“You threatening us?” Phil leered incredulously. “You stupid-ass, dumb mother—”
SLAM!
Right into his nose with Max’s wrecking-ball fist.
The guy stumbled back, hands flying to his face as blood sprayed in every direction.
“Oh, we’re doing more than threatening,” Max muttered. “Hope you know a good plastic surgeon.”
And that was pretty much all the heads up they got before Max and his boys blitzed their asses. Fists and elbows descended, snapping noses, cracking ribs, exacting hellish justice with a vengeance. Pummeling their adversaries until they didn’t just stop fighting, but ceased all movement completely. Just a bunch of heaving chests as they laid on the floor, groaning and struggling for breath.
Adrenaline on fire, Max kicked Phil in the ribs, glowering at him like the scum of the earth he was. “Now I know why you pick on the smaller guys. ‘Cause your pussy ass can’t handle anything bigger.”
Chaz grunted in accord. Roger spit on another’s face.
“Come on,” Luke muttered. “We better get going. No way the cops aren’t coming to this one.”
Max slid his eyes to that poor fucking teen now scrambling in a corner to get his clothes on. Max watched him struggle to zip up his fly, then watched him sink shivering to the floor. God, what a wreck, all huddled in that corner, his glossy eyes vacant, as if in shock.
“Yeah.” Max nodded. “Just… give me a second.”
Luke sighed. “Guess I’ll find Toni and tell him we’re leaving.”
Chaz snarled. “I’ll get the car.”
The three headed out, with Roger standing guard in the hall as Max made his way over to the boy. Squatting down beside him, Max softly cleared his throat. “You’re okay now, kid. It’s over. They’re not gonna hurt you. Not gonna hurt you ever again.”
The boy shivered harder, then covered his face.
Max exhaled and pulled his hands away. “Hey,” he murmured. “You’re safe now. I promise.”
Tightly closed eyes peeled open and looked up at him. Max’s chest clenched at the sight. Not so much because the kid’s lip was split, or that a bruise was starting to form on his cheek. Not even because his gaze looked so damn wasted that Max suspected he hadn’t been sober in days. No, what tore at Max’s heart was his expression. Absolute sheer desolation. The way his lashes were soaked with barely contained tears. The way his pinched brows screamed of hurt and betrayal. The way his clenched jaw trembled with the need to stay composed. The way his eyes weren’t just dejected, but tragic.
Max knew that look. Knew it all too well. Used to see it every day in the mirror. His chest squeezed tighter at the sudden, strange connection, feeling the need to somehow protect this kid. From this world. From this life. And all the assholes overcrowding it.
“Shh,” he soothed. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
The boy stared bleakly up into his eyes, then exhaled and dragged in another lungful. Max clenched his teeth at the ragged sound, anger welling anew at what’d been done to him.
“I tried to stop them,” the rattled teen rasped. “But they were strong, and kept hitting me, and then two pinned me down…” His face twisted miserably. He shook his head. “They were gonna—Oh God, they were gonna—”
“But they didn’t.” Max stopped him. “And they never fucking will.”
The kid went quiet for a drawn-out moment. “Thank you,” he whispered. Then he focused on Max’s face. Intently. Like he was studying the thing, taking in every nuance, until his gaze locked specifically on Max’s eyes. His lips moved a little without making any sound. Then finally he breathed, “Are you an angel?”
Max’s heavy heart wrenched even tighter in his chest. Yeah, that was something only a trashed person would say—a trashed person on fucking hallucinogenics—but nevertheless, it touched Max, moved him deeply. Never would he ever have thought of himself as such, but in that moment, as this boy stared pitifully up at him, there was nothing Max wanted to be more. Someone to watch over him, to protect him, ease his pain. A guardian friggin’ angel in the flesh.
Lips curving into a small, sad smile, Max shook his head. “No. Not even close. But I can be your friend if you need one.”
The teen drew in a shaky breath, his brown eyes filling to the brim.
Max thumbed away his tears. “I’m Max, by the way.”
A tiny, forced smile. “I’m… Scott.”
“Nice to meet you, Scott. You ready to go home?”
Scott’s face turned anxious. His eyes shied away. “Um… I was kind of… staying with him.”
Max frowned. “With who?”
Scott exhaled. “That asshole.”
Right on cue, Phil groaned on the floor.
Max stilled in understanding. “Ah. I see.”
Scott shifted gingerly against the wall. “It’s okay. I think I know someone else.”
Max’s frown turned to a scowl. Again, he shook his head. “No. You can crash at my place tonight.”