He shrugs, only slightly interested. “A life for a life.”

My jaw drops. “Oh my God. You’re legitimately insane.”

Kaitlyn’s watching the scene with a mostly bored expression like she did at Noah’s on Friday, like she’s heard it all before. Who is she? What happened to the girl who always has something to say? “I know that you have issues, too, but why are you with this guy? I’m sure even you can see that he’s psychotic.”

“Why are you so obsessed with us?” she asks.

That really takes me by surprise. It takes me a couple of moments to get over my incredulity and find my voice.

“Me? Obsessed with you?! I’m not the one crashing your parties! I’m not the one who spends every waking moment thinking about you. I’m not the one following you around and throwing bricks through windows and trying to hit you with them!”

Kaitlyn raises an eyebrow at Ryan. “They were there when you threw that brick?”

He scoffs at her as if that was the dumbest question he’s ever heard. “Obviously. Otherwise that’s just a waste of a brick.”

I take a step back from him. I’m talking to a monster. I wonder if he’s on something?

Kaitlyn’s lips purse thoughtfully and she steps closer to him. “But what if—”

“Just get in the car,” he orders, as if over this whole conversation.

“But—”

He grabs her wrist, and it looks like a hard grip. Painful. “I said. Get in the car.”

My reaction is automatic, even if it is Kaitlyn. “Hey! Let go of her!”

“Mind your own damn business!” he spits back at me, yanking Kaitlyn toward the car.

It’s obvious. You can see it in her face that she’s in pain, and that’s not okay with me. I reach out to him. To do what? I don’t know. But before I can do anything he grabs my wrist. Now he has Kaitlyn in one hand, and me in the other. And I was right. His grip hurts. I try to push at his shoulder with my free hand, but it does nothing. His grip tightens. Panic rises in my throat.

“I told you to mind your own. Fucking. Business,” he growls at me, his dark eyes swirling with hate.

Kaitlyn’s eyes meet mine, and for a second, everything melts away. She is me and I am her, and we wear matching expressions of fear. A tremor runs through my body and my breath comes up short. I fucked up by coming out here to confront him. What did I think I would accomplish, anyway? What could I possibly have done to make a difference?

But then I remember. I remember who I am. I remember what I’ve been through. My spine straightens and I look him directly in the eye. I’ll be damned before I let a kid with a man-bun manhandle me into submission.

Everything happens quickly, way too fast for him to react. I bend my knees a bit and spread my feet out to get a good, solid base. Instead of trying to pull my arm out of his grasp, which is basically impossible, I angle myself a bit closer to him. Then I swing the elbow of the arm he’s holding so it hits his forearm, drawing that hand near my shoulder. It’s a fast action, and the movement uses his grip against him. Since his wrist physically can’t bend that way, I break out of his grasp, relishing the feeling of freedom, and shove him away from me. It takes him by surprise, so I guess his grip on Kaitlyn slackens, and she pushes out of his grasp.