Silent Love [Part 2]

by Kenadee Bryant

  Up close I noticed he appeared to be around our age, maybe a little older. He didn’t look familiar to me, but that didn’t mean anything. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why they were attacking Gage and Dylan. The guy Gage was talking to a few minutes go seemed like he knew him pretty well.

  “Get off me!” the guy I was on top of yelled.

  “No!” I found myself yelling back. Inwardly I was shouting at myself for even doing this. I never got into fights or was anything near violent. I mean, unless you counted the occasional time I hit my brother or Ethan.

  This was insane and somehow, I was a part of it. With me being on top of this random guy, I was in the middle of the fight, so I couldn’t just stop and go back inside. A small part of me did want to do this, though. I wanted to show that I was not some weak little girl. Plus, I could not let these two boys handle this alone.

  “Bitch, get off!” The guy continued to yell as he swung his body around, trying to get my grip to loosen. I just hung on for dear life. I might not have been helping much, but at least I was keeping this guy occupied. It gave both boys some time to get rid of the guys they were dealing with.

  While I was holding on to the guy, he moved around trying to dislodge me, and my boys were busy fighting the other five men. From the sounds of it, there were only a few guys left. The others either ran away or were knocked out. I personally was going for the second one. This was Gage we were talking about; he didn’t let people get away.

  I was so focused on the sounds around me and trying to keep my grip on the guy, I didn’t notice the guy beneath me was walking backwards. The guy slammed me into the wall roughly; I hit the brick of the building. Taken by surprise I let out a loud yell, right into the guy’s ear. It was unintentional, but it helped because the guy flinched and moved.

  My yell caused all the other boys to turn in our direction. I lifted my head and made instant eye contact with Gage. He was standing a few feet from me holding a guy in a tight headlock. I watched as his eyes widened when he remembered I was still here. His eyes then darkened when he noticed the guy I was currently wrapped around. Our eye contact was broken when the stupid idiot once again slammed my body back against the wall.

  This time pain radiated through me because the impact was a lot harder than before. I squeezed my eyelids and let out a small yelp. That one hurt. I knew I could have instantly let go, but who was to say that the guy would leave me alone, or Gage and Dylan? Plus, this way I was slightly protected; I couldn’t get too much damage done to me.

  The pause in the fighting didn’t last long. Seconds later, the guys were back to punching one another. Why has no one come to help us? I silently wondered. I mean, it was not quiet and we were right out front. When my body made contact with the wall again, I was jerked out of my thoughts. Getting pissed, I leaned my head down to his ear.

  “Stop doing that!” I yelled and growled at him. Instead of answering, he used all of his weight to slam me back to the wall, and this time my head did hit the brick. My head rang and my grip loosened. The guy took that opportunity to jerk out of my grasp.

  I slumped against the wall, my back aching. I knew there were going to be a pretty good bruise there after this.

  “You bitch.” The guy growled at me as he turned around. At the sound of his voice I jerked up and met his eyes. He was glaring at me like I had kicked his puppy or something.

  “You started this,” I heard myself say before I could stop myself. I was literally pushing him to hit me, which was not smart on my part. As I thought, that kind of set him off. Before I knew it, he was coming at me. Some of Gage’s training flashed through my mind, and I was secretly glad he had taught me a little something.

  The guy came at me, and I quickly ducked and moved around him, like I had done to Gage earlier. No way in hell was I going to let him near me. Inwardly, I was cheering at myself for dodging this guy and making him hit the wall before turning to face me once again. This time he looked even more mad, if that was possible.

  While I found Gage beautiful and amazing to watch fight, I did not feel that way about this guy. He looked like he wasn’t in control, whereas Gage always had control of the way he moved. This guy was so blinded by some kind of anger that he couldn’t think straight. I was slightly afraid, but I hoped if worse came to worse Gage would come over and help me.

  “Bitches like you need to learn their lesson.” He growled at me. Red-hot anger flashed through me. You never call a girl a bitch! I narrowed my eyes at him wanting nothing more than to hit him.

