Kiss and Break Up (Magnolia Cove, #1)(49)

The girl I’d stupidly gotten hung up over.

I headed for the other set of stairs, taking the long way around the gardens to the parking lot.

“Dash?” Her voice was like ice over a burn, but I wouldn’t let it soothe me, not when she was the one who’d inflicted the pain in the first place.

“Dash!”

I heard Lars tell her to leave me be, and then I heard nothing but the quiet, pitiful thud of my own heartbeat as I shut myself in my car and got the hell out of there.





I didn’t get far.

No, that was impossible.

I parked, and I waited. And when the clock struck two, I drove back and parked right next to his ghastly fucking truck.

The trees ceased their swaying, and the air felt stickier than it should as I balled my fists at my side, clenching and unclenching while he took his sweet-ass time to get to his car.

Come on, asshole. Look up and see the wrath that awaits you.

As if hearing the silent command, he skidded to a stop, the smile he’d worn while typing on his phone slipping as quickly as he pocketed it. “Wondered where you might be.”

Was that resignation I detected? Good. He should be resigned to this. But that wasn’t enough. I cracked my knuckles, and his steps slowed as he heard the sound. I didn’t want him resigned. I wanted him dead or as close to it as possible.

He threw his hands out, his gym bag hitting the asphalt. “What can I say, man?” His lips wiggled into a smile. “I’m so far from sorry I forget what the word even means.”

I launched at him, taking both of us to the ground. The concrete bit into my elbow, jarring my arm, but I didn’t care. The thud and pained sound that came from Woods as he hit the ground was music to my ears. My fist smashed into his face, and he landed an uppercut to my jaw. My head spun, but my rage couldn’t be stopped, and blindly, I kept landing blow after blow. His chest, his cheek, his mouth, and then I heard a pop, and blood gushed over my fists.

Yelling and shouting had ensued, but I was too far gone, trapped beneath waves of agony that needed release, to hear much of anything.

Hands wrenched at my shoulders, and a fist met the side of my mouth, the tang of blood smearing over my tongue as I shouted, struggled, and cursed for them to release me.

“Fuck, stop.” Raven’s voice penetrated.

“You’re going to kill him or give yourself a damn heart attack. Fucking chill.” Lars slapped at my face as Rave and Jackson held me back, and a teacher helped Byron sit up on the ground.

“Mr. Thane.” Principal Denham stomped over in his crocodile knock-offs. “My office. Now.”

I ignored him and the hellfire look twitching his pudge-infused face, tearing my arms out of my friends’ grip. “No need. I’ll see myself out.” I wiped at my lip, my heart thrashing like a wounded beast as I watched Byron stand, one of his eyes already swollen shut.

It wasn’t enough. The fact he’d wake up and maybe be able to see a slit of sunlight wasn’t anywhere near enough.

“Mr. Thane, I won’t tell you again.”

“What about that dickhead?” Lars pointed at Byron while I spat blood on the ground, then finally, I took a good look at the crowd that’d gathered.

“Language, Lars,” Denham said.

Half the school had left, but the other half that hadn’t were all there, whispering or quickly stashing away their phones after recording the fight.

“He didn’t start it.”

I barked out a dry laugh, but really, I didn’t give a shit. They could do whatever they wanted, and I would do the same. I opened my car door and jumped inside. Lars and Jackson pounded on the windows, but I’d locked the doors. I didn’t need them to come with or follow me like I was on some kind of suicide watch. As the principal pulled out his phone, likely to speak with my mom or dad, I peeled out of the lot, forcing students to jump out of the way as screeches and screams left their mouths.

Blood dripped onto my cheek, and I figured I’d probably been hit more times than I recalled. The guy hit the gym every day and was all about training in the off season, so it made sense he knew how to use his bulk.

Too bad he’d muscled his way into the wrong girl’s life, consequently ruining mine.

I drove around town for however long. Long enough to be able to think a little more rationally.

All that went to hell when I saw the red Volkswagen parked outside the wrought iron gates shielding my driveway. The sight of her—her arms crossed over her chest, her lip between her teeth, and her face blotchy from crying—was almost enough to send me back to school to finish what I’d started.

Almost.

I drove in once the gates opened, and she jogged in behind me before she was locked out. Dirt sprayed, a few rocks pelting the car as I sped down to the garage, then slammed on the brakes.

She was there within seconds of me shifting into park, panting and breathing heavily.

The sound had tormenting thoughts clenching my fists.

“Why’d you leave?” Her question sounded like an accusation, and I shook my head, a sinister laugh departing my thinned, bloodied lips.

“Fuck you. You got what you wanted, right?” I stepped closer to her, noticing how puffy her eyes were. “Did I prep you just right?”

She shook her head, her lips wobbling. “I’m sorry. I know—”