The second we stepped into the tavern, every eye turned toward us.
Trigger looked entirely too smug.
Wolf took one glance at my face and muttered:
“Oh yeah. They’re definitely back together.”
Heat rushed into my cheeks instantly.
Hersh didn’t even deny it.
Traitor.
Tate looked mildly exhausted by all of us.
Ava just blinked once before muttering:
“Well. Emotional trauma bonding works fast around here.”
Isabel looked between Hersh and me with the tiniest smile I’d seen from her yet.
And somehow that alone made the entire room feel lighter.
Then Vaughn ruined it.
“You stupid bitch.”
Every ounce of warmth vanished from the tavern instantly.
Hersh stopped moving beside me.
Dead still.
The kind of stillness that came before something terrible.
Vaughn laughed weakly through swollen lips.
“You think this ends with some cowboy love story?” Blood streaked down his chin as he sneered at me. “They’ll carve that Ranger apart in front of you.”
Wrong thing to say.
Very wrong thing.
Trigger physically winced.
“Oh, buddy…”
Wolf actually stepped back from Vaughn’s chair.
Not helping him.
Giving Hersh room.
“Hersh,” I whispered quickly.
Too late.
He crossed the tavern in three calm terrifying strides.
