Grabbed, instantly, and my phone fell as I was shoved against the ground. Two guys were on top of me, one holding down my arms while the other attempted to rip my bag off my arm. They were wearing black masks, dark hoodies and slacks, and the one on my back forced my face into the ground, cutting off a scream. I bucked. “Take it! I don’t fucking care. Just get off me!”
They took the bag easily, but I noticed the one on my back didn’t get off me. His hand encased my throat, squeezing all air from my lungs. He leaned in. “We’ll take something else if you don’t mind, sweetness.” The one on my back slapped the other against his chest, easily both guys with their sizes. “Who knew we’d be going after such a sweet piece of ass.”
The other laughed, my scream cut off again when the guy on my back pushed his knee between my legs. “Relax, sweetness. It won’t hurt. Much.”
The guy on my back started to grab my leg, but the other held his shoulder. He shook his head. “Bro, we were just paid to mess with her.”
“And we are,” said who was clearly the leader. He glanced around the area, the world dark, and sickness rose at how incredibly alone I was in this situation. It was just me and these guys, these two who’d obviously intended to hurt me. The guy on my back honed in, smelling starkly of alcohol. “But since no one’s around, how about we play with her a little bit.”
The other guy curled a finger against my face, obviously agreeing, but while they were debating whatever sick and twisted shit they planned, I was balling my fist.
I twisted beneath the guy on my back, swinging and socking the fucker right in his throat.
He gasped, falling off me and grabbing his windpipe. The other asked him if he was okay, and I grabbed his shoulders, kneeing him in his balls.
He shot off a curse immediately, falling to the ground, and scraping from between the two of them, I got my bearings, getting the fuck out of there. I’d never been so fucking happy for those moves my stepdad cop taught me.
“Fucking get her!”
In turning back to see who said that, I crashed into a wall, immediately embraced by a sturdy set of arms.
“Greer? What the fuck?” Eyes wild, Knight grappled me, pulling me up by the arms. “You okay? Where are those fuckers who came after you?”
He knew I’d been attacked? Panicking from a near assault, I couldn’t formulate words, but it turned out, I didn’t need to. Knight’s gaze passed clear over me to the guys who were still reeling from being kicked in the balls and punched in the throat. The assholes were quite literally on their backsides, and seeing that, Knight’s eyes twitched wide. He faced me. “Did you do that?”
Fuck yeah, I had. I nodded. “Ben showed me some stuff. He said just in case.” And thank God he had.
Knight’s hand moved over my face and outlining my mouth, he chuckled. “I’ve never been more grateful for that fight and mouth.”
He let me go after that, told me to stay where I was and call the cops. Before I knew it, he was going over to both of the guys, picking them up by the scruffs of their shirts like they were freakin’ toddlers.
One flailed. “Hey, man. What the fuck—”
A jab to the face of one, followed by a boot to the stomach once he hit the ground. After Knight got that one down, he started in on the other, repeated jabs over and over again to the face. “You a big tough guy, huh?” He growled, another hit. “Messing with girls? You want to hit someone? Fucking hit me.”
No one was getting any hits in, not with Knight repeatedly going back a
nd forth between the two. Upon finding my phone, I called the police and told them what was up quickly. After, I ran over to Knight. “Stop. They’re down, okay?”
He wouldn’t stop, a blind rage and probably would have continued if not for the sirens. Before I knew it, a few armed officers were getting out of their squad cars, Knight barely able to be peeled away so they could do their jobs. The cops started to go for Knight too until I cut in. “No. It was just those masked guys. Knight was helping me.”
I put my hand on his chest, his heart beating a mile a minute inside his mighty chest. Staring at me, he looped an arm around my waist and grabbed hold of my bib overalls, like he needed a hold of me just to stay stable. He didn’t let up until both guys were arrested, and even then, it was only to take my hand. He placed it right on mine…
The one on top of his heart.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Knight
After the police settled things down and took our statements, Greer and I went back to her apartment. I refused to let her walk the rest of the way by herself, and to my surprise, she actually invited me upstairs after I walked her.
“Want something to drink?” she asked me, her roommates not in. Though since she texted them right after we got in, I could imagine they’d be here soon. They’d been blowing up her phone with texts even more than her Mom had. Greer called her at the scene, and both her mom and her stepdad had quite reasonably freaked out. The thing had been a fucking mess, but eventually, Greer had been able to talk them both down. They almost came, but Greer told them she had me to walk her back to the dorm, the only reason they let her.
I refused the drink, taking the couch, but noticing me clench and unclench my hand, Greer asked me to spread my fingers.
“It’s nothing,” I said, but I showed her, my knuckles split and cracked in several places. The burning in my bones might have told me I’d done more damage than just that, but I didn’t fucking care. I wasn’t going to any hospital. When it came to doctors these days, needless to say, I had my reservations.
This couldn’t be helped considering the situation with my mom, and I watched Greer leave the room, the back of her bib coveralls dirty from when those fuckers had tackled her to the ground. I should go to county lock up myself and finish the job I’d started on those ass wipes who’d attacked her. Thank God she’d been able to hold her own until I got there. She returned to the room with a first aid kit, pulling back her silky blond hair as she got on her knees on the carpet before me. I wanted to touch it, touch her as she pulled rubbing alcohol out of the kit and cotton balls.