Page 49

With that, it was on, as Ava would say. Callum rounded on me and caught me in the jaw with a left cross. He always did have a sneaky left. Which he usually followed up with a right kick to the knee or a right elbow to the jaw.

I dodged the kick and countered with an elbow of my own. Callum twisted and looped an arm around my neck, locking me into a chokehold.

"Seriously, what the fuck, man?" he asked.

I threw another elbow in his gut, which made him grunt, but he didn't relax his grip. I tried stomping on his bare foot, but he expected that, too.

Finally, I bit his arm.

"Aw, son of a fucking bitch!" he yelped, finally releasing me and shoving me away.

I fell face-first into the fridge and whirled around in a crouch, my hands lifted to protect my head and a snarl on my lips.

And I immediately locked eyes with Merry.

As soon as I rose from my crouch, Callum caught on and glanced behind him as well. I knew from the expression on his face that he'd known exactly how long she'd been standing there. The manipulative shithead wanted her to hear everything, whether I was willing to try and convince her or not.

As her eyes tracked between the two of us, I decided I was done for the night. I couldn't deal with Callum's bullshit anymore and I couldn't answer the questions I saw in her eyes.

I took the coward's way out.

I walked to the back door and out into the night.