Three.

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed to slits. “I’m going to make both of you sorry that you came back here.”

“What about me?” Logan smirked at him.

No. I wanted Sebastian watching me.

He turned. “I already tried to get your acceptance revoked.”

Well, holy shit, I hadn’t expected that response.

Two.

Logan opened his mouth. His eyes flashed in anger, and he was going to say something to piss Sebastian off. I blocked him. I needed Sebastian and friends’ eyes on me.

“Time’s up,” I said calmly, quietly.

It worked. They all turned to me, and Sebastian’s eyes widened. He started to rear back—

One.

I rushed forward.

Sebastian lifted his arm to block my launch.

I soared past him.

He frowned.

It happened in the blink of an eye. I opened him up to Logan, and I checked the Big Motherfucker against the wall, holding him back.

I looked over my shoulder.

Logan threw the first punch. Sebastian was looking over his shoulder, following where I went, before he realized his mistake. Logan got him clear across the face, on top of the nose, and then it was game on.

Time slowed for that first hit but slammed back, and everything that happened afterward was so quick.

I had the bigger guy against the wall. He couldn’t move to help, and Nate rushed around me to stop the other two from going forward. Logan’s hit did the deed. Sebastian fell back, but he didn’t fall down the stairs. He fell into Nate’s back, and I clamped on Sebastian’s arm. One hit was fine, but having the guy getting more injuries or worse from falling down the stairs would be another thing entirely. His arm reached out and grabbed me. He didn’t know who was holding him. One of Sebastian’s friends slipped past Nate, but I maneuvered Sebastian, and shoved him so he fell into his friend’s arms.

Logan was at the door, waiting.

Nate reared his arm back, ready to deliver a hit of his own, but I caught his arm and ripped myself from the Big Motherfucker.

I dragged Nate behind me, and all three of us scrambled from the entrance. Once outside, I looked back. The camera was circling back to sweep where we’d left.

Logan tucked his hand into his pocket so no one could see the swelling.

We held firm. Nate started toward the parking lot, but I shook my head. This was Manipulation 101. We waited, and it wasn’t long before the door flung open.

Sebastian and his three friends flew out, searching for us.

We were right there, standing calmly.

Sebastian frowned, stopping himself, but he couldn’t hold back his friends. The three of them rushed us.

The Big Motherfucker came at me. The other two squared against Logan and Nate.

As the big guy swung, I dodged and scooted back, holding up my hands. “Hey, hey, hey.”

Here was the slimy part. I hated doing this, but it was needed to deal with Sebastian.

I lied through my teeth, “What the hell? Come on.”

The girls outside gasped. Two of them screamed, and I glimpsed a few grabbing for their phones. One girl sprinted into the bookstore.

“Stop,” Sebastian cried out.

He reached for his friends, but they weren’t hearing him.

The big guy swung again. I blocked his punch. I could’ve delivered a good uppercut, but I hadn’t. I shoved him away and held my hands up again. “Come on, man. What’s your problem?”

Logan was doing the same as me, ducking and dodging.

Nate started to throw his fist, but he caught on to us, and his arm fell back to his side. The three of us kept scooting around as Sebastian’s guys continued to throw punches.

“Guys!” Sebastian yelled at them.

They still weren’t listening.

Suddenly, they were grabbed and shoved backward. A wall of guys stepped between them and us, and it took a second before I realized what had happened.

Some of my football teammates were there. Drew, the quarterback, and a few others. Drew was standing in front of me with his back to me. The rest were literally a wall between Sebastian and his guys and us.

“Hey, man,” Sebastian started, moving away. He held his hands up, like I had moments ago. “They started this.”

A girl spoke up, “No, they didn’t. Those guys came out, and then those other guys just started hitting.”

Logan glanced at me. We shared a look. This hadn’t been planned, but it was like Sebastian delivered himself to us on a platter.

“We didn’t,” the Big Motherfucker huffed back at her. “The one guy hit Sebastian, and then they ran. We were just following. They started it.”

Drew turned to me before saying to Sebastian, “Well, it doesn’t matter. They have witnesses. You don’t. I’d suggest you walk and walk fast before campus security gets here.”

It was then when Sebastian figured it out. His anger spiked, and he glowered at me. Drew was studying me, too. I kept my face blank. I felt bad. Drew and the guys weren’t supposed to be there, but this was my fight against Sebastian. A lie to my quarterback was collateral.

Sebastian didn’t want to go. He lingered, but his friends were the smarter ones this time around. They grabbed his arm and pulled him down a sidewalk. He was glaring at me the whole time.

Good.

I wanted him to glare.

I wanted him mad.

I wanted him off balance. He’d mess up, and when he did, I would win.

Drew shook his head. He said under his breath to me, “That took some balls.”