“Avery, shut up!”
Micah stepped in front of me, and his voice boomed, “You’ll want to apologize to her right now.”
“How about I call the cops and have your ass thrown out of here.”
Micah chuckled. “That might be interesting. Give them a call.”
“You think I won’t?”
“No, I believe you’re ignorant enough to do something like that. Not much they can do, being as it’s my building.”
My gaze jerked to Micah, but he wasn’t looking at me. He owned the building? I thought he just rented my apartment.
This new information didn’t appear to deter Noah’s anger. “Then maybe I’ll drag you out of here myself.”
Micah took a quick step forward. “Go ahead and try. I’ll have you on the ground before you get one hand on me.”
Noah roared and barreled forward.
I screamed, jumping back and covering my mouth as Micah moved so fast I heard the clash of their bodies. The terrible smash of flesh hitting flesh and pained grunts filled the hall.
“Stop it!”
Noah’s body flung against the wall hard enough that the lights in the antique sconces flickered, his eyes unfocused as he slid to the ground.
Oh, my God, he went down like a sack of rocks.
“What did you do?” I ran to Noah, trying to get his eyes to focus on me. I cupped his jaw and glared at Micah. “Why did you do that?”
“I warned him.” He gave his sleeve a negligent tug.
Disappointment welled in my chest, competing with the ache of concern for Noah. The Micah I knew would never overreact like that. I brushed a shaky hand across Noah’s brow, lifting his hair so I could see his eyes.
“Noah, look at me. Open your eyes.”
Blood coated his teeth as he blinked up at me. “You … kissed him.”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t deny the accusations. I knew I didn’t start it, but that was a stupid technicality, and I could have stopped it the second I realized what was happening. Instead, I let it happen.
“I’m sorry.”
“Avery, you should go inside,” Micah’s voice was cold and absolute.
I turned and scowled. “No. You can leave.”
He stilled and raised a brow. “Think before you speak, Avery.”
I suddenly felt like a child with absolutely no power. I looked down at Noah. His gaze heavy, a blood vessel bursting into the white of his eye.
Shifting to sit up, he winced and cradled his ribs. “Don’t listen to him, Avery. Don’t let him tell you what to do.”
“Avery.” Micah’s tone grew impatient.
“I just want to get him away from you,” I whispered. “Then I’ll come back.”
“If you go with him, he wins.”
He’d already won. Noah was on the floor. How had things taken such a turn so fast? My vision blurred as I blinked down at him, truly regretting that he was on the floor after trying to defend my honor. I had no honor.
“I’m sorry.”
He shut his eyes, his face pinching in obvious pain. He grabbed my wrist as I moved to stand. “Make him leave.”
I glanced back at Micah, who wore a look of displeasure. “Get off the floor, Avery.”
Micah wouldn’t leave until he saw me safely in my apartment, and Noah gone. Everything inside of me wanted to stay with Noah and make sure he was okay. His eye was bleeding, and he might have a concussion. This was all my fault.
I looked back at Micah again and wondered what he would do if I told him to go. He was angry and the longer I crouched in front of the man who just tried to attack him, the more his irritation showed.
He’d bailed me out today. I lived in his apartment, his building. My entire wardrobe was his doing, from the pins in my hair to the designer shoes on my feet. It was supposed to be for my independence, but I never felt more indebted to someone in my life.
I shut my eyes, forcing my tears away. “Noah… I have to go with him. I’ll come take care of you as soon as he—”
A pained chuckle rumbled in his chest where his arm cradled his ribs. “Do you know the story of the scorpion and the frog?”
“What?” He was delirious.
“The scorpion and the frog. The scorpion asks the frog for a ride across the river and promises not to sting the frog. Halfway there the scorpion stings the frog, and the frog begins to drown. Just before he draws his last breath, he looks up at the scorpion he trusted and asks why. The scorpion replies, it’s my nature.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I should have known better.” He gave up trying to sit up and slouched against the wall.
Chills crawled over my limbs. Was I the scorpion? Some horrible little creature that couldn’t be trusted?
He shut his eyes. “Your date’s waiting.”
Noah rolled to his feet and grunted, taking three unsteady steps to his door and leaving me confused, on my knees. He didn’t look back, and Micah didn’t help me up.
When Noah’s door closed, I just stared at it. So many men in my life, yet I never felt more unloved or unlovable.
“Avery, get up off the floor and come inside.”
I shook my head, my heart hardening and cracking like ice. “I can’t … be around you right now, Micah. I need you to leave.”
“Avery, this isn’t how we behave. This isn’t how you behave. Get up off the floor.”
I blinked up at him, and a tear fell from my lashes. “You beat up my friend.”
“That man is not your friend.” He stepped closer and held out a hand. “Come on, love. I’ll take you inside.”
But Noah was my friend. He cared about me. He left me funny little love notes and flowers. We danced in the snow and made love on a bed of roses. He understood me. Maybe a little too well.
And then he called me a scorpion.
I shut my eyes and slid my hand into Micah’s as he pulled me off the ground. Was that what I was? Poisonous? Toxic? Was that why I had no friends and why my siblings all left and never called to see if I was okay?
Maybe Noah was right, and this was my nature. Maybe that’s why Micah seemed so certain people like me were better off contracting their relationships rather than trying to form organic ones.
I couldn’t afford to burn another bridge. I stood and brushed the dust off the hem of my dress. I glanced at the floor. “My purse?”
“I have it.” Micah put an arm around me and escorted me inside.
It seemed natural to simply shut off. The reality was too sharp and could only bear a dull throb right now, or I’d crack. Lowering my gaze to the floor, I followed him inside.
32
Avery
I stared at my lap as Micah ran water in my kitchen. My stomach swirled with a nasty mix of fear and self-loathing. Noah was across the hall, bloody and furious. And I was here—with Micah.
He called me a scorpion, one of the most duplicitous creatures on this earth. A venomous, arachnid predator, so married to its nature, it was doomed to live a life barren of friendship.
I glanced up as Micah’s tailored pants filled my view. Dressed in a designer suit, dark skin pampered to perfection, he did not look like the lethal weapon that emerged only minutes ago when Noah charged at him. The man didn’t have a scratch on him, yet Noah could barely open his eyes.