The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Kurtis Eckstein (psychology books to read TXT) 📖

more muscular, but it also wasn’t entirely baseless. Because people with super-strength or super-speed often had muscles that were different physiologically than those without, thus causing their abilities to not correlate directly with physical size.

My friend Nick was the perfect example, though he was an extreme case, being extremely short and scrawny while also being one of the most powerful men alive in terms of strength.

“So,” I finally said to Lexi without responding to the guy, deciding not to get into a proverbial size match with him. “What’s next?”

“Still want to check out my personal office?” she asked a little too suggestively.

Damn Lexi, did you want me to have to put this guy in his place? Was that something you needed from me? Because there was no way in hell he was going to let that one slide. And sure enough…

“Are you shitting me right now?!” Radley snapped. “You’re going to let him in your office?!”

Clearly I was missing something here. Were people not allowed to step foot in her office?

Her purple eyes narrowed, full of disdain. “Considering my sister and I have been living with him for the last six months, yeah. I think I will. And either way, it’s none of your business,” she added with contempt.

The guy looked like he was going to literally explode, his face bright red. And Lexi was totally exaggerating by saying they’d been living with us for six months. Sure, they’d been around a ton, but they hadn’t been fully living with us until only about a month ago.

Well, really, it’d only been like three weeks, but that wasn’t the point.

Clearly, it was time for me to stake my claim. Or at least point out that this asshole didn’t have one.

“Okay, what in the hell is going on here?” I asked seriously, causing Lexi to suddenly look mortified, as if she was terrified I was going to make her look like a fool by contradicting her. “Last I heard, Lexi was single, and she was dating a different guy for three years before that. So who in the hell do you think you are, trying to control what she does with her life?”

Lexi’s embarrassment immediately shifted to eternal appreciation.

“Son of a–”

I cut him off. “So who in the hell do you think you are?!” I repeated. “Because even if you’re an ‘ex’ or something, I at least know one thing for sure – she hasn’t been with you for a minimum of four years. And from what I can tell, she has no intentions on ever being with you in the future. And if you’re not even an ‘ex’ then you really have no right to be dictating what she does, not that you get a say even if you are.”

He immediately smacked his fist into his palm, the noise so loud, it was almost deafening, like the literal crack of thunder from a lightning strike. His tone was infuriated, dripping with violence. “That’s enough shit out of you. Let’s go. Right now.”

“Go ahead,” I offered with a shrug, not even planning on trying to block him.

He did, without hesitation, rushing for me, drawing back his arm and swinging with all his might straight for my face.

Only for…his hand to stop in midair.

And I wasn’t even doing anything – not even using my astral limbs.

This was all Liz’s doing, her shield passively preventing violence.

I just grinned at him, his confused look immediately shifting to rage. He dropped his arm and tried to strike again, this time with an uppercut, and then again when that didn’t work, only to come up short each time.

Which did tell me one important thing about his strength – the fact that he couldn’t make contact meant that he wasn’t even close to being as strong as Freya, whose punches Liz couldn’t fully hold back from this distance. Granted, he probably was sincerely stronger than I was, since I didn’t have super-strength, but there was no way in hell he was anything close to being top-tier.

I finally sighed, acting like I was bored, only to wrap my arm around Lexi’s shoulders and pull her close. “So this is acceptable behavior at work?” I wondered in a mockingly apathetic tone.

“Oh, no. Not at all,” she agreed with mock concern, wrapping her arms around my waist. “He could totally get written up for trying to attack you.”

I could tell she was loving every second of this.

I finally focused on Radley again when he stopped trying to hit me, both because of Lexi’s sudden proximity, combined with her answer to my question. At least he wasn’t a woman beater. However, now his hands were clenched into fists at his sides, his lean muscle bulging.

“Look,” I said evenly. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m not Lexi’s boyfriend, and I have no more say over what she does with her life than anyone else. But neither do you. If she wants to invite me, or anyone else, into her office, that’s her decision to make. Not yours, or mine, for that matter.”

Lexi looked disappointed again, but I didn’t want to set the wrong precedent here. It wasn’t that Radley didn’t get a say because I was staking my own claim, or because my decisions trumped his.

No. He didn’t get a say because she didn’t belong to him, period, whether she chose to be with someone else or not.

The guy’s face was so red, I was sure he was going to pop a vein. It looked like he was beyond speech at this point.

“She’s not mine,” I emphasized, trying to diffuse any impression that I was taking her away from him, even while holding her slightly tighter. “But she’s not yours either, so back off and leave her alone. Your behavior is entirely inappropriate on multiple levels.”

When he didn’t budge or otherwise respond, I finally gave Lexi a light squeeze.

“Let’s go,” I said simply.

She nodded, holding me tighter around the waist as we began walking past him.

Unexpectedly, the moment he was behind us, he