Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Sixty-Two

    Drake lowered his arm from Mia's shoulders down to her waist. He gently guided her behind him and called over his shoulder to his crew, "Watch out for her."

    Chubbs and Tank stood in front of Drake with their arms crossed over their chests. Tank looked like an intimidating beast without even trying. Chubbs, who usually looked like a nice, approachable guy, had a look on his face that said he shouldn't be messed with. Ryan and OB stood behind Mia with hard looks on their faces. Mark had an eyebrow raised, but otherwise looked unbothered.

    Trevor continued to approach the group, but stopped just short of Chubbs and Tank and tilted his head to the side. "Why all of the tough looks?" he asked with a polite smile on his face. "I just wanted to have a conversation."

    "But there's nothing for us to talk about," Drake told him.

    "I beg to differ," Trevor argued.

    "Well...you can beg all you like, but that doesn't change the fact that there is nothing for you and I to discuss," Drake said.

    Trevor turned his eyes on Mia. "I don't want to talk to you. I want to talk to her."

    Chubbs shook his head slowly.

    "Not going to happen," Drake told him.

    "She brought a bogus case against me," Trevor said, struggling to keep his voice light. "I deserve the chance to ask why."

    "Bogus case?" Drake repeated.

    Trevor shifted his gaze back to Drake. "I didn't lay a finger on her."

    Drake stared at him. Then, he laid a hand on Chubbs's and Tank's shoulders. "Step aside."

    Chubbs frowned at him like he was crazy. "Hell no."

    "Not advised," Tank said, echoing Chubbs's sentiment.

    "I said, 'Step aside,'" Drake repeated calmly, his voice firm.

    Tank and Chubbs exchanged concerned glances before slowly moving to the side.

    Drake turned around to make sure that Mia was protected. Then he turned to face Trevor and started to move forward.

    "Look at this. Drake isn't as soft as I thought," Trevor said, grinning.

    Vanessa, at his side, started to look nervous.

    Drake slanted a glare at Vanessa. "You pick interesting company to surround yourself with."

    "We had a lot in common," she muttered defensively, looking up at Trevor.

    Other people, celebrities and otherwise, walked around them. No one picked up on the building tension surrounding Drake's crew and Trevor.

    "I don't understand why you won't just let me talk to Mia. You're really going to protect that bitch when she's spreading false rumors?" Trevor demanded. "She jumps from me to you. She's obviously a fucking gold-digger. Ready to give it up to any man with a little bit of pocket change."

    Mia started to move forward, but OB and Ryan reached out, each grabbing one of her arms. She looked back at them.

    "Don't," OB said, sounding the most serious she'd ever heard him. "Our boy knows better than to believe any garbage this asshole says."

    Drake lowered his gaze. "I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about Mia like that," he said softly.

    "Wow." Trevor turned his head and laughed. "You're whipped? Already? Really?"

    Vanessa lightly touched his arm. "We should go."

    "Don't tell me what to do," Trevor threw at her.

    "You picked a real winner, Vanessa," Drake said with a cruel smile on his face.

    OB cupped his hands around his mouth. "I'm just saying, you could do better!" he yelled.

    "Tell me, have you heard that lately, Vanessa?" Ryan chimed in. Both of them cracked up.

    Vanessa rolled her eyes.

    Trevor licked his lips and took another step forward, invading Drake's personal space. "I'm going to put it this way. I want to talk to Mia. All right? Now...I've seen the TMZ reports. You may be her little boyfriend now. But I want to talk to her. And if I want to talk to her, I'll find a way to talk to her. You can make it easy, and let her and I have a conversation now. While you're here. Or you can make it more difficult, and more messy. Regardless, I'm going to get that chance to talk to her."

    Drake lifted his eyes and stared at Trevor. The man outweighed him. Had two inches on him, height-wise. Trevor's upper arms were the diameter as his thighs. But he didn't care. "And I'm going to put it this way," he said slowly. "You're not going to get to talk to her again. Ever. You're insulting my intelligence by lying to me. I saw her when she came in. I saw the bruise. I took care of the bruise. If we're being honest with each other, I should kill you where you stand for laying a finger on her. What you need to do is turn around and get the fuck out of my face."

    Trevor stared back at him wordlessly, then turned his eyes to look beyond him. He looked towards Mia, who was heavily guarded. "Why does everyone think they can tell me what to do?"

    Vanessa yanked on his arm. "Trevor, let's go!" she shouted at him.

    Trevor shoved her away from him - probably a lot harder than he'd even intended.

    She stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, landing on her ass.

    Drake chuckled. "A part of me is so glad you did that."

    "Oh yeah?" Trevor asked. "Why is that?"

    Drake lunged at him while drawing his elbow back. He punched the football player in the face as the both of them went down.

    Tank and Chubbs surged forward in unison, shouting at the top of their lungs.

    The innocent bystanders around them who were mingling or waiting for their cars screamed in fright. Some crowded around, holding up their cell phones.

    Trevor landed a few successful punches, but Drake didn't let up. He remembered what Mia had looked like the night she'd come in from her date with Trevor. He remembered the tears that had been coursing down her face. The image he'd conjured in his mind was enough to send him into a blind rage.

    Trevor, flat on his back on the ground, sputtered and stopped attempting to land punches. He brought his hands up to protect his face. "What the fuck, man?"

    "Keep thinking I'm soft!" Drake shouted at him while punching him. "Keep thinking you can fuck with me or the people around me. Keep thinking that!"

    Tank and Chubbs each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him back. Drake struggled against them at first, the red cloud of rage still tinting his vision. When the red haze lifted, he assured them that he was okay and that he could stand on his own.

    Trevor wiped at the blood spurting from his nose. "My lawyer loved that, my nigga!" he shouted. "You picked the wrong nigga to fuck with!"

    "Trust me - giving you what you deserve was worth it!" Drake shouted back. "Come near me, come near my crew, or come near Mia again and I swear to God I'll kill you."