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"More wine, sir?" The bartender's question is white noise, drowned out by the blood thundering in my ears.
I shake my head. Can't risk dulling my senses—not when every fiber of my being is strung tight, coiled like a spring. I should be over there, not him. I should be the one making her smile, damn it.
As her hand brushes his arm, something snaps inside me. It feels like I'm watching this all unfold from outside my body, some screwed-up out-of-body experience where I see myself losing it bit by bit.
I push away from the bar. My legs move with a mind of their own. I'm aware of heads turning, eyes following the pissed-off giant cutting through the restaurant.
Let them stare.
"Hey!" My voice booms as I reach their table, the word slicing through the soft music like a gunshot.
Leo—fucking Leo, the little bag of shit—swivels in his seat, green eyes wide, the surprise etched on his face clear even to someone half-blind. Molly's mouth falls open, her eyes mirroring his shock, but it's him I focus on.
"Can I help you, man?" Leo's tone is cautious, a hint of confusion threading through the politeness.
"What do you think you're doing?" I growl, looming over him, my shadow swallowing their table. My eyes lock onto him, willing him to understand that this isn't a friendly chat.
"Whoa, Tanner, what's going on?" Molly's voice cuts through the tension, but it's like I'm trapped in a tunnel, her words echoing around me.
I ignore her for a moment, because right now it's about him and me, and this dance we're doing where only one of us walks away unscathed.
"Back off," I snarl at Leo, close enough now that he has to crane his neck to hold my gaze.
"Okay, okay, just calm down," he says, hands raised in a gesture of surrender. "We're just talking?—"
"Talking, huh?" I spit the word out like it tastes bad. "You get your kicks chatting up other guys' girls?"
"Tanner—" Molly starts, but I interrupt her, unable to contain the storm raging inside me.
"Let's go, Molly. Now." My command brooks no argument, each syllable hammered out with precision.
Leo stands, looking between the two of us, trying to read the room. He doesn't stand a chance. With my frame blocking out the rest of the world, I'm all he sees—a living, breathing warning sign.
"Sure, man. No problem here," he says, backing down as everyone in the restaurant watches.
I reach for Molly's hand, and though she hesitates, those big brown eyes flickering with a torrent of emotions, she takes it. Her fingers are cool and small in mine, yet they sear my skin like a brand.
“You’re coming with me,” I tell her.
* * *
Molly
My heart skips erratically as Tanner's deep blue eyes lock onto mine, a storm brewing within them. Is it fucked up that I find this all extremely…hot?
And Tanner called me his girl…
Whoa…just whoa.
It's happening, right here in the middle of a crowded restaurant—Tanner's raw jealousy laid bare for all to see, including me.
And I couldn’t be more turned on.
"Tan, it's not what you think," I try to explain, but my voice is barely audible over the thunderous beat of my pulse.
He's close now, so close I can feel the heat radiating from his body. I'm momentarily lost in the intensity of his gaze, that inexplicable pull towards him stronger than ever. It's an attraction that I've tried to tamp down, to ignore, but it simmers there, always just beneath the surface.
"Come on." His hand wraps around mine, firm and insistent.
