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“What do you know about my boyfriend?”
“I know he came here looking for you.” Harper raised an eyebrow.
Heart slamming against his chest, Jack scanned the road where Ed’s truck had turned away. “What did you do?”
“Do?”
Jack shot up from his seat. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Nothing. Just told him the truth.” The feigned innocence fueled Jack’s fears. “Ed—that’s his name, right?—came to the door looking for you. I told him you had a date with some guy Marcus set you up with, but not to worry, you said you’d be back by four.”
Jack’s body slumped. The stupid virtuous expression on Harper’s face slowly morphed into a sneer. To think Jack had ever, ever thought the guy was okay. Clearly he was the king of pricks.
“I don’t think he believed me, but then he checked his phone and….” Harper looked so pleased with himself. “Whatever he read, it was enough. He asked me when you left for your date. You should have seen his face crumple when I told him.”
Jack fell back into the seat.
“You pathetic, stupid little shit. Did you really think you could get away with bringing a fake boyfriend to the formal?”
Harper held out the chain with Jack’s ring. No, Ed wouldn’t just hand off his ring to anyone…. He knew what it meant. He wouldn’t give it away unless…. “He asked me to give you this.”
Something snapped, and Jack jumped up, fist drawing back to pummel Harper—
A curse came from his right, followed by Marcus sprinting up the steps. He snatched the ring and chain from Harper’s hand. “That’s doesn’t belong to you, Harper.”
“Back off, Reynolds. Jack’s ex asked me to give it to him.” He stepped back toward the front door. “Right after I told him about Jack trying to find a date behind his back. Thought he was going to cry when I told him.”
“You fucking asshole!” Jack lunged at Harper. His rage-fueled tunnel vision didn’t acknowledge anything but the object of his hatred. Marcus locked his arms around Jack’s torso and drove his shoulder into his brother’s gut to keep the two apart. “I’m gonna fucking kill you!”
“Jack! Stop it!” Marcus’s plea fell on deaf ears.
“You’re a fucking dead man, Harper! You fucking piece of shit! I’m going kick your fucking ass inside out!”
Seth and three other fraternity brothers pushed out the door as Jack struggled to get around his brother.
“Let go, Marcus! Let me go!” Jack tried to break the hold. “I’m going to punch the living shit out that motherfucker!”
“Stop! You can’t do that.” Marcus kept an iron grip on his brother, holding on like both their lives depended on it. “Harper, get the fuck out of here!”
“And miss seeing JackAss go ape shit? Not on your life.”
Jack stopped struggling, hoping Marcus would relax enough that he could break free. He waited a few seconds, but when he tried to lunge again, Marcus didn’t budge.
“Get him the fuck outta here.” Marcus nodded behind him. Seth stared at Jack and pointed to their friends, but before they could move, Darren came from behind Harper and pulled him back.
Harper yelled. “What the fuck? I want to stay and feed the animal.”
“That’s enough.” Darren resisted Harper’s attempts to break free. “If Reynolds loses control of Murphy, he’ll beat the shit out of you. You don’t need that.”
“Block the door,” Marcus told Seth. When he and the other three stood in front of the door, Marcus loosened his grip. “Jack, listen to me!”
“I’m gonna rip his head off and shit down his neck!” He strained to get free, forcing Marcus to renew his hold.
“Stop it!” Marcus released his brother and shoved hard before Jack could react. “Just stop!”
“You heard what he did.” He turned around and immediately spun back. “Ed’s gone because of him.”
“No, he’s not.” Marcus stayed between him and the door. “Ed won’t believe him over you.”
“Yes. He does!” He tried to breathe, but it felt like a vise clamped around him. “I saw him.”
“Who?”
“Ed!” Jack closed his eyes as he relived that moment. “He was leaving when I got here. He looked right at me. He looked like his world collapsed.”
“Why would Ed believe him?”
“Because that asshole Greg heard our entire conversation, that’s why.” Add another name to the list of people Jack was going turn into a bloody mess. “Harper spewed the whole thing back to Ed. How he wouldn’t come, that I needed a date, and that I didn’t want you to move out.”
“Call him.”
“Do you think I’m that stupid? I tried already.” He searched around for his phone to see if Ed had answered. It sat on the cushion without a call or text. “My calls go right to voicemail.”
The silence that lingered crushed the last spark of hope Jack had left. If Marcus couldn’t say something to reassure him, it was as bad as Jack feared.
