Page 93 of Loving a Warrior

No fucking way.

He plopped himself down on the curb next to Shane, muttering out of the corner of his mouth, “I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on in my entire life.”

As Shane gaped at him, Matt raised his voice and shouted to the cops, “I started the fucking fight. Arrest me.” He held his wrists up as if daring them to cuff him. “It was me.”

Andy whirled around, sputtering, “What the—No, it was that blond dude.”

“Nope, it was me.” Matt glared at him, holding his wrists high. Immediately the rest of their classmates arrayed themselves along the curb, each loudly proclaiming they’d started the fight and demanding they be arrested.

Matt wanted to grin when the team guys followed suit, and soon there were at least twenty men insisting they’d started the fight, not Shane. The cop in charge glared at them, then walked over to stand in front of one of the team guys.

“Really, Jimmy? Really?”

Jimmy grinned. “You’re gonna be interviewing witnesses all night, Brett, straightening this out,” he said placidly. “By the time you get to the paperwork, it’ll be time for your next shift to start.”

“Fuck me.” The cop sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He tilted his head back and stared at the sky for a moment before muttering, “Cut him loose.”

Andy’s protests were loud and vociferous, and the cop whirled on him. “Shut. Your. Drunk. Fucking. Mouth. Now.”

Andy did.

A few moments later Matt was hauling Shane to his feet, wincing as Shane chafed the red marks on his wrists. He watched warily to make sure he didn’t make any moves toward Andy, who was being hustled off in the opposite direction by his own crew.

“Get out of here. All of you,” Brett ordered, pointing off down the street. “Wait. Who’s driving?”

Matt raised his hand, and the cop marched him over to his patrol car and had him do a portable breathalyzer test, seemingly disappointed at the negative results. “Go.”

After giving him a cocky grin, Matt double-timed it after his group. He caught up with them a block later and hurried to Shane’s side, putting his hand on his arm to stop him. “Lemme see if you’re gonna need stitches.”

With an impatient huff, Shane bent his head for Matt to peer at the cut on his eyebrow. “I’m fine, Soup,” he said curtly. “Asshole was wearing a ring, that’s all. Otherwise it would’ve been nothing.”

“Don’t worry, you’re still the baddest of the badasses,” Matt said with a smirk, after reassuring himself that while the wound had bled copiously, it wasn’t very deep. “That was a fuckin’ dirty hit.”

Shane turned to Aaron. “I’m sorry about your friend’s party…” he began, trailing off when Aaron whooped.

“Are you kidding?” he exclaimed. “Best party ever.” He punched Shane on the arm. “Rhys said his team gets in bar fights all the time because dudes’re always trying to start shit with them. It’s all good.”

Everyone piled into the van, spirits high. As Matt eased away from the curb and navigated through the streets toward the freeway, he could hear Pauly declare he’d never been choked out before, which prompted at least two guys to go for him. A free-for-all ensued, the van jerking and rocking, shouts and curses echoing through the open windows.

Matt drifted to a stop at a red light next to a small car containing a middle-aged couple. He glanced at them, catching their curious stares, and raised his hand in a lazy salute. “Evening, folks.”

Shane leaned across him to see who he was talking to, and at the sight of his gory countenance the woman gasped and powered her window up as fast as she could.

“Have a nice night,” Matt called, laughing as the couple accelerated through the now-green light with a screech of tires. He looked over at Shane and gave a mock shudder. “You’re so scary.”

Shane sneered at him before slumping in his seat, the adrenaline of the fight obviously leaching away. Matt could imagine his wound was starting to throb, so he shut up and concentrated on getting them home as quickly as he could. After they pulled into the barracks parking lot, he waited until everyone was out of the van and staggering off toward their rooms before tossing Aaron the keys to give to Pauly later.

“Thanks for driving, my man.” Aaron pounded Matt enthusiastically on the back. “What a fuckin’ awesome night. See ya Monday.”

When he was gone, Matt turned to Shane. “You wanna go crash in your room or do you just want to go home?”

Shane pointed at Matt’s truck. “Left my fucking car at the club. You’ll have to drive me.” His voice was low, plaintive, and Matt rolled his eyes.

“I take back the ‘badass’ part.”

It wasn’t long until they were pulling up into Shane’s dark, quiet driveway. Once inside, Matt flipped on some lights and went in search of first aid supplies while Shane collapsed on the couch.

In the guest bathroom Matt found a bottle of liquid bandage in the cabinet, so he filled a bowl with water and grabbed a clean washcloth, making his way to where Shane was sprawled, head back, eyes closed.