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“Back off!”
“Fine.” He huffs out a breath and swings his gaze back to Jake. “Where do you work?”
“Tech Hub.”
“So no criminal record then. They’re strict about who they’ll hire.” Without so much as a pause, he moves into his next question. “Where’s your family?”
Luckily, Jacob isn’t swayed. He’s some kind of saint for having the patience to handle Rowan like this. “Salt Lake City and right here. You might know them actually, if you’re part of the MC my sisters hooked up with. The Kings?”
Rowan growls under his breath. “I’m not part of the fucking Kings. I’m with the Aces.” He curls his hands into fists and continues on. “How did you meet my sister?”
“Her shitty friends set her up with me, because they knew I wouldn’t be afraid of you. Apparently everyone else here is.”
“For good reason.” Rowan narrows his eyes, still trying to intimidate the man who hasn’t shown any signs of backing down. “Have you ever put your hands on a woman?”
Jacob cracks a smile, finally showing off those perfect white teeth. If only he didn’t look so devious. “Ask Brittany. I had my hands all over her last night.”
“Jacob!” I shout, but it doesn’t matter what I say. Things have already been set in motion.
Rowan lunges over the table with a snarl, and Jacob meets him halfway, jumping to his feet and leaning right into Rowan’s face, closer than even I would ever dare to get.
“Outside!” Mom shouts, slapping her hand on the table so hard that the lemonade in the glass in front of me splashes over the sides. When they don’t listen, Mom shoves Rowan’s side with both hands and pushes him towards the door. “I’m not buying another table, Rowan. Take it outside now.”
If Jacob has any fear, he doesn’t show it, continuing to stare Rowan down as they’re shoved outside by my mom. He doesn’t even flinch when Rowan jerks closer to him over our petite mom’s head.
The argument started about me, but quickly devolves into a pissing match. They shout things back and forth to each other that aren’t related to me at all, but to how unafraid each other is. I slide between them with my back to Jake, shoving Rowan to separate them.
“This shit is getting creepy, Rowan!” I’ve put up with this for so long and let him ruin every relationship I’ve ever had, but it’s got to stop. I can’t let him run Jacob off. “Why do you insist on trying to keep me away from guys? It’s like you’re invested in who I sleep with, and it’s fucking weird!”
“He’s not good enough!” Rowan screams, throwing his arms up at his sides, leaning closer to me in a way that makes me crowd back against Jake, who hasn’t moved an inch.
The support from Jake gives me the strength to continue my fight. “Who is? Tell me, Row, what man have you ever considered to be ‘good enough’?”
“I haven’t met one yet! You always pick the wrong ones!” He huffs and steps back, giving me more space. “You need a man that’s not part of my club, a man that’s not from this town. A tourist or… someone with an exit date. A man that lives far away. Someone who will show you the world and treat you so well that you never come back.”
Those words hit me in the chest, sucking out all the air in my lungs. “You want to get rid of me,” I whisper. That explains it. Everything he’s put me through, all the times he’s isolated me from others, he scared off even my friends until all I had left was the people Jacob works with, that Jake insists are the worst people I could possibly associate with.
My brother doesn’t want me here. He wants me to leave. I’ve put up with so much shit believing that he loves me, that he’s just a little bit different and doesn’t know how to express himself correctly. Now I find out that he does know how to express himself. He just decided not to share his thoughts with me.
“No, Brittany.” Rowan runs his fingers through his hair and groans. “I want you to get rid of me. Get out of this fucking town that’s done nothing but hurt you! You deserve better than Albuquerque, better than New Mexico. You deserve a man that would worship you. You deserve more! More than you’re going to find in this fucking desert.”
“Rowan…” Fuck. Of course he thinks he’s being protective. That’s how Rowan’s mind works. Just like our dad. He thinks that by being controlling he’s somehow protecting me from a world that would harm me. “You’re wrong.”
“Get in the car,” Jake whispers in my ear, looping an arm around my waist. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Jake, I have to-”
