Matt didn't have a conscience. He'd lost it around the time he'd lost Hannah and, honestly, he'd never missed it. So what if she was sort of, unofficially, dating some boy she wasn't even sleeping with. It wasn't like he was asking her to marry him... and he knew full well she left their encounters just as satisfied as he did.
Things had changed a little since they'd started going on the occasional actual date but he could say that he hated it.
After she'd left, he'd actually pulled out his own books and began to study. She wasn't the only one with exams, after all. No pass, no play, right?
Several hours later, his stomach had given a loud growl and he'd decided that it was definitely time to go in search of food.
On his way out to the truck, he heard a scream and he stopped dead in his tracks, waiting to see if there was another. When another, softer cry followed, he instantly headed off in the direction of the noise.
Regardless of how he treated women, he was a good southern boy and you simply didn't do anything that would make a woman scream in that particular fashion.
Hearing the shuffle, he quickly rounded a rather large SUV and a fire lit in him when he realized that he actually knew the girl who was making those noises.
He closed the space between them rather quickly before snatching the guy off of Lyla and slamming him into the SUV. He was driven by pure anger as he drew back and sent his fist flying straight into the guy's face. He punched him twice before allowing him to slump against the truck.
"Lyla?" he grabbed at her, trying to look her over, cover her up, hold her close and lead her away all at the same time. "You okay? He didn't... you're okay, right?"