It was wrong.
All of it.
Under any other circumstances, I would have dismissed the scene in a jealous rage and just walked, or rather, rolled away. Because despite everything, I could see the way Sawyer held himself. There was no easiness to his gait or any of his moves. It all seemed… practiced. The smile that didn’t reach his eyes when he introduced Marcus to Maddox, the lack of reaction when Marcus put his arm around Sawyer’s waist and pulled him against his side, the way Sawyer nodded as Marcus said something to him before laughing.
Maddox was polite in his responses to Marcus, but I knew he was calling foul on the whole thing too.
“Sweetheart, did you want to introduce me to your friend?” I heard Marcus say as he motioned in my direction.
Sweetheart? What the fuck?
Sawyer had said they’d been broken up for a while. God, had I missed something at some point and Sawyer had gone back to the man via telephone or something? But if that was the case, why the hell had he been kissing me just minutes earlier? My lips were still tingling from the contact and when he’d put his head on my thigh and whispered those words about never having wanted to hurt me, my resolve to keep him at arm’s length had weakened.
I was completely confused as Sawyer enfolded Marcus’s hand in his and led him toward me.
When the pair stopped before me, Sawyer kept his eyes down as he said, “Marcus, this is Jett. Jett, Marcus Gray.”
“Jett, it’s a pleasure,” Marcus said as he released Sawyer’s hand. But instead of reaching for my hand right away, he wiped his own hand on some kind of overcoat he had hanging over his left arm. As soon as he did it, Sawyer began wiping his hands on his own clothing as discreetly as he could.
Like he was trying to remove whatever invisible thing he’d supposedly transferred to Marcus’s perfect skin.
When Marcus finally got around to shaking my hand, it was the grip of a man sending a silent warning by trying to show off his physical strength. And yeah, the guy was muscled and clearly had some strength in his grasp, but I’d spent the better part of the last year gripping the wheels of my wheelchair to move my own weight around, so he didn’t have anything on me. The silent struggle was brief as he tried to outdo my grip, but he faltered when I said, “Oh right, the ex.”
The fake smile slipped from Marcus’s lips as he released my hand. It was back within a fraction of a second. “Well, it’s true my boy here needed some time to do what he loves best, but what’s that saying, absence makes the heart grow fonder?”
“Yeah,” I began. “I always thought that saying was just a bunch of bullshit.”
This time, Marcus didn’t try to hide his irritation. But not surprisingly, he didn’t address me in response. Instead, he said to Sawyer, “Do you have someplace I can get freshened up?”
Sawyer nodded blankly.
“It was a pleasure to meet you both,” Marcus said to me and Maddox, then he was pulling Sawyer away from us. Not caring what Marcus thought, I grabbed Sawyer’s left hand as he went by.
“Did you need any help with that thing we talked about earlier?” I asked simply.
Sawyer’s Stepford Wife smile faltered as his eyes met mine. “No, I’m good,” he returned. He gave my hand a squeeze. “I’ll be back down in a few minutes to help feed.”
I accepted the response even though all I really wanted to do was pull Sawyer away from Marcus and tell the man that I knew in my gut was still an ex to get the hell out of here and never even think about Sawyer again, let alone go near him. The second he and Marcus headed up the path, I checked my watch so I could monitor the time. Even though I couldn’t hear what they were saying, I watched the pair as they walked away. Every time Marcus said something, Sawyer looked at some part of his own body in response. He brushed at the dirt on his knees, fiddled with his T-shirt and even toyed with his hair again. And all the while Marcus kept his big arm wrapped around Sawyer’s shoulders to make sure the younger man couldn’t move away from him.
“Fuck it,” I said to Maddox. I wasn’t waiting for Sawyer to return in a few minutes. I began following the pair up the path, though I stayed far enough behind that they wouldn’t notice.
“What are you thinking?” Maddox asked as he fell in step next to me.
“I’m thinking that I’m not leaving him alone with that fucker.”
“Good, we’re on the same page,” Maddox responded. “I assume Sawyer mentioned him to you?”