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It’s like when you’re dreaming, and you feel yourself falling so you jerk awake and adrenaline soars through your system. My skin feels like it’s buzzing as Nate harshly lowers me onto the seat he just vacated. One quick look around the campfire shows all the guys jumping up and running toward the house.
“Stay here and don’t move,” Nate says, before running toward the house too.
I unravel the blanket wrapped around my body and stand to follow, but as he reaches the back door, Nate turns to look at me. “Sit the fuck down, Anastasia.”
I’m frozen on the spot, half ready to run in and half unwilling to ignore Nathan, both because I know something bad is clearly happening. My phone starts ringing and I scramble to find it, finally grabbing it from underneath the seat.
“Where are you?” Sabrina shouts over the noise on her end.
“The backyard. What’s going on?” I ask, jogging toward the backdoor.
“There’s a fight. Stay outside, I’ll find you when they stop.”
“Who’s fighting?”Please don’t say, Nathan.
“I don’t know! I’m in Robbie’s room, I can just hear it.”
There is no one hanging out in the den when I walk through the doors from the backyard; they’re all huddled in the archway to the kitchen and living room.
The crashing and shouting are making me feel sick, and so is the fact that I can’t see any of the boys, which means that they’re on the other side of the crowd. Being five foot four has some advantages, but right now, pushing through a crowd of drunk people, it has zero.
I’m panting by the time I make my way through the gathering. When I finally get to the source of the noise, my heart sinks to my stomach.
Kris and Joe are pulling Bobby off some guy in one corner, and Mattie and JJ are pulling Henry off someone else in another. My blood feels corrosive, rushing around my body as my heart pumps erratically.
Scanning the room frantically, I spot Nathan, pinning someone to the wall by their throat. Blood is pouring out of both of their faces, Nate’s face hard as he says something to the guy through gritted teeth. It’s not until JJ leaves Henry to pull Nathan off the guy that I realize the guy Nathan is pinning is Aaron.
I can’t move.
Aaron’s face is swollen and cut; he doesn’t even spot me as the guy Henry was fighting with drags him out of the door.
“Everybody out!” JJ shouts, when someone turns off the music. “Get the fuck out now!”
I feel like Mufasa getting stamped as everyone starts pushing past me to leave. I need to move but I can’t.How the fuck did this happen? Why is Aaron even here?
Feeling a tug on my hand, I follow, letting Sabrina drag me out of the way to where Robbie is sitting with his head in his hands.
I’ve never seen a party empty so quickly. The last person leaves, and the door slams shut, which seems to give Robbie the privacy he wants. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he bellows. “You’re all lucky the fucking cops aren’t here!”
JJ shrugs as he drops onto the couch, wiping the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. “Had it coming.”
I’m too busy staring at their busted faces and hands to notice Nathan step in front of me. “I told you to wait outside,” he says angrily.
“I was worried.” As far as Christmas grottos go, this one now looks like one from nightmares. There’s a tree on its side with ornaments decorating the floor instead of its branches, and half of the fairy lights on the walls have been pulled down. Joe appears with an armful of beer bottles and starts handing them out, which annoys me because beer shouldn’t be the priority here.
“Do you guys have a first aid kit?”
“You could have been hurt, Anastasia!” Nate yells, making me jump.
“Me? I’m not the one with the bleeding face! Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” I yell back.
“Aaron was drunk and mouthing off with some guys I don’t know,” Nate says, taking the cold beer from Joe and holding it against his jaw.“Typical Aaron bull.”
“So you beat the shit out of him? Really, Nathan? With Skinner on your ass you thought,let’s make this whole situation so much worse?” Robbie moves next to me, passing the first aid kit into my shaking hands. “Sit down!” I snap at Nate, apparently in a scary enough way that he does it without a fight.
It looks like they’re prepared for this situation because Robbie gives a different first aid kit to Brin and she begins to wipe the blood from Bobby’s face. He’s wincing with every touch, and she just tuts loudly. “Oh shut up, you big baby.”
“You’re shouting at the wrong man, Stas,” Nathan says, hissing when I wipe the alcohol solution across the cut on his cheek. “I was stopping the fight. Which is why you should have stayed outside where I left you.”
