His hand lifted slowly, giving me every chance to stop him. I didn’t. His palm settled lightly at my waist, barely any pressure through my jacket, but the touch was visible, and that was the whole ugly point.
Easton laughed behind me.
Low. Humorless. Mean.
The sound cut across the kitchen and slid straight beneath my ribs.
Gage’s hand left my waist like my skin had burned him.
What a coward.
I turned.
Easton stood on the far side of the kitchen with Brinley still too close and a beer bottle held loosely in one hand. His hoodie sleeves were shoved to his forearms, a black KFU cap sat backward on his head, and one cheekbone was marked red from a hit he had skated away from like pain bored him.
His face was calm.
His eyes were not.
“Still doing dumb shit for my benefit, Clarke?”
My grip tightened in Gage’s shirt before I let go. “You think everything I do is for your benefit?”
“No.” Easton took a slow drink, lowered the bottle, and looked at the space where Gage’s hand had been before raising his eyes to my face. “I think you do everything for your ego. I just happen to be the audience you keep performing for.”
Brinley’s smile faltered.
Let her see the cost of leaning against a man who was fine using her.
“You would think it’s about you,” I said.
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then say it.”
The kitchen had gone too still.
Cade had stepped into the doorway with Briggs and Rider behind him, all three reading the room fast. Ryan leaned against the island, his eyes moving between Easton and me before settling briefly on Charm. Charm stood beside Bliss, pale,furious, and bothered in a way that told me she wasn’t coming to rescue me this time.
That was all I had asked for—the chance to fight back because this had to come to a head, and I refused to let it happen at the expense of my soul.
“You’re cruel,” I said.
Something shifted across Easton’s face.
It almost looked like relief.
“Cruel,” he repeated.
“Yes.”
Gage moved beside me. “I’m going to step—”
“Stay,” I said.
Easton’s eyes flashed, and I held on to it like a prize because he had spent seven months being untouchable and looking through me.
