“I had no idea it was going to hurt that much. Holy shit,” she said, her face twisting in pain.
“Are you okay?” I said.
The pained look went away and she beamed at me.
“I’m f**king awesome. I feel like I should get drunk or scream on a rooftop or something.” Renee leaned down and started examining Hannah’s hand. Having a sister who was a nurse was always a plus because it always came in handy.
“You don’t look at her, you don’t think about her, you never even breathe near her, or else I will make you regret it. Got it?” Dusty was still tearing the guy a new one while his friends tried to puff themselves up, but were definitely intimidated by the presence of Hunter, Dusty and Mase, none of whom looked like they would back down if it came to blows.
“We need to get some ice on this,” Renee said, putting her arm around Hannah. Taylor and Darah got our coats and we left the party. Some people clapped, but most were just disappointed that the fight was over and hadn’t gotten more interesting. The guys followed us once they knew that no one was coming after us.
“Was that everything you thought it would be?” Dusty said, hurrying to catch up with us.
“And more,” Hannah said, the gleam still in her eyes. I could see it even in the dark.
“How about you wait here and I’ll bring the car over,” he said as we walked down the lawn.
“Good idea,” Renee said, her attention still on Hannah’s hand. We all sat on the sidewalk and waited for Dusty to get back with the car. The other guys had stayed with us as protection. They’d gone completely alpha. Any minute they were going to turn into werewolves or something.
Hannah’s hand had started to swell and turn colors. Renee used her cell phone as a flashlight to make sure that none of the bones of her hand were broken.
“I think you’re going to be okay, but we need to get you back to the house. Where is that boy?”
Tires squealed and the Golf appeared right in front of us.
Renee and Hannah got in the backseat and I climbed in with them.
“See you at home,” Renee called out as the rest of the group walked toward the parking lot. They waved and told us to be safe.
Dusty drove a bit too fast away from the house, and when he hit the highway he floored it.
“You’ve got quite a hook there, Hannah Gillespie. I think he’s going to be feeling that for a few days,” Dusty said. “I know not to mess with you now.”
“Would you have messed with me before? Because I have another hand and I’m totally cool with using it.”
“Whoa, easy, Rocky. I was just saying.” He laughed a little, and I saw his surly facade cracking. Must have been hard to keep it up.
We got home, and Renee went into nurse mode, getting ice and wrapping Hannah’s hand up.
“Does it feel like déjà vu?” Taylor said when the rest of the household got back ten minutes after us.
“A little bit,” Renee said. “I don’t know why you do this to yourselves. A knee to the groin is just as effective and less damaging to you.”
“I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time, but you make valid points. I shall take them under advisement for next time,” Hannah said.
“Next time?” I said. “Were you planning on punching out d-bags on a regular basis?”
“If I didn’t encounter d-bags on a regular basis, I wouldn’t have to,” she said.
“Fair point,” I said, sighing.
“Shit, I need a drink,” Renee said after she got Hannah all patched up. Paul went to the fridge and pulled out a few beers.
“Anyone else?” he said. Everyone nodded their heads.
“Can I get one of those? You know, for the pain-numbing effects?” Hannah said. Renee cracked the top off her bottle and rolled her eyes.
“One. You can have one.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Hannah said as Paul passed her one.
“Dusty?” Paul said, holding one out for him.
“No, thanks. I’m set. I’ll take a Coke if you have it.” Paul tossed him a can and handed the bottle Dusty didn’t want to me. I stole a glance at Renee, but she seemed determined to look the other way. I opened the bottle and took a swig. Damn. It had been a long time.
We all adjourned to the living room and sat down on the couch.
“Is anyone else, like, exhausted?” Taylor said, curling up in Hunter’s lap as they passed a bottle back and forth. “I feel really old right now.”
“You were working it pretty hard there, Missy girl.”
“We all were,” Darah said. “I feel like it’s been years since we went to Blue, but it’s only been a month. We need to go out more, I think.”
“Amen,” Mase said. “Especially if you shake it like that, Dare.”
“Are you saying you enjoy my booty-shaking skills?” She raised an eyebrow and it disappeared under her bangs.
“Yeah, you could say that.” He pulled her chin to his mouth and gave her a kiss. Hannah made a gagging noise.
“Jesus, are they always like this?” She held her beer in her left hand, a bag of peas draped over her right.
“Pretty much,” I said, taking another swig. “It’s almost impossible to live with them.”
“Hey!” several voices said at once.
“What? You guys are, like, disgustingly cute and in love, and sometimes I just want to tear my hair out and scream at the perfection of it all.” Wow, I did not mean to say that. I couldn’t even blame it on the alcohol because I’d only had two sips and it hadn’t even hit me yet.
The room went silent, and it was like I’d completely frozen the conversation.
Shit.
“Jesus, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just hard sometimes, you know? Now I sound like an ungrateful bitch. I’m sorry.” I held the beer with two hands and looked at it so I wouldn’t have to see everyone watching me have a meltdown.
“Do, um, do you guys mind if I crash here tonight? I don’t really feel like going back to the dorm,” Hannah said, trying to come to my rescue. Oh, I was such a lost cause at this point.
Everyone chimed in that they would be more than happy to offer her shelter for the night.
“I’ll go and make up the couch in the man cave for you,” Taylor said, the first to think of a way to extricate herself from the room.
“I’ll...help,” Hunter said, hurrying after her.
“I should clean up the kitchen,” Darah said. Mase just got up and followed her without a word.