“Yeah, I know.” I felt like an asshole as my eyes sought out Riley. “I didn’t mean to get rough with you. Sometimes I just lose it because of stupid shit.”

Riley didn’t seem pissed at me, which surprised me. I figured he’d hate my sorry ass for being such a dick. “Hey, don’t worry about it. You like her; I get it.”

Some of the other guys snickered, and heat crept up my neck. I ignored him because I didn’t know what the fuck to say to that. Was that why I was acting like this? Because I liked her? That couldn’t be the reason. It had to be something else.

“Hey,” Goat said, walking away a few steps and gesturing for me and Tyson to join him. “I saw Ruby on Sunday.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what a normal reaction to the situation was, so I just kept my mouth shut.

Tyson spoke instead, leaning forward eagerly. “Really? Where’d you see her?” He tried to act like he didn’t care in front of Ryder, but I knew there was a huge part of him that wanted Ruby back in his life.

As for me, I was too far gone. Despite the many things I didn’t agree with Ryder on, this wasn’t one of them. He was right to keep Ruby out of our lives. We didn’t owe her anything.

Goat flicked his cigarette onto the ground and put it out with a shoe. “She was at the bar in town where she always is.”

I snorted. “Where else would she be?”

“Look, I wouldn’t normally bring it up.” Goat’s expression turned serious. “But she didn’t look good, Vin. She had a black eye and there were bruises on her arms. Some asshole is really beating the crap out of her.”

Bunching up my fists, I tried not to react to his words, but there was a part of me that was really pissed off. I shouldn’t care, but I did. Why the fuck did I care?

“Do you know who she’s seeing?” Tyson asked, his voice shaking with anger.

Goat opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

“Why the fuck should we care, Son? She doesn’t give a damn about any of us.”

Tyson fell silent, his expression torn. I knew he wanted to argue with me, but somehow I had more of an influence over him, even though I was younger. I knew he wouldn’t say anything against me.

“So let’s just fucking drop this, okay?” The warning was clear in my voice and Tyson nodded, storming off in the direction of the creek.

I didn’t bother following him. He had to resolve his Ruby issues on his own. No one was going to fix them for him. He had to realize eventually that holding onto her was a sign of weakness.

Goat stared at Tyson’s retreating figure, looking stunned. “Shit, Vin. I’m sorry. I didn’t think-”

“It’s fine.” But a part of me wasn’t fine with it, and despite what I’d just said to Tyson, I had to know. “Who’s she seeing?”

Goat hesitated, clearly wondering if he should tell me or not. “There’s this guy who comes into the bar a lot—Mikey. He’s a total douchebag; beats up on all the women he sleeps with.”

The name sounded familiar. Ruby had mentioned that name the last time she’d been here. Her story of getting beaten up hadn’t stirred any sympathy from me because as usual, I thought she’d been spewing bullshit.

“Right.” My jaw tensed, and I could feel the blood pumping through my veins. I couldn’t understand why I was letting this get to me. I didn’t give two shits about Ruby or who she was fucking.

“You okay, man?” There was a hint of concern in Goat’s question, and I knew he was worried I was gonna snap again.

When people saw Goat—big guy, muscular, lots of tattoos—they got freaked out by him. It was just a natural reaction to the way he looked. But Goat wasn’t what everyone assumed he was. He’d been through a lot of shit in his life—getting beaten up by his dad all the time and having his mom commit suicide when he was just a kid. If there was one person who really gave a damn about you, then that was Goat. There was way more to him than just being in the Madden gang.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” I said, because I didn’t know what else to say. “Let’s head back in.”

West and Three still hadn’t come out and it’d been a long time since we’d come outside. What the hell were they doing?

The guys followed me up the front steps. As soon as we stepped inside, jazz music drifted into the hallway from the kitchen.

“What the fuck is that?” Cohen asked from somewhere behind me.

“Dude! Estella will kill you!” Goat said.

“Shit!” Cohen said. “Crap! I swore again!”

Ignoring them, I headed straight to the kitchen, knowing what I was going to find there. It had become a routine for Estella and Dylan to dance after dinner, and I knew that’s what they were doing. What I didn’t expect to find was Three with his arms around Estella as he swung her around the room.

