Page 117 of Monstrous Serpent

Cody slows, mouth set into a hard line, his hand shifting higher on the strap of his bookbag.

She practically skips over, a friend at her side. A heat builds in my chest, spreading like wildfire, as she gets closer to what's mine like she has any right to be near him. “We haven’t talked in forever. Just wanted to see how you are.”

“I’m fine, Cindy.”

She looks past him to the building. “I thought you were going to tutoring because of the Hamlet unit. But we finished that a few weeks ago.”

Cody's jaw tightens. “Fuck off.”

Her brows scrunch, lips pushing into an obnoxious little pout. “Oh, is it like for all your classes? Poor baby.”

I have never hit a girl in my life. Never even considered it. But this bitch is about to lose her goddamn teeth if she doesn't shut the fuck up and walk away in the next three seconds.

“Yeah, it is for all my classes because I have a learning disability. Go ahead, laugh. I fucking dare you.” He steps closer. “Now I get why your dad doesn't come around. Can't blame him when this is what he raised.”

Damn. Go, Little J.

Cindy's eyes widen for half a second before her face twists. “Wow. That's actually kind of sad. I always knew you weren't the sharpest, but—”

“Walk away.” I spring up from the bench and close the distance between us fast. “Now.”

She huffs, looking me up and down. “Excuse me? Who are you?”

“The guy who's going to make your life very fucking difficult if you don't turn around and leave.”

Her friend tugs at her arm. “Cindy, let's just go.”

“Ugh, whatever. They’re a bunch of hockey losers anyway.” Cindy turns, nose in the air, and starts walking.

But as I cross behind her, my boot hooks behind her ankle, sweeping her back foot into her front one. She doesn’t get her hands up in time, and her face hits the pavement.

“Ope.” I step around her, hands in my pockets. “My bad.”

Cindy’s friend drops to her knees beside her. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

I shrug. “Just clumsy.”

Cindy sits up, blood dripping from her bottom lip. When she opens her mouth, there's a chip missing from her front tooth. “You—you—”

She breaks into a sob.

I throw an arm over Cody’s shoulders, press a kiss to his cheek, then look back at her. “Maybe don't walk around campus making fun of people for needing help, and you won't eat concrete.”

Her mouth opens. Closes. Opens again.

But I steer Cody away before she says something that will really make me hurt her.

Cody blows out a breath through his nose. “I had it handled.”

“You did. I just added the punctuation.”

“Her face, Atlas. She chipped her tooth.”

“Not my fault. She didn't put her hands out. Who doesn't put their hands out? That's literally a reflex. Guess she figured all that lip filler would cushion the blow.”

He stops walking and turns to me, eyes narrowed. “She's a bitch, not a threat. You can't just—”

“She tripped, Cody. No one shoved her off a building.”