“Leave, Sawyer,” Gentry ordered.
The kid grimaced in the doorway. “Faith, you okay?”
“Yep, fine and dandy. Definitely not embarrassed. Nope. Not one bit.” Her voice shook, and I wanted them both out so she could pull herself together.
“She’s fine,” I told Sawyer. “Go.” I respected the hell out of the kid for waiting but wasn’t in the mood for his chivalry.
“It’s okay, Sawyer,” Faith urged.
His attention darted between the three of us, and then he nodded, turned and left.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Eric growled, his face mottled with rage.
“Eric!” Faith jumped down from the counter, coming to my side.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I assured him. I was in love with Faith—she wasn’t just a piece of ass.
“Oh, you weren’t just fingering my little sister?” he snapped.
“Excuse me?” Faith hissed.
“Okay, that…” I cringed. “That’s why we were having dinner tonight.”
“So you could tell me that you’ve been fucking my sister? I mean, let’s be clear. I’d hate to get confused.” Gentry shook, his fists clenched at his side.
“What I do is none of your business, Eric!” Faith yelled, trying to put herself between us.
I cut her off, using the kitchen table to block her from her brother.
“You,” he pointed at her. “You have no idea what he’s like.”
Well, that hurt.
“I know exactly who he is!”
I moved again to keep her contained. I knew Eric better than she thought, and the last thing I wanted was for Faith to be collateral damage.
“You do? You know all about the one-night stands with multiple girls? Jesus, Faith, he gets around more than public transportation!”
True, but still really fucking painful.
“You’re an ass!”
“I can’t believe you’re letting him tap yours!” he shouted back.
“Hey!” I stepped forward. “Come at me all you want, Gentry, but you don’t get to say that to her.”
His eyes narrowed, and I saw it coming. I knew what was about to happen, and I let it. Hell, I deserved it.
His fist plowed into the side of my face.
Pain exploded through my jaw, and blood sprayed Faith’s white cabinets as my head snapped to the right.
Fuck, the guy could hit.
I rotated my jaw, praying he hadn’t broken it as Faith shrieked, putting herself between us. “Get out!” Her voice was louder than either of ours.
“How could you?” Gentry accused, pointing a finger at me.
The taste of warm pennies filled my mouth, and my fingers came away from my lip coated in blood. Great.
“She’s important to me,” I growled, stepping in front of Faith and sweeping her behind me with my left arm.
“You think you have to defend my sister from me? That’s fucking rich, Vestergaard. I guess I should have been the one defending her from you. How the fuck could you? Out of every girl in Seattle, you had to go for my little sister?” His fists clenched again.
“Out of every girl in the world,” I growled. “And I let you hit me once, but it’s not going to happen again.”
“Fuck you!” he shouted, pointing at me again. Then his gaze lifted over my shoulder. “And I don’t even know what to say to you.”
“Goodbye is the first word that comes to mind!” she snapped. “Get out!”
“Faith asked you to leave,” I said softly.
He looked like he was going to lunge for me again, but stopped himself. Then he spun and stalked out of the room, slamming the front door on his way out.
I turned and gathered Faith in my arms, holding her tight against my chest.
“That didn’t go as planned,” she whispered.
“Really? I always figured it would go down pretty much just like that. Well, minus the whole mid-orgasm thing.” Fuck, my face hurt.
She scoffed. “I’m never going to come again.”
I debated taking her to her room and disproving that theory, but now Sawyer was home, so that was out of the question.
“Oh, Lukas. Your lip.” She led me to the sink, and after I spit more blood into her sink, she started to clean me up. Her touch was gentle and almost worth taking the punch for.
“He’s right, you know. You shouldn’t be with me. You’ve always been out of my league.” She was entirely too good for me, and I knew that.
She tilted her head and dabbed the cloth at my lip. “Shut up. I decide who’s good for me. Not him. Not you. Me.”
I couldn’t exactly argue with her, so I let her finish tending me in silence.
Four hours later, Faith grinned as I stole a bite of her chocolate cake. We were spread out on my living room floor, our fancy dinner-date reduced to a carry-out picnic.
“I’m sorry about today,” I told her softly.
Her grin faded. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
I shook my head. “I should have been more aware. I never should have put you in that position, or let that happen to you. I’m so sorry.”
She leaned forward and kissed me softly, her lips landing on the non-split side of my lip. “I was the one begging you, remember? It happened. It’s over. We’ll deal.” She shrugged and fed me another bite of her cake.
Fuck, I loved her. The way she took the blows and shrugged them off. The way she’d defended me and stood up for herself. Self-loathing crippled my stomach. How the fuck did I let that happen?
The doorbell rang, and Faith jumped to her feet. “I’ll get it.”
“No good comes of house calls past nine p.m.,” I told her, but she was already halfway to the door.
I had just gotten to my feet when she came back in, her eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, quickly getting to her side.
“Get your stubborn ass in here before I get a leash and pull you!” Pepper’s voice filled the entry before Faith could answer.
She took my hand, and I squeezed hers in reassurance. “I’m not going to fight with your brother.”
She scoffed. “Well, if he swings again, I am. Let’s see how he holds up to my taser.”
I turned my head slowly to look at her. “You have a taser?”
“I’m not kidding, Eric Gentry. Get in here before I kick your ass!” Pepper shouted toward the door,
crossing her arms and glaring.
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“I’d sure as hell lock the bedroom door, with you on the outside. If your sister isn’t getting any, then neither are you!”
“Well, this just got awkward,” Faith grumbled.
“Just got?” I questioned. “Do you not remember a few hours ago, when I literally took my fingers out of your—”
She slammed her free hand over my mouth. “Don’t say it. Don’t think it. Don’t remind me.” Her eyebrow rose until I nodded, and then she removed her hand after I pressed a kiss to her palm.
“Gross,” Eric snapped from the entry, where he now stood with Pepper.
“Get over it, you Neanderthal,” Faith hissed.
“Okay, kids, it’s time to make nice,” Pepper sang sweetly.
“Over my dead body,” Eric retorted.
“Lukas has a few acres and access to Puget Sound. I can definitely make sure you’re not found,” Faith answered.
“Okay,” I said, squeezing Faith’s hand. “If you just came to insult us, you can leave. Pepper, you’re welcome to stay. There’s extra chocolate cake from Nine’s in the kitchen.”
“Ooh!” she exclaimed. “Cake!”
“Focus, baby,” Eric reminded her.
“Right,” she said with a nod. “Look,” she turned on Eric. “You are the last person who gets to judge anyone for falling for someone they weren’t supposed to.”
He opened his mouth, and she hushed him.
“No. No excuses,” Pepper said. “You going after Lukas makes you the biggest hypocrite this side of Montana, and you know it. What if my dad had walked in that night at the ranch?”
Eric muttered something, but a flush crept up his face. I bet that was some night.
“And quite frankly, if you didn’t see this coming from a mile away, then you’re not half as smart as I give you credit for, my love. He’s been looking at her with moon eyes for two years!”
“You have?” Faith asked me, her eyes going all liquid.
“He has,” Pepper assured her. “Half the team knows how Lukas feels about Faith, and the other half just doesn’t care. You think he stopped sleeping around because he’d gotten tired of getting laid?”
“Yeah, you’re right, this is getting awkward,” I told Faith.