Johnny turns, but I stop him in his tracks. “No.”
He peers over his shoulder, his shocked gaze biting, as if threatening me to disagree. “No?”
“No, Johnny. That’s not how this works. I care about Brawler, and I’m not going to just kick his ass and not give a fuck what happens to him. We can come up with another plan.”
“He’ll kick your ass without a second thought.”
“Bullshit.”
“Not bullshit,” Johnny growls. “That’s the way things happen here. It’s everyone for themselves.”
“You have got to get that notion out of your head,” I growl right back. “That’s not how the real world works. Brawler’s upset we’re fighting. If you took two seconds to look at him, you’d see it written all over his face. He joined so he could help keep me safe just like you want to. He’s worried your dad might actually try to hurt me.”
Johnny’s jaw ticks.
“So, I’m not going to just turn around and screw him over before he screws me over first. I’d rather be wrong than do that to someone I care about.”
Johnny turns, exploding. His hands ball to fists, and a ball of rage detonates from his chest in a scream that makes my heart stop. The tension in the thick air burns hot. Goosebumps skitter up and down my skin. He turns slowly. “You keep saying you care about him. What’s that mean, Kyla? You keep saying you care about all of them. What are you saying?”
My heart wrestles for control in my chest. It’s hard to know if this is the right moment. I have to go with my gut. He’s asking me a direct question. If I lie to him now, it’ll hurt even worse when he learns the truth. I send a silent prayer that I’m not signing anyone’s death warrants and then turn pleading eyes to Johnny. “It means I like them,” I say, voice as even as it can be given the situation.
He drags his gaze down me. My body flushes at his inspection. He moves forward with purpose. He’s so close his breath brushes over my nose. “Does he make you hot?” His hand moves to cup my mound before I can say anything. His finger works between my legs, stroking me. “Does he turn you on?”
I moan.
Johnny snakes his hand under my leggings, past my panties, and thrusts a finger into my wet heat. “Does he make you feel like this?”
He pumps his finger in and out of me while his strong arm pins me to his side.
“Johnny,” I gasp, trying to push him away, trying to wrangle my emotions under control. Out of everything that could’ve happened, this is not what I ever imagined.
He removes his finger only to thrust two deep inside. A low mewl purrs from my throat. I grip the sides of his unbuttoned shirt, holding on as he drives his fingers in and out. It’s as if he’s battling for control over me. Like he thinks if he can do this it means he still has me. Maybe he’s caught on to the way I am with them. Maybe he’s seen right through me all this time.
Or maybe he’s just being Johnny. The commandeering, demanding asshole he can be. Taking something from me I don’t want to give him right now.
We don’t say anything as he drives me higher and higher, my breathing practically tumbling over from one breath to the next. He doesn’t kiss me. He doesn’t give me secret, sweet thoughts. There’s nothing intimate about this moment.
As much as I wish I could lock my body down and not give it what Johnny is demanding, it doesn’t happen.
I spiral out of control, my core clenches around his fingers. He doesn’t even wait until I come down. At the first feel of my climax, he withdraws his fingers, leaving me swaying on my feet, my pussy clenching around nothing while I finish my orgasm.
Without a glance back, he strides toward the door. “You’re winning, and that’s final,” he barks as he pulls my apartment door open. He walks out without looking back, slamming it behind him.
I fall back onto the couch, tears pricking my eyes. Desperate loneliness crowds around me. I have no idea where we stand right now. What was that even? My instinct says it was a power struggle, but for what? Over me? Against me? Against them?
I stay where I am for a few minutes, just staring blankly ahead, not knowing what to do. I could go after him. But should I?
What he did was wrong regardless if my body liked it or not.
I groan, and a soft knock sounds on the door, snapping my head to attention.
I don’t bother getting up, and I don’t have to either. My phone buzzes on the table in front of me. It’s from Mag, telling me he’s coming in.
He must have a key to my door too because after a moment, he steps inside, shutting the door behind him.
I don’t look over. I’m sure I already know what this is about. Johnny left, but he sent Magnum to watch me.
“You guys argued?”
“I guess?” I answer, lifting one shoulder helplessly. I still don’t really know what it was. “He told me I had to beat Brawler, and I told him I wasn’t going to do that.”
Magnum bites down on his lip and then brings his phone out.
I eye him. “What are you doing?”
“Warning Brawler in case he goes over there.”
Shock races through me. I get to my feet. “You think he’s headed over there?”
Mag puts his phone away and looks at me. “I don’t know what he’ll do, Kyla. Sending Brawler a warning is the smart thing to do though.”
I shake my head. “This was supposed to show Johnny what the real world is like. Somehow, it fucking backfired on me.”
“Maybe it did show him,” Mag says, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Maybe it did, and it scared him. No one said this was going to be easy.”
“But what’s he going to do?” I ask. “Lash out? If he goes to Brawler’s, what the hell is he going to do to him? If he hurts him—”
“Brawler can handle himself,” Mag says, trying to soothe me.
I know the guy can, but that doesn’t mean that the son of the most powerful man in the Heights could be on the way to his place right now.
“He’s probably not headed that way, okay?”
I bear down on my teeth. “Now you’re just saying that to patronize me.”
He pushes me further away so he can look at me. “For the record, it’s been a while since I’ve looked at you like a girl, so patronizing isn’t the word for it. I’m—”
“So, you’ve finally realized my past and maturity level makes up for our age difference?”
His face heats. He drags his gaze down me, firing my skin up in a delicious way that melts away the feelings Johnny just invoked. “What age difference? I see a brave, sexy as fuck woman who has too many crosses to bear.”
I pull my shoulders back and lift my chin, emulating the woman Mag thinks he sees. I need my strength now more than anything. I take several breaths. “I’m not beating Brawler in the fight. He needs to beat me to keep him safe.”
He frowns. “I was worried you were going to say that.”
“Tell me another way this works out,” I beg. I’m desperate for another option. I don’t want to do this.
“Short of having you fight someone else, I don’t see a way out of it. The problem is that it has to be convincing. I’m worried you could get seriously hurt on top of the injuries you already have, and I worry Brawler won’t be able to do it.”