It wasn’t a conscious decision to go to her, but my feet had a mind of their own. I strode across the grass toward the happy little group with destruction in mind.
I didn’t want her with him. I didn’t want her with anyone.
I couldn’t stand the idea of seeing her stand next to him, let alone whatever else they were doing. Fuck.
Liza J called to me, and Amanda flashed me a pitying smile as I marched through the festivities.
“You two didn’t waste any goddamn time, did you?” I snapped when I caught them on the other side of the fire.
Nash had the audacity to laugh right in my face.
But Naomi was something else. The easy smile on her face disappeared, and when she looked at me, it wasn’t an ice princess I saw, ready to freeze me out. It was a woman on fire ready to burn me alive.
The relief was swift and overwhelming. The tightness in my chest loosened by millimeters. Freezing me out meant she didn’t care. But that fire I saw in those gorgeous hazel eyes told me she hated my guts.
That was better than cold disinterest any day.
Nash took a step forward, effectively putting himself between me and Naomi, which only served to piss me off even more.
“You got a problem?” he asked me.
I had a 6’3” problem with a few bullet holes in it.
“Problem? With you helping yourself to my leftovers? Nah. Better she doesn’t go to waste.”
I was such a fucking asshole and I’d gone way too far. I deserved the beating Nash was about to throw me. Part of me wanted it. Wanted the physical punishment to take the place of the emotional shit storm that was ripping me apart inside.
I couldn’t think straight with her this close. This close, and I couldn’t touch her. Couldn’t reach out and lay claim to what I’d thrown away.
Nash’s fist pulled back, but before he could let it fly, another body stepped between us.
“You’re a child throwing a temper tantrum,” Naomi snapped, inches from me. “And you’re not invited. So go home.”
“Daisy,” I said, reaching for her on autopilot.
&nb
sp; Yet another body wedged itself between us.
“If you don’t want to go down in history as the dumbest asshole in this town, I suggest you step the hell back,” Sloane said.
She was glaring up at me like I’d just decked Santa Claus at a library luncheon.
“Get out of my way, Sloane,” I snarled in her face.
Then there was a hand on my chest, and I was being shoved back hard.
“Wrong target, friend.” Lucian, looking more casual in jeans and a fleece than I’d seen him in a decade, fisted his hands in my coat.
The rage in his eyes clued me in that I was skating on thin ice. I could take my brother, especially when he was one-armed. But I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could take on Nash and Lucian and live to tell the tale.
“I don’t need your protection, you big, rich idiot,” Sloane snapped at Lucian.
He ignored her in favor of backing me away from the fire. Away from my family. From my stupid dog who had his snout in what looked like a casserole dish of hot dogs.
“Let me go, Luce,” I warned him.
“I will when you’re not determined to go down and take innocent bystanders with you.”