  “Go ahead and try it,” I bit out, clenching my fists at my sides.

  Everything around us dulled down and for a moment I wondered if this was what Gage felt when he got in the ring to fight. Did everything just become blind noise and his mind zeroed in on the person before him? It felt like my entire body was energized and sparks were lighting across my skin. If this is what he felt like, I could see the appeal.

  When the guy finally came at me, I didn’t move an inch. The sooner this guy was gone, the faster this could be over with. Feeling like a totally different person, I stood my ground and waited until he was mere inches away from me. Everything went into slow motion as he raised his arm up as if he were going to hit me. It was like my mind saw what he was going to do before he did it.

  I ducked down from his punch and quickly stood up. Balling my fist like Gage taught me, I brought my arm up and aimed right for his face. Gritting my teeth, I put as much power into my swing as I could. The guy apparently didn’t suspect I would do such a thing, so he made no move to get out of the way.

  My hand hit the side of his cheek and forced his head to snap in the other direction. The sound of my fist hitting his flesh seemed loud to me. Almost instantly my right hand stung and I felt pain go all the way up my arm. Damn, it hurt to punch someone! As much as I wanted to congratulate myself for punching someone for the very first time, I was too focused on the pain and the guy who was still in front of me.

  I brought my hand to my chest, cradling it. It felt like I broke my knuckles or something. I had a newfound respect for Gage. I could feel my hand starting to swell a little, which probably wasn’t good.

  “You fucking punched me?” This one had a worse mouth than Gage!

  “You deserved it,” I said, clenching my hand. Apparently in these kinds of situations I became mouthy, something I did not know. I was once again very proud of myself when I noticed his cheek was red and looked a little swollen. Maybe I was better than I thought.

  The guy started to say something, and most likely it was to curse me out, when I felt a presence behind me. I stiffened thinking it was one of the guy’s friends. I was tired, hungry, and beyond pissed by now. This was not how this day was supposed to end up!

  “That is fucking low! Ganging up on an innocent girl. Just because I look weak does not mean I won’t hesitate to kick your ass,” I yelled, whirling around. I was completely done with this. “You better—” I started to say but paused when I noticed it was Gage behind me, not another random stranger. Inside I was cheering loudly, but I couldn’t let my walls down just yet. I did relax slightly, however.

  I opened my mouth to say something to Gage when arms wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me back. This again? I knew it was the guy I was fighting before because it seemed like he was the only one left.

  “This is between me and the whore. Get lost,” the slimy stranger said above my ear. I wiggled in his grasp, but he only tightened his arms around me painfully. My eyes never left Gage, and I saw his own narrow into little slits as he glared at the guy holding me. If only his eyes could shoot lasers, because he would be dead already.

  “Don’t call me a whore,” I bit out but let out a small whimper when his nails dug into my skin. The voice in my head was yelling at me to shut up. For the first time today, I listened and shut my mouth tightly.

  This entire time Gage hadn’t said one word, and it was starting to throw the guy holding me off. He clearly
wanted a reaction and wasn’t getting it. Without saying a word, Gage was super scary. If I didn’t know better, I would be shaking in fear.

  The guy was getting impatient for Gage to do something, and it only made him dig his nails harder into my stomach. I met Gage’s eyes and saw something flash in them. I couldn’t make out what it was before it was gone. He gave me the slightest of nods that had me questioning what he meant. Did that mean he would get me out of this? Or was it a go ahead to kick the guy?

  Not quite sure, I went with the second option. I needed out of this guy’s grasp; there would be bruises no doubt. Not wasting another second, I brought my knee up and slammed it down with all my might on his foot. For once I wished for heels.

  It helped a little bit because his hold loosened, but not enough for me to wiggle out. I could tell the guy was beyond pissed. He must have gotten sick of me because he let his arms drop around me until they came to my back. He gave me a huge shove. I couldn’t react fast enough as I fell onto the concrete. I put my hands out to lessen the fall, but it didn’t help much. I fell into a heap on the hard concrete, my hands rubbing against it leaving them burning. I was able to not hit my head again as I fell, which was a plus at least.

