Page 63 of Degradation
I make myself ignore his words. ‘You made a mistake listening to Jolie,’ I tell him. ‘You should have left Daisy alone.’
‘Why the fuck do you care what I did?’
‘Because she’s mine,’ I whisper.
And then I break his arm.
The crack and his high-pitched scream reverberate through the gym, and the sound of them make me giddy in my little black soul.
I stand up. Not one pair of eyes are on us, which means every single guy in here is watching.
‘Looks like Kirkland is out,’ I say, stepping off the mat and grabbing my stuff.
I give both Baker and McCauly pointed looks and Kirkland a final kick to the ribs that makes him groan as I walk past, leaving the gym just as Coach enters. I give him a wink.
‘Kirkland fell.’
‘What the hell is going on in here?’ he yells loudly. ‘Jesus, Kirkland, can’t you go one practice without falling over and getting hurt? You’re off the team. Get your shit. Mafosa, you have a car, right? Drive this idiot to the ER, would you?’
I grin as I push open the outer door and then wait in the shadows close by. If Baker and McCauly know what’s good for them, they’ll come.
It’s only a few minutes before the door swings open and I see their silhouettes in the light behind them. They look nervous. They should. They know what’s about to happen, but I let them sweat, get close before I strike.
I walk out to where they can see me. They don’t bother running.
I don’t speak; I just start throwing punches. They don’t fight back, just let me wail on them until I decide I’ve had enough. When I’m done, Baker’s on his back in the grass and McCauly is on his hands and knees spitting blood. They’re both groaning in pain. I don’t say anything. I don’t need to. They know what they did, and they know what never to do again.
When I make my way back to the house, I feel lighter than I have in a while. I check my watch. Not too late. Daisy might still be up. The realization has me excited andhappy. I shake my head ruefully. What is this girl doing to me?
I get in and see some of the guys milling around. Usually I stop, have a beer, play a game of poker maybe, and they call me over.
But I’d rather see Daisy, so I head straight up to her room.
Her door is ajar, and I see Mav laying on the bed with her. He’s got his laptop open, catching up on some work. She’s asleep next to him, her hand on his arm.
At my disappointed look, he shrugs. ‘She was tired, like you said.’
I nod. ‘You always in here, now?’
He looks at her and lets out a sigh. ‘She’s been having nightmares. She sleeps better when I’m here.’
I glance at her in concern. Nightmares?
But I cover my feelings with a chuckle.
‘You or just one of us in general?’ I mutter with a grin. ‘My turn tomorrow.’
‘If she wants.’ His brow furrows a little. ‘You’re in a good mood. Practice was okay?’
‘You could say that.’
I leave it at that and go to my room, yawning loudly. It may not be late, but I’m beat. It’s been a stressful few days. At least things are looking up, though.
I take a quick shower and check the security scan. It’s about halfway done, so I leave it to keep going and go to bed.
A beep wakes me, and it takes me a second to remember that it’s probably the scan finishing. It’s two in the morning, but I want to update the system, and I know that’s going to take a few hours, so I haul myself out of bed and wake up the screen.
My eyes widen at the report, and I sit down in my chair hard, my eyes scanning the red list of alerts and notices.
