Tyler visibly bristled. He seemed to always hate it when Jaime had used the word jokingly. Coming out of Steve’s mouth there was no humor, only rage.
“Fuck off, Steve,” Tyler said.
“What are you, his boyfriend?” Steve took a step toward Jaime.
“So what if I am?”
The rest of the world condensed into the few feet between Steve and Jaime. They might be one punch away from a brawl, but all Jaime heard was Tyler’s words. It wasn’t exactly a declaration. It wasn’t a denial either. Tyler looked ready to defend Jaime at any cost, even if it meant revealing what he feared anyone knowing. Jaime couldn’t let Tyler get hurt on his account.
“This isn’t your fight.” Jaime’s voice was low but steady as he placed a hand on Tyler’s shoulder.
“Fucking right,” Steve said.
Jaime had spent too long running. That someone was willing to stand up for him, made him feel strong enough to do it himself. Jaime stepped around Tyler and faced off with Steve. Tyler hung back, but Jaime knew he’d jump into the fight in a heartbeat if either of Steve’s buddies made a move. “Let’s get this over with”
As many times as Jaime had sparred in class or been jumped by some homophobic Neanderthal, he’d never willingly stepped into a fight. His body shook from the adrenaline spike, and he tried to remember his years of training. The words had barely left his lips when Steve threw a wild haymaker that connected with Jaime’s jaw. Jaime stumbled backward, swimming in a twilight haze. He’d been clocked a few times, even by Tyler when sparring. It hurt, but it would hurt even more if Jaime went down.
“You going to cry, fag?” Steve taunted. Jaime was vaguely aware of laughter from the other two, but they kept their distance.
Jaime licked the blood from his lips. Steve was going to have to do better than that if he wanted to shake Jaime. He wasn’t going to run. Jaime knew he would win this fight. Losing wasn’t an option. Jaime waited for his opening. Steve threw several more punches, narrowly missing Jaime as he sidestepped. Each time he let Steve get a little closer until Jaime was able to catch Steve’s arm. In a fluid motion, Jaime guided Steve past him and straight into the door of a parked car. The crumple of aluminum was punctuated with a stream of curses.
Steve turned and lunged at Jaime, throwing wild punches. Some of them landed but most missed. Each time Steve extended himself, Jaime found an opening and connected several shots. Jab to the nose. Right hook to the ribs. Each impact rocked Steve’s body and slowed him but didn’t stop him.
“It’s your goddamn fault I was kicked out of the dojo,” Steve yelled as he threw a flurry of punches. “You’ve got no business being there.”
“I’ve got every right to be wherever the fuck I want to be,” Jaime said. “Not you or anyone else gets to decide that for me.”
The next time Steve moved in, Jaime ducked his punch and swept Steve’s legs out from beneath him. Steve hit the ground so hard his head bounced off the pavement. Bloodied and panting, Steve stared at Jaime standing above him. The swelling cuts and bruises on Jaime’s face barely registered. He would hurt tomorrow.
“Kick his ass!” Steve screamed over to his buddies. They looked as shocked as Steve that Jaime was beating his ass.
“Not a good idea.”
Jaime turned and saw Sarah holding up her cell phone. “The police can be here in less than five minutes.”
Beside her, Randy was holding onto Tyler. Even Erica was standing next to them. Jaime hadn’t realized there was such an audience gathering. Jaime looked back at Steve, who seemed to be calculating his odds.
“And it will take less than that for us to kick your collective asses,” Randy said.
The testosterone brothers weren’t the brightest, but they looked like they could add up well enough. They pulled Steve to his feet. Jaime didn’t move a muscle as they backed Steve away.
“This isn’t over,” Steve screamed.
“It is for me,” Jaime said.
* * * *
It took everything Tyler had and a hand from Randy to keep Tyler from jumping into the fight between Jaime and Steve. It looked like Steve might overpower him, but Jaime remained calm and waited for his opening. For every punch he took, he dealt out two. Soon it was over, and Steve was being dragged away by his friends.
Sarah and Erica came over to join them.
“That’s one nasty black eye,” Sarah said. “Maybe I should have gone into medicine.”
Tyler stood apart from Sarah as she examined Jaime. He wanted to be the one making sure Jaime was all right.
“I might end up needing a lawyer if that idiot decides to keep coming after me.” Jaime winced when Sarah touched the side of his face.
Then Jaime turned to Tyler and gave him a shy smile. “I think I might need a few more classes after all.”
Tyler’s heart bounded in his chest. That was all the invitation Tyler needed. He walked over to Jaime and took the man’s face in his hands as tenderly as he could.
“Hold still, I don’t want to hurt you.”
Jaime’s eye went wide as Tyler leaned in and kissed him. He probably wasn’t the only one shocked, but no one else’s opinion mattered as much to Tyler as Jaime’s.
Chapter 17
Jaime was so engrossed in adjusting the vocal tracks from Death OverLord’s latest recording session he didn’t notice Leila until she swatted him across the back of the head.
“What did I do now?” Jaime said as he set aside his headphones. He could still hear the track coming out at a high volume. No wonder he was lost to the world when he was editing.
“You’ve been holding out on me.” Leila leaned against the mixing table with folded arms and a scowl that would make a schoolmarm proud.
“I don’t know what
