“Hey, I was just playing with him.” Fletcher rested a hand on my bare thigh right below the hem of my swim cover, giving ita squeeze. “And I already apologized, but I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
I stared at his hand on my thigh, hardly believing this was really happening. “Please don’t touch me.”
He chuckled like I’d said something funny, scooting even closer. “You need to relax. We’re all friends here.”
I was ten train stops past uncomfortable now, so I shot off the couch to leave—but Fletcher followed and grabbed my wrist. “Easy now. We’re not done yet.”
I recoiled. His grip tightened, and I spun to him. “Oh, but we really are. I said no.”
“Careful,” he gritted through a tight smile. “Don’t blow this up into more than it?—”
“Hey.” A deep voice cracked like a whip behind me, making me freeze. “Hands off, Montgomery.”
Fletcher muttered a curse, abruptly dropping my arm, and I staggered back—bumping straight into Cade’s front.
He caught hold of my waist to steady me and kept one hand settled against my lower back as he moved to my side. “You have your own fiancée. Don’t grope mine.”
“Relax, man.” Fletcher laughed to play it off. “It’s all friendly.”
Cade’s cold gaze remained glued to him. “Stay the hell away from Ellie.”
The other man’s hands flew up. “I was just offering to show your girl a good time. Thought you two might want to switch it up tonight.”
Cade went dangerously still, and I jumped into de-escalation mode. “It’s fine, Cade. Let’s just go.”
I gripped his arm and tugged in the opposite direction, but he didn’t budge.
“Hey, Harry?” Cade raised his voice without taking his eyes off Fletcher.
Harrison appeared on my other side. “Everything good, bro?”
“Yeah.” Cade carefully pried my fingers from his arm before grabbing Fletcher by the collar of his shirt. “Just hang out with Ellie for a bit while I help Fletch get back to his room.”
Uh-oh.
Harrison glanced at me, then nodded. “You got it.”
“Oh, come on, Westbrook.” Fletcher scoffed, failing to shrug Cade off. “Don’t be such a buzzkill. I was just asking.”
I stepped forward and rested a hand on Cade’s arm, worried about what elsehelping Fletcher back to his roomcould mean. “Cade?”
His dark gaze flicked away from Fletcher, and the frost in his eyes thawed when they landed on me. Even as he kept Fletcher’s collar in one hand, his other hand wrapped around the back of my neck and drew me closer. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I won’t be long.”
I hesitated before nodding and tried to keep my voice light. “You better not be. We still have some celebrating to do.”
Harrison pretended to gag, but a smile tugged at the corner of Cade’s lips as he pulled back. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Fletcher scoffed and tugged his shirt down, looking like a child being disciplined by his daddy.
“Let’s not overreact, man.” He grunted while Cade dragged him away. “It was a harmless offer. No harm, no foul, right?”
Cade stayed silent as they disappeared inside.
With a sigh, I flopped back onto the couch and questioned all my life choices.
Harrison settled in next to me with a nervous chuckle. “Well, that was intense. I’ve never seen my brother like that before.”
I shot him a sidelong glance, too curious for my own good. “Like what?”
