Risk: A Military Stepbrother Bad Boy Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

I was too old. I had seen too much. High school wasn’t the place for me.
     
    I was looking forward to getting out. Looking forward to getting on with my life.
     
    But god, what would I do?
     
    Did I really want to go back to the Corps? From this vantage point, it sounded attractive, but something about what Sarah had said resonated with me—something about wanting to see more of the world. Wanting to get out.
     
    Maybe I’d prefer seeing the world some way besides down the barrel of a gun.
     
    “Damien!” Sarah squeaked, jerking me out of my reverie.
     
    “What’s up?”
     
    “I’m going to the movies for my birthday next Saturday. You should come with us!”
     
    “It’s the same night as Homecoming,” Mitch cut in. “We’re not going.”
     
    “Why not?” I had to ask.
     
    They both stared at me, as if it were obvious.
     
    “We’re just not the kinds of kids who go to homecoming,” Sarah finally said. “It’s… It’s for the cooler kids. For the cool kids.”
     
    “For the straight kids,” Mitch clarified.
     
    Turning to Sarah, he added: “And the kids with boyfriends.”
     
    “I’ll take you,” I said. “Both of you. Who the fuck cares? If you think it’d be fun, do it.”
     
    “You’d be both of our dates?”
     
    At that moment, someone passing behind Mitch bumped into him and dumped a plateful of spaghetti all over him. He squealed and Sarah gasped.
     
    “What the fuck!” he cried, turning to the cackling presence behind him.
     
    Three guys, football players based on what their builds, their dull, vacant gazes, and the letter jackets they all wore—stood pointing, doubled over with laughter.
     
    “Fuck…” Mitch scowled.
     
    “Clean it up,” I said.
     
    Mitch reached for a napkin but I blocked his hand, stopping him.
     
    “Not you. Them?”
     
    “What did you say?” one of the jocks asked.
     
    In a second, I had vaulted over the table. He was bigger than me, but I was far more used to hurting people, and I had him in a head lock.
     
    “Clean it up, or you’re going to be passed out on the ground in five seconds,” I growled through gritted teeth, pivoting the jock in my grip so that he provided a buffer between myself and his comrades.
     
    He just gagged and gasped for air.
     
    “Damien, stop! Someone’s going to see—you’ll get in trouble.”
     
    I sighed. This wasn’t Iraq anymore. This was civilian life. And these were kids. I let the guy go.
     
    “What the fuck…” he gasped.
     
    “Listen,” I growled, staring the three of them down. “I’ll level with you cocksuckers. If I see anything like this ever happen again, I’ll break all your faces and put them back together wrong.”
     
    “Who the fuck are you?” the one I had choked demanded.
     
    “I’m Damien Calabruzzo,” I growled. “And that’s your one warning. Now. Go get some fucking paper towels before I stick my foot so far up your ass, you’ll be smelling shoe shine.”
     
    That was all they needed—they scampered to the bathroom and re-appeared a few moments later with wetted paper towels.
     
    “Sorry, Mitch,” one of them murmured, not the one I had choked, exchanging a sad glance with Sarah’s friend.
     
    “It’s… It’s okay, Teddy…” Mitch murmured in response. They cleaned up the mess as best they could, but Mitch’s shirt—bearing the logo and tagline for some musical I had never heard of—was definitely ruined.
     
    They went on their way and I sat back down.
     
    “No one’s ever stood up for me like that before,” Mitch blurted out.
     
    “If anyone ever does anything like that to you again,” I told him, catching his eye. “Let me know. I’ll make it stop.”
     
    The lunch bell rang, signaling the end of the period. I hadn’t even touched my pizza yet, but on the other hand, I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I was done with class for the day.
     
    “That was really nice of you,” Sarah told me, quietly, as she stood,