  The moment I was shoved aside, Gage lunged for the guy and with one right hook, the guy dropped like a rock. I was focused on sitting up, even though my body protested. As I sat up, Gage appeared in front of me. He squatted down inches away from me and reached out for me.

  Instinctively I jumped into his arms and wrapped mine around his neck, pulling him close to me. The minute I was in his arms, I felt my body relax. All the energy I had moments ago left me, making me slump against him. I breathed him in and sighed shakily. Even though he was sweaty, he still smelled like Gage. A mix of a manly scent, something undesirable, and some kind of spice. It must have been his shampoo or something, but he smelled so good I could smell him forever.

  I buried my face in his neck and I felt him do the same to me. One of his hands curled up into my hair, which had fallen loose from its ponytail, while the other was wrapped tightly around my waist. It kind of hurt, but not enough for me to pull away. Nothing could make me pull out of my embrace with Gage.

  My body shook slightly, as if I just came off a sugar high and I practically had. The fight felt like it had gone on for hours when in fact it was literally only five minutes, if that.

  “Are you okay?” Gage asked as he pulled back to look over me. His voice was gruff, and it made me shiver. I loved his voice.

  “Y-yeah, I am good.” Now that I was up close, I could see Gage was hurt. He had a cut on his cheek, the side of his jaw looked a little swollen, and he had another small cut near his hairline.

  “You are hurt.” I breathed out, reaching up to touch his cheek. My own injuries were on the back burner at the moment. A small amount of blood was running down his cheek, but not enough to be serious. From the looks of it, he wasn’t too badly injured, and I was very thankful for that.

  Wait! Dylan!

  My eyes widened when I remember he was there as well.

  “Dylan? Is he okay?” I asked, forcing my eyes to look away from Gage even though I didn’t want to. I looked over his shoulder to see a few bodies on the ground unconscious, but no Dylan. “Where is he? He is okay, right?”

  “He is okay. He went inside to get some help out here.” I breathed a sigh of relief. My worst fear was that these two would be seriously hurt; Dylan might have been more hurt than Gage. I slumped back into his arms, closing my eyes.

  We hugged each other for a few more minutes before I knew we had to get up. Gage could not have been comfortable squatting like that. We needed to get him cleaned up. Reluctantly, I pulled away and met his gaze.

  “We should probably get up.” Oh, how I wanted to stay in his arms forever. He nodded and stood up, reaching a hand out for me. I grasped it and held back a wince at the tenderness of my hand meeting his. It was definitely scratched up, but I didn’t want Gage to worry about me; he was more hurt. “Is there a first aid kit here?” I asked.

  “Why? Are you really hurt?” Gage immediately asked, looking at me.

  “No, for you. We need to clean up those cuts.” I would look at my hands later. My right hand burned from the fight, and I could barely form it in a fist from punching that guy. Gage looked like he was going to argue, but I sent him a glare. Thankfully he didn’t put up a fight and just nodded.

  “They have one in every room. Let’s go.” He gently tugged my hand toward the door. We moved around the knocked-out strangers, and I didn’t once glance down at them nor did I feel bad for them. They deserved it. Never did I think I would be thinking that. For a pacifist, I was doing well with violence.

  Both of us were quiet as we walked toward a room to get a first aid kit. Gage’s grip on my hand was tight but gentle, like he didn’t want to let me go. Thankfully, we made it to a room in no time, and we didn’t see anyone else. Right now, I didn’t want to talk to anyone but Gage. We let go of holding hands as Gage went to search for kit while I closed the door behind us.

  “Here we go,” Gage said as came out of the bathroom, a bright red box in his hands.

  “Sit on the couch,” I directed, following after him so I could clean his wounds. He said nothing as he sat on the couch and handed me the kit. I opened it, looking for the rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls. As I got ready to clean his cuts, I remembered me doing this the very first time I met Gage. It felt like yesterday that we ran into each other in the middle of the night, both of us going in opposite directions but somehow coming together again.

