Page 45 of Fight for You

I glance up just in time to see Titan charging at us like a bull, his face a thundercloud. I pick January up and toss her onto the couch out of harm's way. Titan plows into me a second later, knocking me into the wall. The television stand slides across the floor, careening into the movie shelf on the other side. DVDs crash to the floor in a pile.

"She's sixteen years old, you bastard!" he yells, pinning me to the wall. His face is red with rage, a vein in his forehead throbbing.

"Titan, stop it!" January demands. Another remote sails through the air toward us.

It cracks Titan in the back of the head before crashing to the floor. A split second later, she comes flying at him like a winged demon. She pounds on his back with her fists, yelling at him to stop being an asshole and to let me go. Her eyes are rimmed in red like she's been crying, but her face is flushed with anger.

I have no fucking clue what's going on with her and Titan, but I haven't seen her in a week, and I'm not in the mood for this shit today. My classes are kicking my ass, Ma Lucia is sick and dying, and I'm exhausted from running back and forth between campus and the hospital.

"January, knock it off now!" I bark at her.

She jumps backward, her mouth open in a shocked little "O". I've never talked to her like that before. I feel like a dick for doing it now. But it gives me enough room to get Titan off me without hurting her, and that's all I need.

With a frustrated curse, I push him, throwing him off me. As soon as he stumbles back a step, I spin, putting his back to the wall and my elbow against his throat, effectively pinning him in place and putting myself between him and January. She's so mad she's liable to hurt herself.

"Settle the fuck down before you hurt her," I bark, holding him to the wall until he meets my gaze.

His dark green eyes are hard, his jaw clenched tight. The vein in his forehead still pulses with the force of his anger. He jerks his chin in a nod though, letting me know he's willing to back off so she doesn't get hurt. He's my best friend, but I will lay him out if she gets injured trying to murder him for whatever dumb shit he did to piss her off this time.

I loosen my grip on him slowly and step back.

January immediately pushes her way under my arm and nestles into my side. The two of them glare daggers at each other. They're both panting from exertion. But at least they've stopped trying to kill each other for the moment.

"Either of you want to tell me why I could hear you yelling from the street?" I ask, glowering at both of them.

January's cheeks turn pink, but she doesn't answer me. "It's my business, Titan," she says instead, still glaring at her brother. "Not yours. Stop being a hypocritical asshole and mind your own damn business."

"Man, fuck this shit," he snaps and shoves past me, knocking into my shoulder. He stomps to the door and storms out. The door slams so hard behind him, the windows rattle, and a picture falls off the wall.

January immediately bursts into tears.

I pluck her up from the floor and into my arms. She wraps around me like a blanket, her entire body shaking. I carry her to the threadbare couch, holding her to my chest. When I sit down with her in my lap, she cuddles into me, burying her face in my throat. Her hot tears soak into my skin.

I have no idea what to make of her reaction, but it's freaking me out a little. I fucking hate it when she cries. And I have never seen Titan so pissed before. I've never seen them fight like that before, either. He riles her up just to get her going sometimes, and they have typical sibling spats, but they've never resorted to violence. Titan is as protective of her as I am. For him to act like that, whatever they're fighting about has to be serious.

She's crying so hard it's breaking my heart.

"Don't cry, baby girl," I plead with her. "Please don't cry."

"I'm sorry," she sobs, clinging to me.

"What happened?" I ask, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down.

"He found my birth control," she chokes out between sobs, still hiding her face in my throat.

My hands freeze on her back as soon as I process her words.

"Shit," I mutter, not sure what to say to that. No wonder he tackled me. He thinks I'm sleeping with his little sister.

She and I aren't having sex, but since she turned sixteen a few months ago, she's been pushing the issue. Holding her off is getting harder by the day. I want her so badly it hurts. I'm trying to do the right thing, but then she crawls into my lap, and all the reasons why we need to wait fall away. It's come close a few times before I was able to get myself under control, but I'm not sure how much longer that's going to last.

I'm constantly hard for her.

"He hates you now, and it's all my fault," she sobs. "I ruined your friendship!"

"He doesn't hate me," I tell her, hoping like hell he doesn't make a liar out of me. "And you didn't ruin our friendship. He's just worried about you."

Mandy thought she was pregnant about a year ago. It freaked Titan the hell out. He's probably thinking about that, worrying January will end up where he thought he was back then. I know Titan better than I know myself sometimes. He adores the girl currently clinging to me like her life depends on it. He always says she's going to be the one who gets out of here and does something great with her life. There's no way he'd be okay with her getting pregnant at sixteen.