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“Oh. Well, in that case, you were basically forced to spread your—”
“Alright, that’s enough.” Vaughn’s voice was low but it was impressively hard as he stepped toward Luke and lifted his eyebrows. “You should stop now.”
“But I’m just getting started,” Luke retorted with a laugh. “Because I seriously don’t think she’s ever been with any guy just because she was actually attracted to him and simply wanted to be with him.” Glancing at me, he added, “Certainly not that depressed, overweight dweeb in college who—”
Vaughn grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed Luke back against the wall before he lowered his voice even more and said, “Shut up. Now.”
“Dude!” Luke cried in surprise and lifted his hands. “What the hell?”
It took me a second to pick my jaw up off the floor, but when I finally got over the shock of seeing Vaughn get violent, I surged forward to grip his arm. “Hey, hey. It’s fine. Luke’s a jerk, but he’s harmless. You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do,” Vaughn snapped back firmly even as he removed his hand from Luke’s chest and stepped back. Then, he dropped his glare so he could turn his head and tell me, “He shouldn’t be allowed to talk to you that way.”
I shrugged helplessly. “I know. He’s an ass, but he’s like family, and I’m pretty sure that somewhere in there, he means well.”
Eyebrows rising in disbelief at my lame excuse, Vaughn swerved his skeptical glance Luke’s way, who lifted his hands, promising, “I do! I’m just trying to help a buddy out here.”
“Well, you failed,” Vaughn informed him.
Sputtering a dry laugh, Luke answered, “Yeah. I figured that out.”
“You owe her an apology.”
Luke blinked once, but when he glanced dolefully my way, a cry came from down the hall, interrupting our tense moment before I could tell him I didn’t need an apology.
Vaughn looked down the hall as if he wanted to check on Ava, so I touched his arm, causing him to jump in surprise. He glanced at my hand first, then slid his attention up to my face.
The way his eyes probed mine had my stomach tightening. I caught my breath, then cleared my throat and removed my hand, saying, “Why don’t you go get Ava, and I’ll take care of Luke, okay?”
He nodded immediately but then glanced suspiciously toward Luke, who hurried to say, “I’ll behave, I swear. An apology is coming.”
“Good.” Vaughn studied him a moment longer before giving a reluctant nod. Then he murmured, “I’m sorry for shoving you.”
Luke shrugged. “Eh. I deserved it.”
That finally got Vaughn’s shoulders to relax. With a single nod, he turned away and hurried down the hall.
Luke whistled after him. “Damn…” he murmured before turning to me with raised eyebrows. “Did you just see how protective he got over you?”
“Gee, I think I missed it,” I muttered sarcastically.
Luke snorted and motioned over his shoulder. “You know, if you hadn’t boinked his brother, that’s the guy you should be marrying.”
I slugged him in the arm. “Shut up.”
He grinned. “You’re right. You should marry him, anyway.”
“Oh my God. Don’t make me strangle you,” I warned.
“Right.” He promptly cleared his throat. “I was supposed to be behaving, wasn’t I? And apologizing.”
“Lord, please don’t apologize,” I groaned. “I’ve heard your apologies, and they’re usually worse than the initial insult.”
“Hey, whatever.” He chuckled as he nudged my shoulder, only half-insulted. “I can give a damn good apology if I put my mind to it.”
Gripping his bicep companionably, I sighed through a grin and said, “If you say so.”
Luke wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close for a side hug. Then he kissed my hair and asked, “You sure about turning down my proposal?”
