Page 82 of Prince of Pain
“Jesus, I’m not dating anyone,” I huffed, glancing around to try and find a drink. “Do me a favor and fuck off, or I’ll give you a wrist to match Mom’s.”
“How can you even say that?” she choked out, her eyes turning watery.
“Easily. You’re as pathetic as she is,” I shot back, stumbling as someone hit me.
“You fucking bitch,” I snapped as my eyes met Riley’s, but she didn’t feel like talking as she swung at me with her damn baseball bat, knocking me over as it connected with my leg. “Riley!”
A crowd was gathering when they saw who was fighting, and I cursed as Riley’s foot connected with my ribs. She was meaner than her height should’ve allowed.
Someone shouted, laughter moving through the crowd as it grew, and I flinched as Riley squatted in front of me, speaking quietly. “I’m done playing nice with you.”
I tried to stand, but she stood first and stepped on my fingers, stopping me. I cried out as she put more weight into it, definitely snapping one of my nails, but then she was shoved back hard enough to fall on her ass.
“Get the fuck off her,” Ryder barked, glaring at her as he stood in front of me like a shield. “Stay down or I’ll knock you right back down again.”
“Fuck you,” she scoffed as she went to stand, and my eyes widened when he shoved her back down as promised and snatched her bat, hurtling it across the grass and hopefully not hitting anyone or their cars.
She glared up at him as Luna bent down to fuss over her, leaving Ryder to squat in front of me to help me up. “You okay?”
I wanted to cry to be honest, but I wasn’t about to do that in front of all these people.
I nodded, wincing as he took my hand to help me up, and he tsked when he saw my broken nail.
“We’ll fix that later. No broken fingers?”
I shook my head, flexing my fingers to prove they were okay. “I’m good.”
He didn’t bother waiting around to talk to Riley some more, brushing the dirt and grass from me before leading me through the crowd to where his car was parked. Jett mumbled a goodbye to Ryder, not talking to me at all as he made his way towards where we’d just come from to check on Riley, making Ryder’s jaw clench.
“Fuck them. Let’s go.”
He made sure I was buckled in before making his way around to the driver’s side and sliding in, almost hitting another car as he reversed out and sped towards the gate.
I bit the inside of my cheek to try and keep my emotions in check, my body aching from the hits I’d taken. I wasn’t a fighter, and I wasn’t used to this kind of shit.
A spanking was different to being hit with a bat and kicked.
A sob finally left me as I lost the fight with it, and Ryder cursed before his hand moved to my thigh. “Hey, what hurts? I didn’t see what happened.” I sobbed harder, and I didn’t realize he’d pulled over until he unbuckled my seat belt and pulled me closer. “Baby, talk to me.”
I shook my head, and he sighed, trying to pull me onto his lap but releasing his hold when I cried out. My ribs were on fucking fire.
His fingers were gentle as he eased my shirt out of the way and shone his phone’s flashlight at me. He inspected my hand too now that he was in better lighting, not speaking until he was done.
“Let’s get home. Maybe we can go to a hotel or something tonight since I’d bet money on Riley coming home to keep arguing. You want a fancy hotel?”
“I’ve never stayed in one,” I managed to get out between sobs, a smile tugging at his mouth.
“Then we’ll go stay in one and get drunk or something. I can fuck you over the balcony.”
That made me giggle, and I wiped my wet cheeks and cringed when I noticed the black mascara mixed with it. “How bad do I look right now?”
“Absolute hot mess,” he confirmed with amusement, waiting for me to put my seat belt back on before he drove off again, taking my hand with his. “What started the fight with Riley?”
He listened as I explained how his sister had gone psycho on me for no reason, and instead of blaming me like anyone else would have, he blamed Riley. I possibly left out the part where I’d threatened Luna, but that wasn't a good reason to take to me with a bat anyway, if you asked me.
We made it back to his house in one piece, and Diesel did a double take when we walked through the kitchen. “Hey, what happened?”
“We’re going out tonight or I’m going to kill Riley,” Ryder answered without stopping, and Diesel swept his gaze over me with a frown.