“Um, I don’t know who the hell you are. What makes you think you can show up here and collect her things?”
“She told us to come get them,” he said, slipping past me.
“Hey!” I shouted, startled.
The other four walked into the living room and looked around.
“Get the hell out of here!”
“What’s going on?” Austin asked as he emerged from the hallway, fully dressed.
“There he is,” the Mohawk man said, pointing.
A tiny woman with short cropped hair wearing all black darted across the room. She stopped in front of Austin, swung her arm back, and slapped him. My eyes widened in surprise at her actions, but what he did next surprised me even more.
Nothing. He didn’t raise his hand or try to stop her. I fell even deeper in love with him at that moment. The situation slipped into hell-mode over the next few seconds. All three guys rushed toward Austin, yelling at the top of their lungs.
He punched one in the face, sending him spiraling to the floor. I put my hands over my mouth, not believing what was happening. Austin crouched into a fighting position with his fists up. The other two guys stopped and looked at each other.
“Don’t do it, fellas,” Austin said in a calm, cool tone.
“He hit a woman,” the one yelled. A complete lie.
“What the hell? You guys broke in here. He’s just defending himself. And he didn’t touch her!”
“Yeah? Wait until our social media friends hear about this. He’s going to be kicked off the team.”
I jumped into action, rushing over to Austin.
“Leave out the back door. You were never here. It’s their word against mine and yours.”
“Are you sure?”
“Go!” I yelled, pushing his arm.
He frowned, but he took off toward the kitchen.
I spun around.
“You guys better get out of here. I’m calling the police.”
“Fuck you and your dumbass boyfriend!” Mohawk said as he got to his feet.
“No, fuck you!”
I ran back to the bedroom to get my phone. By the time I got back, they had all left, but I called anyway, wanting to report the incident. They needed to know none of her stories were true.
She had a problem. And now one of them was about to be me.
* * *
A campus police car drove up and parked at the curb as I sat on the porch. I jumped up and walked over as a man in his late twenties got out. We met at the sidewalk in front of the house.
“You called us?” he asked, looking around. “What’s going on today?”
“My roommate’s friends showed up and tried to attack me. They burst into my house uninvited.”