chapter 53

I was up and scrambling.

He went for the gun. I went for him.

Fuck him. Fuck this. Fuck everyone.

I was totally and completely embracing that darkness in me, because right now, this guy was the same as the guy at the gas station who’d put a gun against my head, the same as the guy who’d pointed a gun at me in my cousin’s apartment, the same as the guys who’d chased me in traffic, and I was not letting them win.

Never.

I would be standing at the end. I declared it. Every damn time.

Knowing that, remembering all of that, I accepted the last part of me that I’d been hiding from, the part that helped connect me to Ashton because he had it too.

I reached out, and slammed my foot down on his arm, then pivoted and delivered the best soccer kick straight to his face. If it’d been a ball, it would’ve sailed halfway down the field. I was sure of it.

I wanted to do it again.

His head snapped back from the force.

“Hey! Stop. Stop right there.”

I twisted around.

Jess had the guy’s gun, but she had