I never knew what happened to him after Nate beat the living shit out of him, but he clearly still holds a grudge, and honestly, so do I. I’d give anything to be able to get revenge on him but that’s not me.
Rumor has it that he enrolled at Haven Falls Private but he hasn’t been in touch with any of the people he used to hang out with, so no one really knows what happened. Though, all I know right now is that he’s standing right before me, or at least, he was a moment ago.
Within the blink of an eye, Nate has the back of his shirt in his fist and is ripping him back away from me before pushing himself between us. Nate is practically shaking with rage and I put my hand on his back, instantly settling him.
The smug smirk vanishes from Josh’s face as he goes to step into Nate, only he backs right off when Max, Jesse, Ty, and Puck surround him, along with everyone else at the party.
Nate steps into the center of their circle and gets right in Josh’s face. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”
Josh doesn’t respond, only flicks his eyes around the circle, trying to find an escape, but he should know better. There’s no escape from these guys. Once they have their target in sight, they always go for the kill. That’s what makes them so feared around here, even feared by Josh.
He had always been scared of standing up to Nate, even when he destroyed his parent’s backyard. That all changed the second I shot him down. He suddenly didn’t care about what Nate would do to him. He had me set in his sights and Nate wasn’t going to stop him. Only, he didn’t bet on me fighting back.
Josh focuses his gaze on Nate and it almost seems harder, like the past few weeks have changed him. He used to be carefree. He was the quarterback of our football team and well, now he’s nothing. He has nothing to lose.
“That’s none of your goddamn business,” he grunts as he raises his chin, meeting Nate’s challenge and refusing to back down.
It’s then I notice that every single body around us has come to a stop and every eye is on us, while people from inside are glued up against the windows, trying to get a glimpse of a fight.
Shit. This isn’t good.
“You made it my business when you touched my girl,” Nate growls low in his throat, making everyone lean in so they can hear what’s going on.
“Oh. So, that whore is officially your girl?” he laughs. “Good luck with that one. The bitch doesn’t put out.”
I see Nate’s fist clenching at his side and I see red. I storm through the boys’ circle and break my way in, ready and prepared to teach this fucker a lesson. Only, Nate has another idea as his arm shoots out across my chest like a steel rod, blocking me from putting him down, all without removing his eyes from Josh.
“You owe Tora an apology,” Nate says with venom, though I’ve seen enough of these fights over the years. This is Nate giving him one last chance to make it right and back down.
“Yeah,” Josh laughs. “That’s never going to happen.”
His eyes flick down to me before they travel the length of my body which is Nate’s breaking point. “Hey,” he calls as he removes his arm from across my chest.
Nate rears back as Josh lifts his eyes from me.
Crack.
Nate’s fist slams into Josh’s jaw, sending him flying back towards a wall of muscle known as Tyson and Puck. Only he doesn’t crash into them, they simply step away, letting him fall to his ass as he latches onto his throbbing jaw while Nate casually stands there, watching the scene play out before him with a cold as stone look across his handsome face.
Josh looks up at Nate and his jaw clenches as rage pours out of his eyes. Nate feints forward and I watch in amusement as Josh’s eyes widen in fear and he scrambles to his feet before pushing his way through the circle of muscle and disappearing.
There’s a mixed reaction from the onlookers, some laughing, some booing for the missed fight while others take the opportunity to try to gain the boys’ attention while they’re amongst the rest of the world rather than holed up by the bonfire.
As usual, Nate tunes them all out and turns to me. His hand comes up and grazes over the shoulder which Josh had barged into you. “Are you alright?” he murmurs as his hand on my shoulder comes up and runs down the side of my face.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I’m fine, though I’m kind of pissed I didn’t get to hit him.”