“And I need to make sure Charlie is okay. I’m worried about my fiancé.” I am worried for my friend, because I’m sure the bastard blames him for losing me, but I tagged that on the end purely for Kai’s benefit.
Predictably, Kai slams the box down on the coffee table, sending daggers in my direction. “For the last time, you are not marrying that asshole.” His eyes flit to the glistening diamond on my hand. “And take that fucking ring off before I pry it from your finger.”
I’ve been wearing it to piss him off, and I love that it’s working. “You’re not involved in this decision.” I curl my feet up under me, smiling sweetly at him as I prepare to deliver the blow. “I love him, and I will marry him.” I shrug, as if it’s no biggie. “And we’ve already consummated our relationship anyway.”
Tension bleeds into the air, and Kai’s eyes flash with a dark warning. “That better be a lie.”
“It is,” Rick says, glancing up from the book he’s immersed in. “We tailed her all the way from Parkhurst, and she wasn’t out of our sight.”
I smirk. “It happened Friday night when he showed up at my room with my father.”
“You’re lying.” Kai’s jaw is taut as he glares at me.
“I’m not.” I stare him straight in the eye and blatantly lie. “You’ve been gone for years. You’ve no idea what we mean to one another.”
“Enlighten me,” he says, cracking his knuckles.
“He was my first kiss,” I truthfully admit, “and I’ve spent years wishing my father had chosen him for me instead of Trent.”
Another fact.
“And I’d always secretly hoped the reason Charlie never fucked around at Rydeville High or had a steady girlfriend was because he shared my feelings.”
Now, that part is most definitely a lie.
Well, the part about me hoping that was the reason. After Charlie’s declaration, there’s a part of me that now believes it might be true.
Whether it’s the truth doesn’t matter though. Because it’s a plausible statement, and Kai is buying it.
Planting his large palms on either side of me, he leans down, caging me in and fixing me with a menacing look. “Charlie is a dead man walking if he has laid a finger on you.”
“I guess now isn’t a good time to mention he kissed her. Repeatedly,” Rick supplies.
Kai jerks his head up, shooting an exasperated look at his brother. “And you were going to tell me this when?”
“It’s obvious she’s not into him, so I didn’t think it mattered.”
“I’m into him,” I blurt. “I’m really into him. He’s the only one I want.”
Kai thumps the arm of the couch, and a vein pops in his neck. “You are mine, and we both know it.”
“I’m his now. And I’ve never been happier.”
Kai rolls his neck from side to side, pounds his fist into the couch, and grits his teeth in a way that looks painful as he contemplates my words. His dark eyes stab me in warning, and I’ve never seen him so enraged. “That motherfucking, double-crossing, two—”
“We don’t have time to waste on Charlie Barron,” Sawyer says, cutting across whatever Kai was about to say. He levels him with one of those intense looks I’ve seen all three of them share.
“What is that?” I ask. “What are you silently communicating?”
“Nothing.” Sawyer dismisses it with a wave of his hand, and my blood boils.
“God, you’re infuriating.”
Kai barks out a laugh, straightening up. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Suck dick.” I flip him the bird and get up, jabbing him in the ribs as I push past.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” He yanks me back by my shirt.
“To my room.”
“You mean my room?” His look is suggestive in the extreme. “I can get behind that plan.”
My lips tug up. “Actually, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll hang out in Jackson’s room.” I shrug. “Maybe watch some pornos or play strip poker.”
“Get your annoying ass in the car,” he snaps, grabbing my elbow.
“Eat shit and die.”
“That muzzle suggestion is sounding more and more appealing,” Kai says to Sawyer. “Can you order one online and have it delivered?”
“I’m on it.” Sawyer smirks, and I flip him off too.
Kai slaps the keys in my hand. “Go wait for me.”
“I don’t take orders from you.” He slaps my butt, and I yelp, rubbing my sore ass as I glare at him. “I still don’t take orders from you.” I fold my arms across my body, daring him to slap me again.
He does.
Even harder this time.
I swing my fist, aiming for his face, but he takes hold of my wrist, stalling me. “You don’t want to push me, baby. Do what you’re told, or I’ll redden your ass and make it so you can’t sit down for a week.”
“I hate you.”
“Right now, the feeling is mutual. Get in the car.”
I stomp out of the room, mumbling obscenities under my breath the entire time. I’m halfway across the path between the house and the garage when I spy Jackson up ahead. He’s in his running gear, and he’s jogging straight toward me. “Sup, beautiful?” he pants, yanking the buds from his ears when he reaches me.
“You went running without me?”
He swipes his arm along his sweat-slickened brow. “Didn’t think you’d be up for it in your condition.”
I snort. “I’m pregnant, not incapacitated. And keeping fit is important.”
“Cool.” He shoves damp strands of hair back off his brow. “I go running every morning, and you’re welcome to join me. There are tons of good routes to run on the grounds.”
“It’s a date.”
“What is?” An angry voice barks at my back.
“Your misguided possessiveness is pathetic.” My lips curl into a sneer. “And you’ll give yourself an ulcer if you keep this up.”
“The only thing giving me an ulcer is you,” he retorts, grabbing my elbow and dragging me away from Jackson.
“You’re hurting her,” Jackson says, pinning angry eyes on his buddy as he takes a step forward.
“No, I’m not. And even if I was, it’s none of your business. I won’t tell you again, Lauder. Butt the fuck out.”
“Someone needs to remind you to remove your head from your ass,” Jackson says. “Before you fuck everything up.”
“Pot, kettle, black, dude.” Kai keeps a tight hold on me as he manhandles me toward the garage.
“Why are you pissed at him?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder. Jackson hasn’t moved from his spot, and he’s watching us as he sips from a bottle of water with steam practically billowing from his ears. Kai’s last retort got to him.
Kai ignores me at first, hauling me to a large Land Rover with blacked-out windows. He opens the passenger door, grips my hips, and sets me down in the seat, before strapping me in as if I’m a little kid and incapable of buckling a seatbelt.