“Oh.” I look down at the drink in my hands.
“This is about Knox, isn’t it? How he acted yesterday after I asked you to prom.”
I don’t bother lying to him. He’d know if I was anyway. One thing Tessa has told me since we were little is that I’m like an open book. If there was ever something we needed to get away with, I was to leave the talking to her.
“He just looked so…devastated.”
Carter blows out a long exhale before pushing off the counter and putting out his hand. “All right, I didn’t want to do this, but come with me.”
I accept his help and hop down. Then, he grabs his keys and leads me out the door.
“Where are we going?”
“To show you the kind of guy that you’re in love with.”
28
KNOX
Kick. Swing. Swing. Uppercut. Kick.
All my extra training and the focus I’ve been putting into this must be paying off, because my opponent doesn’t stand a fucking chance. He puts up a good fight, even managing to get a couple hits in, but the second I decide to end this shit, he’s done for.
The crowd goes wild as I land an uppercut to his jaw and then a right hook that knocks him on his ass. He falls like a dead weight, out cold and unmoving. The guys carrying him off give a signal up to Cal, who stands in the window of his office. I’ve been doing this long enough now to know what each one means, and thankfully, this one is making it out of here alive but probably not undamaged.
“Fuck, yes!” Jackson congratulates me as I climb out of the ring. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
A familiar face catches my eye, and in an instant, all the anger I just let out comes back tenfold. Carter fucking Trayland. I push my way past Jackson and storm toward him.
“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve. What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
He stands up straight, unintimidated. “Just getting a glimpse at the piece of shit you really are.”
I chuckle dryly. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know enough, and now, so does she.” The look on his face is enough to get my full attention—arrogant, cocky, evil.
“She?”
“Knox?”
My eyes widen in horror at the sound of her voice. Standing just a little ways behind Carter, Delaney looks at me with pure fear etched across her face.
No. No, no, no. She can’t be here.
“Laney, you have to go. You have to leave, now.”
She narrows her eyes. “Will you seriously stop with that?” she snaps. “I can’t be near you or your friends. I can’t be at Zayn’s parties. I can’t be at your school. It’s getting really old.”
“Be at all those places! Move into Zayn’s house and glue yourself to Stone’s side if that’s what you want! But you can’t be here!”
Paulo, one of Cal’s many goons, walks up to us, looking every inch the bodyguard, with muscles bulging out of his black T-shirt. “Boss wants to see you.”
“Who the hell is Boss?” Delaney questions indignantly.
Shit. “Okay, tell him I’ll be right there.” I turn to Carter. “You have to get her out of here, now!”
Paulo shakes his head. “No, you and the girl.”