I don't care.

I'm too busy balling my fists in preparation.

Game play stops when I step foot on the court.

And all I care about is the ass-beating I'm about to hand out.

I can hear Allie shouting, feel her grip on the back of my shirt. But all I can see is Tim's eyes as they widen. His face as he pales. His jaw as it drops.

He's afraid. He fucking should be.

“Tyler, don't,” Allie says, the fear in her voice matching the fear on Tim's face.

The punk doesn't run. He doesn't even move.

I grasp his shirt collar and pull him to me. No one steps in. A part of me wishes I had words to convey how I feel, but my fist does it for me; twice to his nose, once to his jaw, and one final one to his gut. Allie tugs me back by my shirt, but not before my foot has the final say to his ribs. I shake off Allie's hand and squat down next to him, pulling his hair until he has no choice but to look in my eyes. Unlike Allie—my eyes tell the truth. “You ever lay a hand on her again; I'll kill you. You ever come near her again; I'll kill you. You ever breathe her name again; I'll kill you.” I tug his hair harder, ignoring his pained cry. “All I need is a whisper, a hint, and I'll kill you. You understand?”

He blinks once.

Standing up, I let go of him and take Allie's hand. “Let's go.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Allie tries to talk to me on the way back to her dorm. I hear her, but I don't respond. I know that anything I say right now will hurt her and possibly ruin our friendship.

Because, seriously, how could she be so fucking stupid?

Luckily, Mel's not in her room when we get there. She closes the door behind us and starts with the talking again. “Go ahead,” she says. “Yell at me. I'd rather you do that than give me the silent treatment.”

I look down at her and the tears streaming down her face. I shake my head and wait it out...I wait for the pounding of my pulse to settle. For the adrenaline to slowly leak out of me. For my fucking heart to piece itself back together. When I finally feel like I can form a sentence, I sit down on her bed, bringing her down with me. She sits next to me and takes my hand in both of hers. She's soothing me when I should be soothing her. “I just don't get you, Allie.”

“Great. You're disappointed. I'd rather you be mad.”

I clear my throat. “You mean everything to me, Al, and you know that. If I didn't drive up here—what would've happened?” I face her so she understands the seriousness of what I'm saying. “You would have gone back to him, and who knows how it would've ended.”

“It was nothing—”

“Don't say that shit. Don't fucking defend him. I hear it one more time and I'm walking out that door and out of your life for good.”

A sob escapes her.

I feel like an asshole, but I don't regret saying what I did. This isn't the first abusive relationship she's been in and if I don't shut it down now, it won't be the last.

“Why do you do it?” I ask. “Why do you end up with these jerks?”

Ignoring my question, she says, “Are you staying the night?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Yes.” She starts to climb into bed. I get up so she can get under the covers.

Then I shrug out of my shirt and jeans and wait until she's settled before switching off the light and getting in with her. “Are you going to answer me?”

She gets comfortable in the crook of my arm, resting her head on my chest like she's done so many times before. “You wouldn't understand, Ty.”

“Yeah? Try me.”

With a sigh, she throws her arm over my stomach. “You shouldn't have done what you did. Now everyone on campus is—”

“I don't care, Al.”

“Yeah? Well, I do.”

With my anger subsided, I pick up her hand resting on my hip and place kisses on her soon-to-be bruised wrist. “I can't apologize for wanting to protect you. It was easy in high school. Everyone knew who you were to me. Everyone knew your brothers. And they knew what would happen if anyone hurt you...”

Her breaths are louder now, her chest heaving faster and firmer against my side. “Maybe that's the problem,” she says, blindly running her thumb across my lips. “Maybe I want to be out from under your shadows.”

“So you choose assholes?”

The warmth of her heavy exhale fans my shoulder.

I look over at the picture of us on her nightstand; the image barely visible in the darkness of the room. “I wish you could see your worth. I hate that you can't see it. I hate that you have such shitty self-esteem. And I hate that I can't be the one to change that.”

She's silent a moment. Then I feel wetness hit my shoulder. She's crying. “So do I, Tyler.”

“Are you going to see him again?”

She lets out a bitter laugh. “I doubt he'd want to have anything to do with me after what you did.”

I try to keep my frustration in check. “But you would, wouldn't you? You'd fucking take him back. He'd probably show up in the morning with a fucked up face and an apology and you'd forgive him and act like nothing's wrong.”

“I didn't say that,” she snapped.

“You didn't fucking have to.”

“I didn't ask you to come here and do what you did.” She sits up, her voice filled with anger. “It's not your job to protect me. I'm a big girl.”