Estella was laughing. The blonde highlights in her hair gleamed as they caught the overhead light of the kitchen. She didn’t notice the eight of us crammed into the doorway, the guys behind me pushing and shoving to get a glimpse of what was going on.

West was leaning against the kitchen counter, watching them with a smile on his face, and Dylan sat at the kitchen table with his back to us, tapping his feet in time to the music. Three gripped Estella by the waist and lifted her up in a spin.

Estella squealed and clung onto him, still laughing. And that’s when a monster started clawing at me from the inside—jealous, angry, and insecure. She never looked at me like that. I never made her laugh like that. Her face never glowed the way it was glowing now.

My feet took me forwards, and that’s when Three caught sight of me and released Estella. She followed his gaze, a question on her lips, and frowned when she saw that I’d come back.

I wanted so badly to wipe that frown off her mouth. I hated that her face didn’t light up when she was with me. How could Three affect her so deeply, but I did nothing?

I’d been the one to see her first all those weeks ago, standing on the street looking cold and miserable. I’d been the one to speak to her. I’d been the one who’d lost myself in the depths of her whiskey eyes all those weeks ago. Not Three. Not Riley. Not anyone else.

They couldn’t come in here and claim what was already mine.

“Vin-” Estella started to say, but my name died on her lips at the look I shot her.

“Turn that crap off,” I barked to Dylan as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Dylan switched the radio off, and I turned back to the guys who’d crowded into the kitchen, anticipating a fight. “Get the fuck out,” I growled. “All of you.”

They glanced around at each other uneasily, but didn’t contradict me. Everyone left except for Dylan and Estella.

Scrolling through my playlist, I put on Wherever You Will Go by The Calling and turned up the volume. Placing the phone on the table, I advanced towards Estella slowly. Her eyes were wide as though she was seriously thinking about running away.

“This is the kind of music you should be dancing to. Not that shit you were listening to before.”

She briefly recovered and gave me a reprimanding look, her brow creasing. “Swear ja-”

“Stop talking, Stelle,” I ordered, taking her in my arms.

Estella’s body fitted against mine like we were two pieces of the same puzzle. She was breathing heavily against me, and I could feel how fast her pulse was. Or maybe that was my pulse; it was hard to tell where she began and where I ended.

My eyes were locked onto her, rooting her to one spot. Even if she had wanted to run away, she couldn’t. Our eyes were fusing us together; our bodies were betraying the distance that we’d always kept between us.

Being with Estella felt right. It felt like home.

As the music got to the chorus, I started to sway to it. Okay, so I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. I’d never danced in my life. I probably looked like a goddamn idiot, but I was doing this to show her something. I couldn’t figure out exactly what that ‘something’ was, but she needed to know.

Estella’s brow had relaxed, and the surprise that’d filled her face before was gone. Now she just looked confused. Her lips were parted and I wanted so badly to kiss that mouth of hers. Those lips were begging to be kissed.

And, fuck, I wanted her so much. I was hard against her, and I knew that she could tell because she started to move away, but I held onto her. I wanted her to stay.

“I’ll go wherever you go,” I whispered, and I didn’t really know what I meant by it, but her eyes widened at my words.

Then I bowed my head towards her because I had to have a taste of her mouth. Nothing else existed but her. I had to know what it was like to have her.

“Vincent.” The voice was cold; it was so cold that it felt like my body had been submerged in ice cold water.

I jerked away from Estella and looked over towards the doorway to find Ryder standing at the entrance of the kitchen. There was a look of disgust on his face as he stared at me and Estella like we were pieces of shit.

“I need to talk to you. Now.” He wasn’t fucking around. I was in serious shit.

Without another look at Estella, I stalked after him out onto the porch. He stood straight against the wooden railing that wrapped around the porch, and even though I was taller than him, I suddenly felt a hell of a lot smaller from the way he looked at me.

He didn’t wait for me to prepare myself; he just started ripping into me like an animal in mid-attack. “What the fuck is going on with you, Vincent?” His voice was low, but each word sounded dangerous coming out of his mouth. “What the fuck are you doing with that girl? Have you lost your fucking mind?”