Fight for You

Chapter Six

Avery

I locked my car door and hustled towards the restaurant where I was meeting Troy. My Algorithm class ran a little long, and I was running late for our dinner date.

Just as I reached the sidewalk which led to the front entrance, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I smiled, thinking it was a message from Troy asking where I was. He would be worried that I was late, and checking to make sure I was okay.

I pulled out my phone and smiled at Troy’s name, but the message wasn’t what I expected.

Troy: Hey, sweetheart. My client was late and our session ran over a few minutes. I’m on my way, see you in five. Love you.

I typed out a reply and hit send.

7:42PM: No worries, I just got here too. I’ll wait for you outside. Love you.

It was a nice evening, and I wanted to stand outside and enjoy the crisp breeze. Plus, I loved it when Troy held the door open for me, and walked in anywhere holding my hand. I was a little spoiled and very proud to be seen with him.

Just as I slid my phone back into my pocket, an arm wrapped around my chest. If I hadn’t just received a text from him, I might have thought it was Troy. But this wasn’t his touch; this was gruff and controlling. The arm squeezed painfully around me and dragged me backwards. Before I could yell out, a hand slapped over my mouth.

Fear and guilt bubbled inside me. Troy had warned me so many times about needing to be more aware of my surroundings. I always let myself get distracted, and didn’t pay enough attention to what was happening around me.

But it was impossible to miss being dragged into an alleyway. My back was slammed against a brick wall, and I was finally able to see who had apprehended me; Riley had his hands on my chest, pinning me to the wall, and Brant was standing next to him.

I didn’t roll my eyes or give a sarcastic comment; I was too scared. I had never seen them like this; hatred filled their eyes, and I could smell alcohol on their snarled lips. They’d taken me into a dark, secluded alley. It was obvious they meant me harm.

“Not so tough without campus security up your ass, are you?” Riley growled. Over the past couple of weeks, I honored Troy’s request for an escort, and apparently it had gotten under the guys’ skin.

“You think you and your boyfriend can talk to us the way you did and get away with it? Your bodyguard isn’t here now; all I see is a weak little bitch.”

I had to get out of his grip or I had no chance of defending myself. He had my shoulders trapped, so I was unable to move my arms. Instead, I slammed my head forward, headbutting him right in the bridge of his nose. It wasn’t ideal, as I saw stars for a moment, but it did the trick. Riley stumbled away, gripping his nose as blood gushed over his fingers.

I leapt away from the wall and considered running; Troy taught me that the best way to defend yourself in a situation was to remove yourself, but the other men were too close. There was no getting away, so I dropped into a defensive stance, guarding my face with raised fists.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” Brant warned before stomping up to me. He cocked his fist back, giving me time to land a quick jab to his jaw as Troy’s words rolled around my head; quickness is key. Especially since these guys were bigger than I was; I needed to throw quick punches and get away.

Brant rocked back on his heels, appearing shocked that a lowly weakling was able to hit him. Shocked and pissed. He hurled a heavy-handed punch to my stomach. I closed in my arms to block most of the hit, but my gut absorbed some of the pressure. Pain burst through my abdomen, but it could have been way worse.

The ‘worse’ came in the form of a bloody fist from Riley, which landed beneath my eye. I stumbled and saw stars dancing in my vision again, but I shook my head to refocus. If I lost consciousness, I was fucked.

I gathered all of my strength, swiveled my hips, and threw a right hook at Riley’s jaw. It was Troy’s signature move, and he taught me well. I was surprised and proud as Riley fell back onto his ass.

“The fuck?” Brant yelled, bewilderment in his eyes. Unfortunately, they also held determination. He threw a wild haymaker, and while I deflected its bulk, his fist still grazed my eyebrow, sending a splitting pain through my head. I answered with an uppercut to his chin, sending him to the asphalt as well.

It gave me a few moments to catch my breath as I clutched my aching head. But they weren’t giving up. Both of them rose to their feet, looking angrier than ever.

*****

Troy

I smiled when I spotted Avery’s car in the parking lot, and I pulled in next to it. After I made sure my truck was locked, I strolled along the sidewalk to Mitchell’s, the steakhouse where I was meeting my love.

But when I reached the front door, Avery was nowhere to be found. Even though he texted that he would wait for me outside, I tried not to let panic set in. Maybe he got cold and changed his mind.

