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“Jade couldn’t make it.”
The sinking feeling I felt as Chad stepped out of the darkness was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It was like driving toward the edge of a cliff and knowing even if you put the breaks on now, there wasn’t much you could do about the incoming destruction.
“Where’s Jade?” I demanded, my eyes frantically searching the shadows, waiting for her to pop out from within them.
But she didn’t.
And all he did was move closer, Chad’s shoes scuffing the concrete as he moved down the sidewalk.
“I heard she called you,” he explained, tugging the hoodie from over his head so I could finally see his face. “I told her to give you some space before she tries to talk to you. She’s still not really ready.”
I scoffed loudly, the sound bouncing off the walls of the construction site behind us. “She’s not ready to say sorry. This is a joke, right? What the hell are you really doing here, Chad?”
He scrubbed at the stubble on his face, a rather dramatic change considering he used to shave it every morning, even when I asked him to leave it a little messy. He’d always insisted work liked them to look clean and presentable.
Obviously, that was no longer a concern for him, but it was a bright red flag for me, and I was starting to think about how exactly I was going to get myself away from him. His voice was different, the way he stood was different, and there was something in the way he looked at me that had my internal alarms screaming.
“I want you to fix the shitstorm you created,” he finally demanded, his hands curling into fists. “Jade needs to hear it, and I need to hear it, so we can start to move on with our lives.”
“Hear what?”
His brow pinched. “Hear you admit that you werewrong!”
I choked on my spit as laughter flew from my mouth.
I was in the twilight zone, for sure.
There was no way in hell he could look me in the eye like he was and believe what he was saying—not in a sane world. Sure, I could have handled things differently, I could have done them in private, but the pain caused by this chaos was not fucking equal.
I cleared my throat, suddenly not so cold as anger sparked inside me like gasoline to a lit flame. “You and Jade made your bed,” I hissed, shaking my head. “I hope you enjoy fucking each other in it.”
“You stupid bitch!” He launched at me, shoving me hard and forcing me to stumble back into the chain link construction fencing behind me, the entire thing rattling loudly as the sharp points tore at my skin. “Do you have any idea what you’ve don—”
Smack.
Suddenly, he was gone.
The ground beneath me jolted as Chad’s body hit the concrete, but Reed wasn’t done. He went after him, grabbing hold of the front of his hoodie and lifting him off the ground just so he could drive another fist through his face.
And another.
The sound of fists connecting with skin filled the night air.
My body was frozen on the spot as I watched Reed beat Chad like a damn boxing bag, Chad’s limbs flailing in an effort to fight back.
“I told you!” Reed spat, lifting Chad’s entire body off the ground and slamming it against a car parked at the curb, the window cracking under the pressure.
That’s when I finally snapped out of my haze.
Reed was protecting me.
Fighting for me.
And that was going to get him hurt, or worse, arrested.
“Reed!” I screamed, hurrying forward and grabbing a fistful of his suit jacket. “Reed, stop.”
He stumbled back a step, allowing me to rush around him and place my hands against his chest. His breathing was heavy, his heart pounding so damn hard I swear my palms were the only thing keeping it inside his body.
