Free Fight for Love by Jennah Scott Page B

look at me. “Now why on earth would a friend be jealous when I said I had a lot of experience with guys?”
    I couldn’t help the smile that turned the corner of my lips up. The humor in her voice sent my stomach flipping. I grabbed her hand and pulled her the rest of the way to the booth. Stacey’s laughter lingered on as we walked. It was nice seeing her outside of work. Nice and dangerous. I wanted to at least try and give the illusion that friendship was all I wanted from her.  
    We split a Magical Mystery Tour pizza and talked until the waiter kicked us out to close. I kept an eye on the time, my curfew being midnight, and made sure I walked through the door with five minutes to spare.  
    “You have a good time tonight?” Dave’s chilled voice echoed through the room.  
    “Yep.” I didn’t stop to talk, just moved past my stepfather and headed straight for the stairs.  
    “You want to tell me where you’ve been?” It wasn’t his question that stopped me, but rather the sound of his fist hitting his hand. Dave was primed for a fight. Within the flash of a heartbeat I was too.  
    “Nope.” Smack, smack, shuffle, smack. My stepfather stood so close I felt the moist warmth of his breath on my neck. “You sure you want to do that?” I asked.  
    “Son, this is my house. I can do whatever I damn well please.” With my back still to Dave, my words were pointed and low. I wasn’t about to wake up mom. “Don’t. Threaten. Me.”  
    Thanks to Dave’s closeness, I felt him shift position and ducked as his fist sailed over my head. I spun on my feet, stayed in a squat and came up with a fist to Dave’s stomach. Dave went down like a rock, and I wasn’t done. Right then I didn’t care if it was a fair fight. For once I had the chance to take him, and I wasn’t going to pass it up. My foot connected with his chest and I grinned at the resulting crack. I lifted my foot again, but stopped when a warm hand landed on my shoulder.  
    “Luke, stop.” My mother’s voice pulsed through my infuriated state of mind.  
    “Fuck off.” It took every effort I had not to push her away.
    “Luke, please,” Mom pleaded.
    I wouldn’t have listened, but she chose to stand between him and me. I froze mid kick and left Mom bending over Dave, comforting him and promising to take care of his wounds. I jogged up the remaining steps, pulled my guitar from the back corner and left. I knew I wouldn’t be returning to the house anytime soon. I’d be back, but only after Dave calmed down. Even then, the return would be short lived. No chance in hell Dave would let me walk without retaliation. I only had to hope I’d be prepared, because the next time would be the last time.  

CHAPTER TEN

    I avoided mom and the asshole the next morning. I’d slept at the park in the backseat of my car the night before. The last thing I wanted was to get into something with either one of them. So after returning home to shower and get ready I snuck down the front stairway and out the door. To let off some steam I walked to school rather than drive. It was a ten-minute walk and the fresh air turned out to be a nice reprieve.  
    Since it was Friday the day went by pretty fast. The teachers wanted the weekend to start as bad, if not more, than the students.  
    After school I had an appointment with Dr. Greenberg, and the fastest way to her office was through the parking lot at the rear of the school. I pushed through the double doors and stopped myself just short of running over a group of guys standing right outside the door.  
    “Watch where you’re going fucknut.”
    I clenched my hands at my side. “I’d watch your mouth. There are ladies present.”
    “Ladies my ass.” The guy pointed to a girl standing across from me. I noticed tear stains running down her cheeks. “She’s my girl, and aint’ no one gonna tell me how to talk around her.”
    My arm twitched at my side. There were two things no one got away with when I