like them,” I say, voice as even as it can be given the situation.

He drags his gaze down me. My body flushes at his inspection. He moves forward with purpose. He’s so close his breath brushes over my nose. “Does he make you hot?” His hand moves to cup my mound before I can say anything. His finger works between my legs, stroking me. “Does he turn you on?”

I moan.

Johnny snakes his hand under my leggings, past my panties, and thrusts a finger into my wet heat. “Does he make you feel like this?”

He pumps his finger in and out of me while his strong arm pins me to his side.

“Johnny,” I gasp, trying to push him away, trying to wrangle my emotions under control. Out of everything that could’ve happened, this is not what I ever imagined.

He removes his finger only to thrust two deep inside. A low mewl purrs from my throat. I grip the sides of his unbuttoned shirt, holding on as he drives his fingers in and out. It’s as if he’s battling for control over me. Like he thinks if he can do this it means he still has me. Maybe he’s caught on to the way I am with them. Maybe he’s seen right through me all this time.

Or maybe he’s just being Johnny. The commandeering, demanding asshole he can be. Taking something from me I don’t want to give him right now.

We don’t say anything as he drives me higher and higher, my breathing practically tumbling over from one breath to the next. He doesn’t kiss me. He doesn’t give me secret, sweet thoughts. There’s nothing intimate about this moment.

As much as I wish I could lock my body down and not give it what Johnny is demanding, it doesn’t happen.

I spiral out of control, my core clenches around his fingers. He doesn’t even wait until I come down. At the first feel of my climax, he withdraws his fingers, leaving me swaying on my feet, my pussy clenching around nothing while I finish my orgasm.

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