And the crowd went wild.
He shook his head at me. “You little shit.”
And I smiled even though my hands were shaking. This was more comfortable for me. I was used to rough housing with guys.
But he inched forward, threatening, “I’m going to get you in a closet for that.”
“Not if you can’t catch me.” Then I sucked in a breath and stepped forward, launching my fist toward his face, but he knocked it away. I quickly shot my left palm up under his jaw, sending his head jerking backward.
Oh, shit, it worked!
He stumbled and growled, grabbing me by the sweatshirt, yanking me in, throwing me over his shoulder. Not again!
“Is that the only way you can win, huh?” I barked, squirming as the bystanders reeled with enjoyment. “You pick up the guys you fight, too? Or do you like your men bent over, is that it?”
Laughter filled the hallway, but then I was flying again, and I squealed, my ass crashing into the ground. What the hell?
The wind was knocked out of me, and I coughed, trying to get in a breath.
Will came down on top of me, pushing me onto my back and grabbing my wrists. I fought, struggling my burning muscles against his hold, but he eventually forced my hands above my head, holding them there. I wasn’t strong enough. Son of a bitch.
I shifted under his weight, the crowd howling around us as he pinned me to the floor.
Will grunted, the stench of beer all over his breath as he struggled to keep hold of me. “This is what you really want, isn’t it, runt?”
“Eat shit!”
I thrashed under him, but he just busted up laughing.
They were all laughing. My brother was right. This was what it always turned into with women. I was reduced to being on my back, no doubt where Easy Cheese here thought I belonged.
I belted out a growl, throwing all my weight up into him, and flipped him over. I landed one punch, knocking him in the nose, before he threw me off. I landed on the ground, and we both scrambled to our feet, him holding his nose and wincing.
I launched for him again.
But someone caught my sweatshirt from behind and an arm wrapped around my waist, lifting me up off my feet.
“Whoa, there, Tiger.” The broad chest at my back shook as the man behind me laughed.
I breathed hard, jerking my head to get a look.
I came face to face with a silver mask. The hood of his black hoodie was down, but I met his eyes as they gazed down at me and saw his dark hair.
Kai.
He looked ahead, jerking the chin of his mask. “What the hell are you doing?”
I looked to Will, his head tilted back, his finger under his nose, and blood trailing down to his top lip. “Getting the shit kicked out of me,” he grumbled as the crowd’s amused chatter surrounded us. “She’s a scrapper.”
“I only got hits in, because you let me,” I spouted off. “Let’s finish it. For real this time.”
Will rolled his eyes, and Kai tightened his hold, but I heard his breathy laugh behind me.
“No one wants to see you hurt, babe,” Kai said, lowering my feet to the ground and coming to stand at my side, looking down at me. “You okay?”
I pushed my hair behind my ear, pausing when I realized my hood had come down. I glanced left to right. Please, let Damon not have spotted me here.
I pulled up the hood, covering myself as much as possible.