Makeout Queen's punch definitely lacked finesse, but it was strong enough to knock me back into someone's warm chest. Lucas.

His hands landed on my hips, helping me find my balance as my hands balled into fists.

Preparing to punch back, I pushed off Lucas as Makeout Queen lunged, aiming for my eyes.

Lucas's arms snaked around my waist, yanking me back.

"Let me go!" I struggled angrily in his hold, trying to give this bitch a piece of my mind.

She'd punched me, and she deserved payback, but Lucas's grip didn't loosen. He held me firmly against his chest and damn, he was hella strong as I fought to get free.

"Jenny!" Her blue-eyed boyfriend ran between us as I stopped my struggling to get at her. "I told you to fucking let it go. What about that did you not understand?"

"Why, Tyler? This skank had it coming after that bullshit she pulled out front earlier. She had no right!" Jenny yelled at the top of her lungs. "Look at what she did to my makeup!"

I started laughing. "Your makeup wouldn't be ruined if you knew how to keep your hands to yourself."

Tyler's anger sliced to me as his gaze roamed over my wet hair and messy face. His eyes landed on the place where Jenny punched me. I could only assume my face was bruising. Tyler's gaze flooded with rage.

Why was he looking at me like that? This wasn't my fault. Fuck him.

I fought against Lucas's hold. "Could you let go now, asshole? I'm not gonna hurt her."

Lucas relaxed his hold, sliding his hands over my stomach as I moved away from him.

Tyler was still glaring daggers at me while our audience watched and listened way too closely.

"Tyler?" Jenny grabbed his hand, and he yanked it away. "I'm sorry. She deserved it."

"I said to. Let. It. Go." Tyler seethed as his raging glare fell on Jenny. "Don't touch her again. Do. You. Hear. Me?"

"Fine." Jenny whispered as her chin quivered. Was she gonna cry? Her glossy brown eyes refused to meet mine as she whisked past me.

"That's it? One punch and now you're running away?" I hollered at Jenny's back. I couldn't believe I was thinking about saying I was sorry.

She threw up her middle finger before disappearing into the bathroom.

The first bell went off, breaking through the silence.

"Go," Tyler commanded to no one in particular.

At his words, the entire cafeteria jumped to attention and started to empty. What was with these people? Tyler was hot as hell, but they were acting like he was the frigging king.

"Ember? Are you okay?" Missy didn't sound like she cared about me at all. She was asking out of obligation, not to mention, she was the reason I was punched in the first place. I'd been prepared to defend myself before she and her asshole boyfriend distracted me.

"I'm fine." My hand moved to my cheek as I rotated my jaw.

I had to hand it to her. Jenny got in a decent hit. I might've run my mouth, but she'd turned up the volume by getting physical. My revenge would have to wait for now, but I'd get her back.

The last hoodie guy with spiky blond hair jogged into the cafeteria, weaving through students as they headed to class.

"What happened?" His silky light brown eyes flared into a liquid gold as they slid over me. A burning intensity filled his gaze as he stalked in my direction.

Surprised, I backed up, hitting a table, but Spiky was in front of me before I could turn to leave.

His golden gaze darkened as it roamed over my face just before he noticed my jaw. The skin he examined was hot, telling me the swelling had started.

Chills of exhilaration cascaded down my spine as I let Spiky look at me. The concern on his face was unrelenting as our gazes locked. Spiky brushed the pads of his fingers lightly under my chin to tilt it up, and the jolt of electricity was instantaneous.

Gripping hard to the table behind me, this was just like the foreign reaction I'd had with Tyler. Knowing more about what would happen this time, I let my gaze slide down to Spiky's lips as the suffocating vibrations snaked around me, causing me to tremble.

Spiky's tongue slowly glided over his bottom lip before he asked something, but I couldn't concentrate enough to hear him.

When the overwhelming energy finally completed its journey throughout every pathway inside me, I screwed my eyes shut as jarring vertigo flipped me every which way. A pure golden light burned to life behind my eyelids before it exploded like fireworks, sending golden tracers into the blackness. The streamers of gold seductively caressed their way into the darkest corners of my mind. What the hell was happening to me?

When I opened my eyes again, Spiky was watching me so intensely that I squirmed.

"Are you okay?" Spiky's voice was only loud enough for me to hear.

I nodded quickly as my tongue ran over my bottom lip. Spiky's gaze followed the movement as his eyelids dropped to half-mast. Was he going to kiss me? That was so not happening.

Indecipherable whispering between Missy and Lucas filled the silence. Thankfully, Spiky towered over me, so he'd blocked my entire episode from the rest of the room. Careful not to touch Spiky again, I scooted away as he took a step back to give me space.

"I asked what the fuck happened." Spiky spun, glowering at Tyler and Lucas.

"Jenny and Ember got in a fight." Missy was sneering at me like she wanted me dead.