So, I opened the door and stepped inside. The hostess greeted me, but I ignored her; I was scanning the dining room for Avery’s handsome face. The restaurant wasn’t that big or busy, so it only took a moment to search every table. I didn’t see him anywhere, and my stomach dropped. I instinctively knew something wasn’t right.

With one last act of desperation, I sprinted to the restroom, hoping to find him there, but the stalls were empty. The hostess called out something as I ran out the front door, but I didn’t listen. My only focus was to find my sweet Avery. My gut told me something was very wrong.

I jogged down the sidewalk towards my truck, ready to jump in and scour the city, when a familiar sound struck my eardrum; beep, beep, boop…beep, beep, boop. Avery was in trouble.

I followed the sound into an alleyway, and nothing could have prepared me for what I found. Two men - the same ones who were harassing him outside the cafe a couple of weeks ago - were attacking my Avery. Fury tore through me; two against one was absolute overkill. They were out to hurt him. Or worse.

But they weren’t without their battlemarks. Both of them were bloodied and bruised, and although he was obviously winded, tired, and hurting, Avery was still standing, and still swinging at both of them. My man put up one hell of a fight, but he was never going to fight alone again.

I sprinted over to the men and grabbed them both by their hair before slamming them to the ground. Once they were away from him, Avery dropped to his knees. He gave me a look of mixed relief and anguish before he laid down on his side. He needed to rest and recover. I needed to finish this.

One of the assholes got to his feet, but I wouldn’t let him get any farther. I unleashed my full strength with a punch to his temple. He spun on the spot before landing with a thud on his stomach, slapping his face against the pavement.

The other man was struggling to stand, so I gripped his shirt collar and hauled him to his feet. I wasn’t letting him off easy. He hurt my love and he was going to pay.

The fuckwad didn’t know when to quit. Instead of begging for mercy, he still tried to taunt me. “You’re too late. He got what was coming to him. You won’t be able to fuck him for a long while.” His lip curled as he gave a gravely laugh, and I got sick satisfaction from the fact that his mouth looked like raw hamburger. Avery was small, but mighty.

I placed my hands on the man’s shoulders to steady him. I leaned down to look him in the eye and smiled before answering simply, “Actually, he fucks me .” His look of utter confusion was priceless, but short lived. I laid him out with a powerful hook to the mouth. He went stiff as a board and fell back against the asphalt. His head rolled to the side, and a bloody tooth fell out from between his lips. Good .

I hustled to Avery’s side, dropping to my knees next to him. He was conscious, but just barely. His eyes focused on me, and he whispered my name.

“I’m here,” I reassured him. “I’m here and you’re gonna be okay.” I turned my attention to his beeping monitor on his hip. I was thankful he showed me how to read it and work it in case of an emergency.

The word ‘High’ flashed on the screen, making me curse under my breath. It meant that his blood sugar had risen beyond what the meter was capable of reading. When his body was under stress, his hormones raised his sugar, and I couldn’t imagine a more stressful situation than this.

I pressed the ‘Bolus’ button to deliver a dose of insulin through his pump. It would help until I could get him to the hospital. When his meter stopped beeping, I took his swollen, bloody face in my hands. “Avery, you are so brave and strong; you’re incredible. You’re my fucking hero, you know that?” His lips tipped up into a weak smile.

“I’m going to get you help.” I scooped him into my arms as gingerly as possible, though he still groaned with pain. “I know, sweetheart; I’m so sorry. I’ve got you, and everything is okay.”

His eyes cast over to the motionless lumps of worthless humans on the street. I could see the question he didn’t speak; what should we do with them?

“Fuck them,” I told him callously. “They’re knocked out, but they’ll live.” Unfortunately , I thought, though I kept that wickedness to myself. My only concern was Avery. I rushed him to my truck; we were only a few blocks away from the hospital, so I could get him there quicker than an ambulance could get to us.

I settled in behind the steering wheel, cradling him against my chest as I drove like a bat out of hell, telling him over and over how proud of him I was, and how very much I loved him.

His monitor was no longer beeping, and he was staying awake. He surely had a concussion and countless cuts and bruises, but he would be okay. I’d seen enough fighters to know when someone had internal damage, and Avery’s injuries all seemed to be on the surface, though he was surely in horrible pain.

But my man was a badass. He took on two guys nearly twice his size, and was the only one left standing. They saw him as small and weak, but they couldn’t douse the fire inside of him, and ended up getting burned. He was strong and obviously capable of taking care of himself, but I still didn’t plan to ever leave his side again.