Taking Chances

Right away Kale threw a punch, Brandon leaned back letting it pass an inch from his face, his smile never faltering. He looked so comfortable and confident, it started to make me nervous. When people get cocky, they mess up, and messing up with this guy swinging and kicking at you? It wouldn't end well. Kale looked to be a little shorter than Brandon, but had to have at least an extra twenty pounds on him, and he just looked evil. Kale went after Brandon again, and they both started in on each other. A tall guy stepped in front of me and I had to struggle to even catch a glimpse. I was up on my toes and leaning to the side as Kale brought his leg around, I didn't even see if he'd gotten Brandon because I stumbled, falling into the guy in front of me. Thankfully he caught me around my waist before I could hit the ground.

“You alright there, Graceful?” He smirked, but his eyes were bright, I knew he was teasing.

I narrowed my eyes at him, but couldn't help but laugh. “Yeah, fine. Sorry about that!” I raised my voice enough so he could hear me above the crowd.

“Trust me,” His eyes heated as he raked them over my body, “it's not a problem.”

The basement filled with cheers and frustrated roars, Scarecrow started yelling into the mic, “Knock out! I can't effing believe it!”

I tried looking to see who had gotten knocked out, but all I saw were people cheering. Everyone was screaming, but no names were said, and for a few moments I was terrified that Brandon was in that circle, unconscious. I surged forward, but Mr. Tall Guy grabbed and pulled me back against the wall I'd originally been standing by. I wanted to yell at him to let me go so I could check on Brandon, but when his hands locked around my wrists, all thoughts of Brandon flew out the window as I turned to face him.

“You look scared baby. I promise not to bite. Hard.”

“Baby?!” Oh, hell no.  “I am not your baby.” If his hands weren't still gripping my wrists, effectively pi

“No?” He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, after a couple seconds a twisted smile crossed his face. He leaned in and pressed his body into mine, his breath reeked of beer, “Well, we're about to change that.”

I understand that I’m petite and look like I can be forced, but I was not raised by hundreds of jarheads just to let some preppy douche try to tell me what I was about to do. Friendly strangers and guys I like, sure I get nervous around them, but belittle me or try to dominate me, and I get pissed.

“Get. The hell. Away. From me.” I growled.

He responded by pressing himself harder into me so I could feel how excited he was getting. “I know you're scared, but I'll be gentle.”

Sad thing was, this guy was attractive, and his outfit suggested he came from a country club home, I'm almost positive he could have any girl he wanted, and yet he was getting hard because he thought he was going to have his way with me by scaring me? I tried not to gag. He lightly licked my neck and put a hand under my shirt. My knee jerked up but he pushed back too fast for me to co

“You're feisty, I like that. I think we're going to have fun.” he winked and tried pulling me toward him again, “Let's go.”

“Yeah, that's not go

That husky voice made me sigh in relief, Brandon was okay.

“Can I help you bro?” Mr. Tall Guy asked calmly and released my wrists.

Brandon refused to look at, or answer him. The muscles in his jaw were ticking from the pressure of trying to keep his mouth shut. He held a hand up toward me, and when I went to put my hand in his, my new best friend grabbed my wrist again.

“Sorry man, but you're go

Brandon's eyes shot toward him, his right hand clenched into a fist and his body turned to face him. This Brandon was terrifying, he hadn’t even looked at Chase like that the morning he saw the bruises. I knew what was about to happen, and there's no way I was letting Brandon take this from me, so I acted before he could. I kneed the prick hard in his groin, when he bent at the waist my hands flew to the back of his head and I slammed his face into my still-bent knee. Blood instantly poured out of his nose and onto my bare leg, I let go of his head and let him fall to the ground. One hand was gripping his crotch, the other trying to hold back as much blood as possible.

“Asshole.” I murmured.

Looking up slowly, I made sure to avoid my boyfriend's eyes. I think he liked being protective of me, and honestly I loved that he was, but I'm not going to cower down and play the damsel when a boy that's sick in the head treats me like that. I knew Carter and the other guys would have been proud that I used some of the moves they were always teaching me, but I didn't know what Brandon would think about it.

The few people that had seen the little exchange were razzing Mr. Tall Guy for letting a “little girl” bring him to his knees. I smirked at him still curled up on the ground, but my face fell when I finally looked at Brandon's wide eyes and dropped jaw. My cheeks blazed and I bit my lip, worried about what he was about to say.

He blinked and shook his head in disbelief, “Damn, sweetheart. That was hot.”

I laughed and jumped over my victim and into Brandon's arms, kissing him fiercely. He still had his shirt off and was covered in sweat, but I didn't care. He was okay, he'd won the fight, and he liked the way I was able to take care of myself. He hissed and sucked in a sharp breath before setting me down.

“Are you okay?”

He was grimacing, but pulled me close, “Yeah, I'm good. Let's get out back and find Scarecrow.”

When we got out of the main room and found Scarecrow and Brandon's shirt, I pulled out my phone to call Bree, but she'd sent a text saying she caught a ride with the guys. Brandon introduced me to Scarecrow who let out an appreciative whistle and clapped Brandon on the back.

“Nice catch man, keep bringing your good luck charm around, I like the money she's making me.” He smiled at us and handed over a massive wad of cash.

Brandon didn't even count it, just shook his hand and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, leading me outside. I noticed the rigid way he was holding himself, and how it took him a little extra time climbing into his Jeep, but didn't ask. Instead I wrapped my hands around one of his and silently inspected him. He didn't look like he had any cuts, or bruises, but I couldn't see much of him now. I wished I'd looked earlier, while his shirt was still off.

He smiled and moved his hand from mine to place it on my thigh, “Do I pass inspection?”

I blushed and looked out at the street, “Sorry.”

“Don't be, I was joking. Did you have fun?”

“Well I wasn't really able to see anything because of that guy, and then I was focused on getting him away from me.”

Brandon laughed and cut off abruptly, sucking in another quick breath, “Seriously Harper, that was by far the best thing I've ever seen. I couldn't believe my girl put someone down faster than I did.” He smiled, his eyes bright.

I smiled back at him and shrugged, “I really don't understand why you all think I'm so breakable. Remember, I spent almost every day of my life with a bunch of horny Marines that treated me like I was their little sister. They made sure from early on that I could handle myself against guys like them.”

“Well, I'm glad for that, and I do know that you can take care of yourself. I'm sorry if I go a little caveman when it comes to you sometimes, but I've never met anyone like you. You're precious to me, and everything in me screams to take care of you.”