Free Trouble: A BWWM Bad-Boy Billionaire Romance by Alyse Zaftig Page B

ever agreed to come to dinner?
    I sat down at the wonderful spread that Mrs. King laid out. I was nervous, so I ate twice as much as I usually did. I felt like I was hoovering up the entire table.
    When half of the food was gone, all of us were sitting back in our chairs, groaning from the weight of the food in our stomachs.
    Laila cleared her throat. She touched my arm. I yanked it away like she had burnt me with a lighter.
    Don't say anything, I said with my eyes. For the love of God, if you want to keep me alive, don't say a word.
    She did not hear my silent plea. "Mom. Dad. Chris. I want to talk about something."
    "Her classes have been amazing this semester. She's really having fun with the Resident Honors Program." Come on, babe, take my lead. I want to live.
    "Um, yeah, but that's not what I was going to announce." She looked at me like I had just announced that unicorns danced on rainbows in my car. "I'm dating Trouble."
    "You fucking bastard."
    I didn't even have time to react before Chris' fist smashed into my face like a brick wall was attacking me.
    I went down on the floor. He was right on top of me.
    "I asked you to keep all the wolves away from her door, and this is what you do? You eat her up yourself? This is my little sister, fucker!"
    I was not going to keep taking his fists to my face like this. Chris and I had the same strength, but I trained in jiu jitsu, one of the million activities I had done as a child so that my father would never see me. Chris did not. I also didn't want to hurt him. With my leg, I swept him off of me. I turned him over so that he was facedown, and I put my knee in his back.
    "Listen up. I'm only going to say this once. I'm sorry. I tried not to. Laila and I are dating now."
    He tried to surge off the floor, but I dug my knee in a little harder.
    "Get out of my house," he hissed. "I don't want to see your face."
    I looked around. There was utter shock on Laila and Mrs. King's faces. Thanksgiving dinner was ruined because of me.
    Mr. King was just looking on, as if he were a spectator at a WWE match. He didn't look surprised at all.
    Still on top of Chris, I started my car. I heard it chirp out in the driveway.
    "Thanks for the meal," I said, as if their son hadn't lunged for me at Thanksgiving. "It was delicious."
    They looked at me in complete bemusement. Laila looked like she thought I should be locked in a loony bin.
    In a half second, I flowed to my feet. I was out the front door before Chris realized that I wasn't on top of him anymore. I was driving down the driveway when I saw the front door open. As he came out, his dad came behind him and held him back.
    So much for Thanksgiving.

26

Bandages
    Laila
    M om and I looked at Chris as he came back into the house, with Dad holding his arm.
    "Your knuckles are bleeding," Mom said. She went to the kitchen and got some ice packs and a first aid kit. "Sit."
    Chris sat at our table, which just a little while ago was a place where all of us joined. Now this room was full of the negative energy from that fight.
    Mom cleaned up Chris' hands.
    My arms were crossed. "What was that?" I demanded.
    "I could ask the same of you. What, are you dating the entire college now?"
    I gasped. "How dare you imply that! You know that I didn't date in high school. Trouble is my first boyfriend. You know it, too."
    I saw an angry flush rise in his cheeks. "He's not good enough for you."
    "I'm pretty sure that I get to make those decisions," I snapped back. "You aren't the boss of me."
    "I kept Brayden Roberts away from you," Chris growled. "And I'll keep assholes like my best friend away from you, too. Do you have any idea how many girls Trouble has had? Do you even know if its dozens, hundreds, or thousands?"
    I stuck out my chin. "I don't need to know. I just need to know that he wants to be with me right now."
    "Boys like me and Trouble only want one thing! And you're too young for that."
    "You're insane! You brought a million girls home when you were