Quinn froze. Oh no, he did not.

“Wait here,” said Nick.

No way was she waiting here. Quinn threw herself out of the truck. This Tyler guy was a lot bigger than he’d looked when she was sitting in the cab of the pickup, but he could be fifty feet tall and she wouldn’t give a crap.

“What did you just call me?” she demanded.

Nick appeared at her side. “Quinn, go in the house.”

Tyler sneered down at her—a shame, because he might be kind of attractive if he weren’t trying so hard to look like a prick. “You heard me. I called you a stupid—”

Quinn punched him.

She shocked the hell out of him, too. He was probably one of those jerks who thought girls roamed the earth for nothing more than his pleasure. But she’d been holding her own for years, and the punch knocked him back. She knew how to swing, and she sure as hell wasn’t holding back with this tool.

“At least trashy girls know how to hit.” She drew back a fist to hit him again.

Nick got hold of her. “Jesus, Quinn. Stop it.”

“That’s right,” said Tyler, his voice a little nasal. “I forgot you Merrick douche bags like to let your girls fight for you.”

“Get the hell out of here,” said Nick. He had a death grip on her arms, his hands full of tension. The air was suddenly ice cold.

“Let me go,” she said. “I want to make sure he can’t pass on his genes.”

“No worries, blondie. Seeing you is enough to turn me off forever.”

“Right back atcha, dickhead,” Quinn snapped.

Then Tyler stepped toward her, drawing back a fist. She sucked back into Nick.

But Tyler stopped there. He smirked. “Yeah, all you girls think you’re so tough, but then you can’t take—”

His words cut short like he ran out of breath. No puffs of steam escaped from his mouth, though hers and Nick’s were going a mile a minute. Tyler shook his head fiercely, and then put a hand to his throat.

His eyes started to bug out, and he dropped to a knee.

Had he inhaled a fly? Was he choking? What was happening?

“Get out of here, Tyler.” Nick’s voice was quiet, low and full of intensity. “No deal, nothing to stop me. Understand?”

Quinn had no idea what that meant, but Tyler was on his knees, suffocating on nothing. Nick’s hands were gripping her arms so tightly she could feel faint tremors, belying the strength in his voice.

Was Nick afraid of this guy?

She kicked Tyler. “Yeah, asshole. Get out of here.”

He nodded hard, his hand pulling at his throat now.

And then he was gasping, coughing, his hands on the pavement.