"No. Jenny attacked me, and I was defending myself." I returned her glare.

"What the fuck?" Spiky's blazing anger cut to Tyler. "I thought you said you had Jenny under control."

"I do, and I took care of it." Tyler's tone was full of irritation as he bent and snatched my soda bottle from the floor, tossing it in the trash. Tyler stopped next to me, facing Lucas and Spiky. "I got her."

Was he talking about me? Glancing between the three of them, I shook my head. "I can take care of myself."

"She's Missy's cousin, so she's my responsibility." Lucas sounded genuinely concerned as he moved toward me. He was offering to help, which made me feel good. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"No. I got her. She needs a ride home so she can change." Spiky's hand landed on my shoulder as his musky scent enveloped me. The aroma coming off him was seductively sweet and spicy like cinnamon.

"No. She's my responsibility." Tyler moved in so close I could feel the heat rolling off him, and damn, he smelled so good. Like minty soap.

Lucas moved closer, blocking me in between them. Lucas's scent was overpowering, and oh, so yummy. Like sweet rolls and fresh oranges. "But Jenny—"

"Isn't my concern," Tyler said in a harsh tone. What a mean thing to say about his girlfriend.

"Bro, you should think about this," Spiky said just above a whisper before glancing down at me, sending me a warm half-grin.

I glanced outside their huddle to see Missy glancing between them, pissed the hell off.

"I don't need to." Tyler's jaw clenched as he closed in, forcing me to bounce off Lucas's chest. I tried to move but ran into Spiky's hard chest instead.

I folded into myself. "Can I get some breathing room, please? I'm no one's responsibility, and I said I can take care of myself."

All three guys glanced down at me with curious looks. I was speaking English, right?

"Why do you guys care anyway? You know what? Never mind. I don't even know why I'm standing here." I ducked out of their strange huddle, stalking away. There had to be another bathroom down the hall. I was a sticky mess.

"Where do you think you're going?" A firm, warm hand wrapped around my elbow, tugging me to a stop.

I glanced back to find Tyler grinning down at me. This asshole thought my crap situation was funny.

Gritting my teeth, I yanked out of his grasp. "Away from you. Didn't you say you had shit to do? You should go do that."

"Ember, I can help." Missy rushed to my side, but she was focused solely on Tyler.

Why was Missy putting on a show for him?

"Nah, I feel bad about what happened." Tyler grimaced. "I'll take care of her. You should go to class."

Missy's eyes widened as she glanced between us. Why was she looking at me like I'd just stolen her favorite toy?

Tyler cleared his throat as he looked directly at her. "She'll be safe with me."

"Okay." Missy's voice was shaky.

What the hell? Missy never sounded like that, and she was listening to Tyler like he was God or some shit. And why was he reassuring her? Missy wasn't my frigging keeper.

Lucas had to practically rip his gaze off me before he glanced between Tyler and Spiky. Lucas relented and nodded before leading Missy down the hall.

I didn't miss the moment when Missy glanced back at me with an evil scowl on her face.

Tyler's hand settled on my shoulder and squeezed. "Let's get you cleaned up."

With his hands stuffed in his pockets, Spiky watched our interaction. I could feel his golden eyes studying me.

I moved away from Tyler, and shook my head, crossing my arms. "I said I can take care of myself."

"How? You don't have any extra clothes, and you're a mess." Tyler reached to brush my hair out of my face.

"Don't touch me." Dodging his hand, I continued glaring at him. "You can take me home to get changed?"

"Yeah." Tyler smirked as he pulled back and gestured for me to follow him outside. "I'll take you to my house."

"What? No." I stopped and glanced at Spiky trailing behind us.

"I'm only two minutes from here." Tyler took off his black hat and ran a hand over his messy light brown crew cut before adjusting his hat to face forward.

"I need a clean shirt." My tone was full of sarcasm. "You have a shirt for a girl?"

Spiky chuckled. "That's a damn good question, Bro. Do you?"

"Are you coming with us?" I asked Spiky, hoping he'd say yes.

"Justin's staying here." Tyler threw an impatient look at his friend. "And yeah, I have a shirt for you. It'll fit just fine."

Justin didn't take his liquid gaze off me. "I'm coming with."

"No." Tyler practically growled.

"You want me to come with, Ember?" When Justin said my name, my gut clenched and fluttered as his golden gaze sparkled, taunting me.

With both of them watching and waiting intently, I threw my hands up. "I don't care what you do. I'm not your keeper."

Justin's forehead wrinkled like I'd slapped him. All the light drained from his eyes, causing them to turn back to light brown. "Guess that's my answer."

Stuffing his hands back into his pockets, Justin spun on his heel and swaggered down the hall.

Like a punch to the gut, regret coursed over me like never before.

I watched as Justin disappeared around a corner. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, but what the hell? Justin had a girlfriend, and I had a boyfriend, so why the fuck did I care anyway?

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