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Justin’s hands had released my forearms to grab other fleshy parts of me. He probably thought I’d accepted what he was doing. Rookie mistake.
“No!” I shoved him just far enough to lift my foot to his stomach and kick him backward. My legs were strong, and he stumbled all the way to the opposite wall of the hallway.
He only smiled. He liked it. Sick fucker.
He propelled himself toward me once again, wrapping his hands around my face and squeezing hard. I hit him with the lowest blow I could think of. A kick to the crotch. Though I had a feeling such a blow to that area was nowhere near as painful as having pleasure forced from it. He howled and called me a bitch as I ran back into the studio.
Upon entering, I swallowed and smiled. I still didn’t know how to deal with the fact that I had likely just caused major issues for the entire team, but I stood up for myself, and that felt like progress. I took a deep breath and straightened out my shirt, wandering into the room as casually as I could.
Whatever Jonah saw in my eyes must have given me away entirely, because he shot up from his seat and rushed past me. I whipped around to watch him charge down the hall. It was like he already knew.
He neared Justin, their heights matching almost exactly. Justin was standing up straight, heaving as he leaned one hand on the wall, no longer clutching between his legs. His red face and erratic breathing were the only indications that something had happened.
“What did you two talk about?” Jonah asked calmly, pulling himself back from any conclusions he’d jumped to until he got a confession.
“Business,” Justin answered with a shrug. He stared right at me. He was covering this up until his next opportunity. I couldn’t let it happen again.
Jonah turned to look at me. I stood halfway through the doorway, holding the wall with two hands as if I’d need to shove myself behind it in case of an explosion.
“Is that all, Kai?”
I hesitated. Because I’m still a pathetic, passive, no-good girl with zero personality who deserves—
“No,” I said, standing up a bit taller.
“Oh.” Jonah groaned, letting his head fall to the side as his face washed over with abandon.
In an instant, he turned back to Justin and clocked him square in the nose. I screeched as Justin’s body crashed to the ground, his navy-blue vest twisting up as he writhed. He clutched his face in pain, and I found myself frozen. I felt June, Oliver, Noah, and Tiff crowd around me from behind to watch the show.
“Get her out of here,” Jonah said to no one in particular.
“Me?” I asked, taking a few frantic steps toward him. “I’m not a child, Jonah!”
He rushed up to me, inspecting me with wide eyes as he pushed my hair out of the way and tried to turn me, looking for bruises or something of the sort. “Do I need to call the police?”
“You need to get a grip, Jo!”
“Do I need to call the police?!”
“No, stop touching me!” I shoved his hands away, and he stumbled backward. God, I did not need his fucking manhandling right now, and this didn’t need to be a bigger deal than it already was. I’d done what I needed to do, and that was that. I just wanted to continue with my fucking day and for Justin to disappear.
Just as Justin began moving from his position on the floor, clutching his nose and moaning in pain, I heard Oli’s voice. “Kai, look over here.”
“What do you want, Oli?!” I turned angrily to my friends who stood in the doorway and found nothing out of the ordinary. No reason to look. A thump, crack, and thud sounded behind me, and I snapped my head back to where Justin again lay on the floor, his face bleeding from where Jonah’s sneaker had just made contact with it.
“Thanks, Oli,” Jonah muttered.
What the fuck? What the fuck? “Jonah, what the fuck am I looking at right now?” I stared at the mess of man on the floor. Did Jonah seriously just kick the guy in the fucking face? He was going to get himself into real trouble. What adult beats up another adult in broad fucking daylight?
I began arguing with Jonah as he attempted to blow past me, but he shook me off and headed straight into the studio. The girls grabbed all three of our bags and led me out despite my protests, preventing me from talking to my friend.
Before turning the corner toward the exit, I watched Oli approach Justin and lift him up by his shirt collar.
Chapter 23
Jonah
I sat on a spinning chair in the studio, bent over my knees with my face in my hands. I should’ve known Justin would pull some shit like that. I’d seen the way he’d been looking at her lately. I should’ve at least watched from afar when he pulled her aside, or insisted I go with her, or fired him the first fucking time he commented on June’s low-cut shirt or Tiff’s glasses. I could’ve stopped this. I should’ve stopped this. Oh god, this was so preventable, and I just… I let this happen.
