Beware of Bad Boy(52)

I first checked out the parking lot to see if she was by my car. No sign of her. Circling around the school, I was figuring out my next move when I heard from around the corner someone yelling.

“You’re mine!”

I ran around the corner and saw Josh holding onto Gianna’s upper arms as he shook her. Before I could reach them, he slammed her against the wall making her head bang hard against the brick.

“Hey!” I growled.

Josh turned his head to sneer at me. Releasing his hold on Gianna, she slumped to the ground. I rushed at Josh and slammed him against the wall. He punched me in my side, but I ignored it and grabbed his big head. I started banging his head against the brick until he was knocked out by the impact. As he fell to the ground, I kicked him in the stomach, putting all my strength behind it. He’d be waking up with a bitch of a headache and a gut ache to match.

I bent over where Gianna was on the ground. Enraged and wanting to go back and stomp on Josh’s balls, I pushed it back so I could take care of my girl. Carefully, I picked her up and carried her to my car. She opened her eyes a crack as I buckled her in.

“I guess we’re ditching after all,” she mumbled and passed out again. Grabbing a sweatshirt from the back of my car, I bunched it up and used it as a pillow for her.

I didn’t want to take her to the house. I was pissed at everyone in her life: her mom, Josh, the kids at school. Getting on the freeway south, I headed for downtown and my mom’s apartment. At least there no one would bother us.

Gianna woke up before we were out of Broomfield, but she didn’t have much to say. Knowing we both needed the quiet, I let her be. In the shade of the parking garage, I leaned my head against the steering wheel, trying to get control of my turbulent emotions.

Shaking off the need to go back and pull Josh out of whatever class he was in, I opened my door, going around to her side to help her out. She was a little dizzy on her feet, so we moved with my arm around her waist.

Once in the apartment, I stretched across the couch with my back to the armrest and her in front of me so her back leaned against my chest.

Hearing her finally cry, I was glad to hold her. “It’s gonna be okay, Gianna.”

She sniffled, her voice weak. “No, it’s not. Everything is so messed up right now. Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Yes, we should.” Turning her around in my lap, I kissed her gently on the lips.

“What happened after I passed out?”

Playing with her hair, I filled her in. “I banged Josh’s head against the wall until he was knocked out.”

She gasped. “Are you serious?”

“Yep, and I’m not done with him either.” It apparently hadn’t gotten through to Josh to stay the fuck away from Gianna, so I’d be bringing in reinforcements.

Her head dropped against my chest in a trusting move. “I need to text Cece and Jared. I promised them I would let them know if Josh did anything else.”

I clenched my teeth to hold back a rude remark. She’d just been through a lot and she didn’t need to hear me complain about her friendship with Jared right now. It didn’t mean I couldn’t get things done on my terms.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and said, “I’ll text Cece for you. You just lay back and rest. You may have a concussion so I’ll have to keep an eye on you for the next 24 hours.”

“Okay,” she agreed and turned back around to fall against me. I didn’t have Jared’s cell number, but Cece would most definitely pass on the information.

Me: Josh hurt Gianna again. I took care of it. She’s resting now.

About thirty seconds later my phone beeped. Jeez, she must have had turbo fingers.

Cece: OMG! Where is she now? Home? Jared and I will come up there after school. I’m going to do something really bad to Josh!

Me: No, I took her to my mom’s

Cece: Address?

Fuck, I didn’t want Jared coming over here. Seeing no choice, I texted Cece the address and let Gianna know that they’d be over later. I could tell she was sleepy, but I made her eat some toast before she took a nap in my room.

Still wound up, I watched TV on the couch, making sure to wake her every so often in case she did have a concussion. When Gianna woke for good, I ordered a pizza and called my mom to let her know we were at the apartment.

After eating, we cuddled on the couch under a blanket, watching an action movie. Just before four o’clock my phone rang. Cece and Jared were downstairs so I rang them up and let them know the apartment number. I still wasn’t happy about Jared coming over, but I knew if I didn’t respect his and Gianna’s friendship, she’d be upset with me. Which would only work in his favor and I couldn’t have that.