  I was glad that I cleaned Gage up that night, that he helped me with Macey. Because if he hadn’t, I would not be in this situation right now; well, that could be seen as a good or bad thing I guess.

  “This may sting,” I warned him as I held the cotton ball loosely in my hand. I couldn’t make my hand close and it ached. Just as I brought the cotton ball to his cuts, his hand grabbed my wrist stopping me.

  “Carter.” A small shiver went down my spine. I liked how he said my name and while he didn’t say it often, I liked it when he did. “You are hurt.” The way he said it was almost like he was hurt I didn’t tell him.

  “It is okay. We need to clean you up first,” I said, brushing him off and trying to get my hand out of his grasp. He didn’t let go; instead, he sat up straight so his head was level with my stomach and his eyes were looking straight up at me.

  “Carter, stop,” he commanded and instantly my body responded. “What happened?” Gage asked as he gently brought my hand down so he could look at it. I looked at my hand and noticed it was all red and swollen, and there looked to be a few bruises already forming along the knuckles. Along with that, the palms of my hands were all scraped up.

  “I punched a guy,” I said, watching as his thumb rubbed the tender flesh ever so softly. “Beat the guy’s ass,” I added. And I really did.

  “That’s my girl.” Gage grinned widely up at me. At those words my heart thundered inside of my chest. I could feel myself going up to float on cloud nine. My girl. I liked the sound of that.

  “I didn’t think it would hurt that bad though.” I bit my bottom lip as he kept softly rubbing my knuckles. He let out a small chuckle at that.

  “Yeah, it takes a while to get used to it.” Holding my hand with one of his, he took the alcohol-soaked cotton ball from my fingers. Flipping my small hand in his big one, he tilted my palm up. The skin was all broken and rubbed raw from my fall. These were always the kind of cuts that hurt the most.

  “This is going to sting,” he warned so I could brace myself. I’d had enough cuts in my day to know that the alcohol did burn like a bitch. There had been so many times that my mom had to clean me up. All thanks to me running around with Luke and Ethan.

  “Ready,” I whispered. With my hand held in his, he brought the cotton ball to it, and as gently as he could, he started cleaning it. I couldn’t stop the intake of breath as the alcohol hit my cuts.
How he never made a noise at this, I didn’t know.

  I’d never seen Gage so gentle before, and I liked it. I liked seeing a different side to him. It made me realize that he was not who he made himself out to be; there was more to him than meets the eye. I just couldn’t wait to figure out all of him.

  Gage made quick work of my hands and were done in just a matter of minutes. With nothing else to do to my palms, it was my turn to clean his. The silence between us was nice as we cleaned each other up. Although there were no words, it seemed like were tied to one another now in a different way. The fight just solidified that.

  I stood in-between his legs as I cleaned up the two cuts on his face. They were small, so they didn’t need any Band-Aids or stitches. They would probably heal in a few days, but his cheek and jaw would bruise; nothing he couldn’t handle.

  Gage stared at my face the entire time I cleaned him up. Even though I felt weird under his gaze, I didn’t stop him. It was like he was trying to justify that I was really here and that I was okay from the fight.

  As much as I wanted to ask what happened back there, I didn’t. I held my tongue and figured I’d ask later on, when it wasn’t so fresh. When Gage wouldn’t blow up so easily.

  “There you go,” I said softly once I was all done. I didn’t want to move, and it seemed like Gage didn’t want to either. Gage took the dirty cotton ball from my hand and set it on the couch beside him before grabbing my hand gently in his, aware of my cuts.

  “I am sorry you got hurt,” he whispered, looking right into my eyes. I could see he felt terrible that I got hurt. “You shouldn’t have gotten involved,” he muttered under his breath.

  “I couldn’t leave you and Dylan to fend for yourselves. There were a lot of guys there,” I pointed out. “I totally took that guy out,” I said proudly.

  “You sure did.” He was just going along with me as he smiled. Either way, I felt extremely proud of myself for taking on a guy that was twice my size.

  “Thank you,” I said suddenly, clenching onto his hands.