Page 116 of Forbidden to Fall

“Wade!” I tried to wrest it away.

He shook his head, watching them. “Let it be.”

Let it be?!

There was zero doubt in my mind what James’s intention was here. What I didn’t know was why he had chosen this precise moment for it.

But maybe with this large an audience, there’d be an added level of restraint on Ryan’s part?

My heart thumped against my chest, my eyes burning because I didn’t dare blink.

Ryan tensed up the moment he noticed James approaching.

I looked around for Lily, who was talking to Juliet and hadn’t seemed to notice the clear and present danger.

I could only spare her half a glance and half a thought, though; I was too invested in reading every body language cue James and Ryan were giving.

It was weird seeing them together again, not as the fun-loving duo they’d once been. I could only see the back of James, but it was enough. He wasn’t groveling—that much was clear. He stood tall, erect, unapologetic.

His confidence gave me confidence.

A little.

Ryan’s brow was dark as he listened. His gaze shifted to me across the room, and I inhaled sharply as his jaw tightened.

Wade sucked a breath through his teeth. “That’s not looking great.”

Ryan had been listening so far, but he started talking.

Understatement.

He started yelling and gesticulating, pointing his finger at James aggressively as his face grew red and the vein in his temple made an appearance.

A few people near them turned.

I swallowed, every muscle taut. “Wade…” His hand was still clamped around my arm.

“Juuuust a sec,” he said, though he sounded like he might be about to run over and get between them himself.

Ryan said—yelled—one last thing, then stalked off through the crowds, leaving James with a small but very interested audience that he seemed not to notice.

Lily was no longer oblivious, but rather than chasing after her husband, she looked at James, then at me.

I held her gaze, wishing I could see into her mind and know what she was thinking.

Even more, I wished I’d heard what James had said.

“Come with me.” The harsh voice hardly sounded like Ryan’s. I’d been too busy looking at Lily to notice that he’d made his way over here.

“Ry,” Wade said, letting go of my arm. “Maybe you should cool off for a minute.”

“I’m cool,” Ryan said, though the way the muscle in his jaw jumped told a different story.

“It’s okay,” I said, nodding at Wade to reassure him.

Wade searched Ryan’s face for a few seconds, then nodded.

I followed Ryan to an empty corner of the room, forcing myself to breathe.