Page 25 of Devoured

"She said stop." Tyler put his hand on my chest and lightly shoved me back.

I looked down at my chest and then back at him. He did not just shove me. He did not just put his hands on me because I was talking tomygirlfriend. When he’d had the audacity to get her drunk and take advantage of her. I wasn’t in the wrong here. He was. This guy had a death wish.

"Tyler," I said and nodded my head at him. I hoped he realized that what I was actually saying was, “If you don’t step back I’m going to kill you.”

"James, is it?" he said sarcastically.

Fuck off. Seriously. It’s for your own good."Look, she's drunk. I'm just going to take her home." My home. Because she belonged with me.

"Jesus, I'm not drunk," Penny said.

Yes, she most definitely was drunk. And this dick was to blame. Was I the only one looking out for her? Where the hell was Melissa right now? She was surrounded by immature idiots. It had never been more clear that she needed me. And I wasn’t going anywhere this time.

"She can spend the night if she wants to,” Tyler said. “Don't worry about it.”

Yeah, he definitely wanted to die. "That's exactly what I'm worried about. Penny, let's go. Now."

It looked like she wanted to come with me. But she hesitated again. And her feet stayed firmly rooted in place.

Tyler put his arm out in front of Penny even though she didn't move. "She's not going anywhere with you. Why are you even here?"

I swear, if he touched her or me one more time, he wouldn’t be walking tomorrow. "Because my girlfriend invited me."

"She's definitely not your girlfriend. Get the fuck out of my house."

Penny wouldn’t have rubbed this in my face. But Tyler clearly had no problem doing it. I wanted to hear it from him. I wanted him to tell me he fucked my girlfriend right to my face. And then I’d be in the right when I punched him. "What is that supposed to mean?" I looked over at Penny. I wanted to hear it from her too. I wanted her to confess that she cheated on me with this imbecile.

"You know what it means," Tyler said.

What a pussy. He couldn’t even look me in the eyes and tell me. "Tyler. Get out of my way." I took a deep breath. I knew I was seconds away from snapping.

Tyler just stared at me. "Or what?"

I took another step toward Penny, but Tyler shoved me in the chest again. Harder this time. I took a few steps back to steady myself.Don’t do it. Don’t do it.I said the words over and over again in my head. But no mantra was calming me down tonight. I shook my head back and forth like I could knock the idea of murdering him out of my head. But it wasn’t going anywhere. It was as frozen in place as Penny.

"Tyler," Penny said quietly. She reached out and touched his shoulder.

I stared down at her hand on Tyler’s shoulder.

Her hands were mine to hold. No one else’s.

But Penny was trying to calmhimdown. She was going tohim. She was choosinghim.

And I finally snapped. I balled my hand into a fist and cocked my arm.

“James!” Penny screamed.

But she was too late.Iwas too late. I didn’t care about making a scene. I didn’t care that I was probably about to be fired. It felt like I’d lost Penny. And nothing else mattered. All I could feel was this pounding in my head. And I just needed a release. Tyler’s face was just begging to be rearranged.

So I punched him. Square in the nose.God that felt good.

Tyler cursed and stumbled backward. His nose immediately started gushing blood.

I smiled. I’d been dying to do that ever since he’d given her a “friendship rose.”Friendship rose my ass.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Penny touched the side of Tyler's face. "Oh my God, Tyler."

She was about to be a hell of a lot more worried about Tyler. Because I’d only just started.

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