away from Jack. But as soon as she was on her feet, he grabbed her and pulled her against him. “Where you going, baby?”
“Let her go!” Wes said.
Jack sneered. “We’re having some alone time, Stewart. So this is none of your goddamn business.”
Wes took another step forward, his hands clenching into fists at his side. “Let! Her! Go!”
Jack had a good four inches on Wes, and at least fifty pounds. But Wes wasn’t thinking about any of that. The only thing on his mind was Mandy.
“Leave right now, Stewart,” Jack said, “and maybe I won’t beat the crap out of you.”
Wes held his ground. “Right now, Jack!”
Mandy let out a loud cry as Jack tightened his grip. Looking at Wes, he said, “You’re not very smart, are you?”
“I’m not leaving,” Wes said.
“Your choice.” Jack pushed Mandy to the ground, then glared at her. “You move and you’re dead.”
She pulled her legs to her chest and tried to curl up into a ball.
“What did you do to her?” Wes said.
Jack laughed, his alcohol-infused breath reaching Wes a second later. “Do to her? You think she didn’t want it? Hell, she was begging me for more just before you got here.”
“Begging you? That’s not what it looked like to me!”
Jack lunged at Wes, telegraphing his move a half second before he stepped. Wes easily jumped out of Jack’s line of fire, but what he didn’t anticipate was Jack’s arm flailing out as he passed by.
A meaty fist caught Wes just above his hip. Pain reverberated in an electric shock across his pelvis as he spun backward, tripped, and fell into a sage bush.
Wes tried to push himself up as Jack swung back in his direction. But he was unable to get to his feet before Jack was on him.
“You’re screwed now!” Jack yelled in Wes’s ear.
Blows began landing against Wes’s sides and arms. Wild blows, made sloppy by beer and rage.
Wes did his best to absorb the onslaught, twisting and turning each time he was struck, but even unfocused, Jack was strong, and each hit was more and more painful.
Jack yelled out, one of his hands grabbing the side of his face as blood trickled down his cheek.
Not wasting the opportunity, Wes pushed up on Jack’s chest, then slid to the left as Jack tumbled over and hit the ground. Freed, Wes scrambled to his feet again. He aimed a kick at Jack’s ribs, but Jack twisted to the side and regained his footing. Wes braced himself to be rushed again, but Jack, his palm pressed against his bloody face, stared past him at something else.
“You bitch!” he yelled.
Wes glanced over his shoulder.
Mandy was standing a dozen feet away. She had pulled her pants back on, and was holding a rock in her hand. The sound he’d heard must have been a similar stone connecting with Jack’s face.
“Run, Mandy! Get out of here!” Wes yelled.
She hesitated a moment, then sprinted into the brush. Wes pivoted to follow her, but Jack slammed a fist into Wes’s back, knocking him sideways, then took off after Mandy.
Wes knew he couldn’t give in to the pain. He forced himself forward, slowly for a few steps, but soon gained speed.
He couldn’t see Mandy, but he could see Jack’s silhouette moving up the slope between rocks and brush. He tried to close the gap, but the terrain made it difficult.
As he neared the top he heard Mandy scream, “Leave me alone!”
Wes scaled a boulder like it wasn’t even there, then spotted Mandy and Jack just off to the left on top of a flat slab of stone. Jack was standing a few feet in front of Mandy, his back to Wes. As scared as she must have been, she was still holding on to her stone, ready to throw.
“Put the goddamn rock down,” Jack ordered.
She raised the rock a few inches. “Get away from me!”
“I said put it down!”
Wes moved as quietly as he could across the rocks, staying out of Jack’s line of sight.
“You don’t want to mess with me,” Jack told Mandy. “Put it down and I’ll let you go back to the party.”
She shook her head.
“Drop the rock, or I swear I’ll-”
Wes, head lowered, raced forward and slammed into Jack’s back. A loud expulsion of air escaped Jack’s mouth as he was knocked off his feet.
Mandy leapt to her right, just barely getting out of his way.
As soon as Jack got back up, he whirled around, his eyes wild with rage.
But this time Wes was ready. As Jack made a run at him, Wes dodged to the side, then swung a fist as hard as he could into Jack’s ear.
Jack cried out in pain and grabbed the side of his head. “You’re dead, Stewart!”
He took a step toward Wes and swung with a right. Wes leaned back enough so that the blow glanced off his arm, then he moved in, landing two quick jabs to Jack’s stomach. He immediately stepped back out of range as Jack’s next swing caught only air.
Jack roared in frustration. He swung and missed again.
Wes attempted another blow, but this time Jack threw his arm up, blocking it, then hit Wes hard in the gut.
Staggering backward, Wes tried to get out of the way of the next punch, but was only partially successful as the blow meant for his chin found his shoulder instead. He winced as pain shot across his chest. When he was able to focus again, Jack was standing in front of him, grinning as if the fight was over and he’d won.
“Once I’m done with you, I’m going to make sure your girlfriend never forgets me,” Jack said, sneering.
A ball of heat deep inside Wes’s chest began to pulsate. A heat that remembered Jack the bully hitting kids in junior high for no reason, remembered Jack and his buddies throwing milkshakes at Wes’s friends during lunch, remembered Jack groping Mandy’s chest, her shirt in tatters.
The sound that came out of Wes’s mouth began as a rumble and turned into a roar as he lunged toward Jack and began swinging.
Stomach.
Arm.
Face.
Arm.
Chest.
Face.
Stomach.
He kept throwing punches as fast as he could. Jack first tried to counter, but quickly moved his arms up to protect himself.
More blows, one after another after another.
Jack tried to move back out of range, but Wes matched him step for step.
“Watch out!” Mandy yelled.
Wes wasn’t listening. He continued to hit Jack, oblivious to everything else.
“What the hell’s going on?”
Lars’s voice. Nearby, but unimportant.
Shoulder.
Face.
Ribs.
“Wes, the edge!” Mandy called.
“Stop! Goddammit! Stop!” Jack yelled. “I give. All right? I give.”
That got through.
