Chapter 130

Alyx landed a punch. He was poised over my brother, blood running from the side of his head. I gripped Fiona’s hand in mine, desperate for someone to put a stop to this. No one made a move to help, though. They were all too intent on the fight, bets still flying around as people took sides. Alyx hit my brother again, and I tensed even further.

Before I could do something stupid, like try to get between them, Jack punched Alyx in the ribs hard enough to make Alyx lose his breath. Jack shoved him to the side and climbed to his feet, his shoulders moving with his heavy breaths, and his face so red it was nearly purple.

“If I ever see you talking to her again, I will kill you,” Jack snarled.

Alyx somehow managed to laugh. He pulled himself to his feet and looked down his nose at Jack, a sneer on his face. “News flash,” he drawled, “not everyone is scared of you.”

Jack lunged for him, punching him on the side of the head. Someone in the crowd gasped as Alyx went down. Jacks hit him a few more times before a tall figure shoved through the nearby spectators. Matt flicked his gaze over me briefly before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Jack.

Jack flailed in his grip for a moment, too intent on continuing the fight to do anything else. Somehow Matt managed to drag him away from Alyx, who was curled up on the floor with blood on his face. Alyx spit a glob of bloody saliva, then laughed again.

“Fuck you!” he called to Jack, still laughing.

Jack tried to break out of Matt’s grip again, but Matt shoved him behind him and leveled him with a hard stare. “If you kill him, you won’t be any good to Celeste.”

Jack was breathing so heavily, his nostrils flared. “I should kill you.”

“Yeah, well, at least wait until there aren’t so many witnesses.” A few people in the crowd gasped, but both Matt and Jack ignored them. I didn’t think it was common knowledge that the two of them were on the outs.

“He puts his hands on her,” Jack spit.

Matt looked at me, and I tried to give him a reassuring smile. I didn’t think he bought it, though, and he turned to glare at Alyx.

“Get out of here before I change my mind and help him.”

Alyx pulled himself to his feet. “This isn’t over,” he said, looking at me. I felt pinned down by his stare.

“Walk away, asshole,” Fiona snapped.

He gave her a narrow-eyed look before he turned and shoved through the crowd. It instantly parted for him.

“Don’t you guys have things to do?” Matt raised his voice, turning his glare on the people standing around us. The crowd quickly broke up.

Jack snorted.

“What would you have done if you killed him?” Matt asked, turning back to face my brother.

“Thank God I have you here to stop me,” he said.

Matt just shook his head. Now that Alyx was gone, he didn’t need to watch my brother anymore. He turned and walked over to me, his expression softening. “Are you alright?” he asked, his voice low. He seemed to be addressing both of us, but Fiona just looked at me. Her hand was still in mine, and she gave my fingers a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m fine,” I said. Jack hovered nearby, his eyes locked on my face. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. After everything he said about me, I couldn’t understand his anger. Why intervene if he didn’t really care?

Matt’s eyes roved over my face before trailing over the rest of my body. I shifted my weight and turned my wrist toward my stomach, hoping he wouldn’t notice the quickly developing bruise. Unfortunately, the movement tipped him off and his eyes zeroed in on my arm.

“It’s nothing,” I said.

His gentle fingers brushed over my skin, sending a shiver through me as he carefully turned my arm to take in the fingerprints. A dark look crossed his face.

“Still feel good about stopping me?” Jack asked, his voice low.

Matt just ignored him.

“What did he say?” he murmured, his fingers passing lightly over the bruise.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, gently pulling my arm out of his grip. He let his hand fall back to his side. As much as I wanted to just break down and cry, people were still looking at me. I could feel their curious gazes burning into the back of my neck.

Matt glanced around, taking in the onlookers. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, opening his palm to me.

I took his hand and freed my fingers from Fiona’s grip.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked.

I nodded. “I just want to get out of here.”

“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry,” Matt said. “You can go to class.”

Fiona bit her lip. She looked like she wanted to refuse, but I nodded my head at her. “We’ll talk later,” she said.

“Sure.”

“Come on, Jack,” she said, stopping in front of my brother. “Let’s give them a moment.”

He looked like he wanted to refuse, but to my shock, he actually turned and followed her out of the room. They were talking in low voices as they walked away. I couldn’t fathom what they might have to say to each other, but I figured Fiona would fill me in later.

I looked back at Matt, and he draped his arm over my shoulders. “Do you want to go somewhere quiet?”

I nodded my head.

He gave me a half-smile before he led me out of the cafeteria. I tried to ignore people’s lingering stares, but it was hard. I just kept finding myself in more and more drama. I kind of missed the days when I passed unnoticed. My whole life, I was a nobody. I used to resent it, but now I was realizing that being under the radar had its perks.

Matt took me outside to the parking lot and unlocked his car. I slid into the passenger seat, and he quickly got in beside me.

He turned on the car and put on the heat. Neither of us were wearing jackets, and I couldn’t help but shiver. He seemed unaffected by the cold, but he turned the heat up even more.

“I hate this,” I said, my voice low.

“Hate what?”

“This.” I swept my arms toward the school. “The drama, everything. It was so much easier when no one knew me.”

Matt considered this for a moment. “Do you wish none of this happened?”

“No.” I reached for his hand, and he laced our fingers together without hesitation. “I’m so glad that we started talking, even if it hasn’t been smooth sailing.”

“Smooth sailing is pretty boring,” he answered.

I smiled and squeezed his hand. “I never should have trusted Alyx. I don’t get how I didn’t see it before. He’s not a nice person.”

“People like that can be tricky. He wanted to fool you.”

“I guess.”

Matt leaned forward and trailed his fingers through my hair. I shivered.

“I should have seen this coming,” I added.

His eyes scrutinized my face, and I turned away from him. I wasn’t sure I wanted him to read whatever expression was written there.

“None of this is your fault,” he said.

My throat burned. “Then why does it feel like it?”