The North Star | COMPLETED ✔️

Chapter 34~ Dogs

Chapter 34

The two men collided, like stray dogs over a scrap of meat, faster than my disoriented mind could keep up with.

Contrary to the night I'd seen Bard fight the group of kids, this was no dance. No elegance graced his movements. Instead, jerking muscles slung with abandon across the living space and into the connecting kitchen.

Bard looked possessed, eyes wide and glassy, and Boe's normal smile had curved into a sneer.

They beat away at each other, punching, grabbing, shoving, back and forth. Appliances crashed to the floor. Pictures rattled off the walls. The two bounced around the room like pieces in a pinball machine.

No surface was safe. The small space just couldn't accommodate them. I jumped up out of my chair in a fight to keep out of the way.

Bard wrapped his hand around Boe's throat and slammed him into the opposing wall. He pressed him firm, grip tight, arm flexed as Boe clawed at the contact and scrambled to break free.

"Stop!" I rushed over and grabbed his forearm.

Bard's grip tightened.

Boe's face turned an awful shade of red. He pawed away at the massive hand, kicked his legs, but each attempt he made seemed weaker than the last.

"Bard! Stop!" Fuck it. I grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back as hard as I could.

He grunted and stumbled back.

Boe dropped to the floor and wheezed.

"What the fuck?!" I screamed at the both of them.

Boe didn't respond. He rubbed his throat, chest rising and falling heavily with each breath as he recovered.

Bard focused on me, and those eyes cut like they'd never cut before.

"Boe..." I turned away from Bard. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he lied, struggling back to his feet. "Are you okay?"

Bard's hands clenched into fists at his sides, and I quickly grabbed his bicep to pull his attention back to me. "That's enough... please."

Boe's gaze ran over my grip on Bard, and the way we stood together. "Right. Then, I guess if you're okay, I'll just head out."

I didn't miss the irritation in his voice. "I'll walk you to your truck."

Bard grabbed my hand. "Stay." It was just a word, but so much more than that. It was deep, smooth, and... desperate.

It hit me hard, hard enough I paused to study his face.

When I turned back, Boe stood in the doorway, staring at the scene. "Don't bother." He turned away. "I'll see you around, Jessie."

He's mad. I was supposed to be having dinner with him, and now...

"What the fuck was that?" I turned back to Bard. "There was no fucking reason for any of it!"

"He's an idiot for taking you there. You could have been caught."

The image of Drake as he stepped into view flashed through my mind, but I pushed it away. "He didn't know. He doesn't know about any of that stuff." The anger fled my voice. Instead, I just sounded tired, and I was; so unbelievably tired.

One time. One fucking time I let a guy take me out somewhere, and Drake almost found me. We didn't even make it out of the truck.

"Tequila?" Bard's hand lifted to push the hair out of my face. So gentle. How could something that had been so violent only a few seconds before, be so... soft. "Tell me what happened."