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I recoil at Connor’s bleary gaze. He sways on his feet, wearing an unfocused frown.
“Hi.” My tone, expression, and body language saygo away.
“Did you get the thing I sent? You never thanked me.”
A gross feeling skitters over my skin. “Don’t send stuff like that to me.”
At the table, Rory watches, tense and on high alert.
“That’s not okay,” I add. “Even if I wasn’t dating Rory, that wouldn’t be okay. We work together.” I give him aduhlook. “Being professional, remember?”
I start to crutch past him, but he sighs and puts a hand on the bar counter beside me, blocking my path to the table.
“I saw the way you were looking at me today,” he slurs.
Nausea and discomfort roll through me. His hot, wet beer breath slithers over my skin again, and I look to Rory, who stands. Connor takes an unsteady step, smirking down at me, and I step back with my crutches but hit the counter. There’s a chair behind me, and I’m blocked in.
Alarm races through me and my lungs tighten. Rory makes his way over, trying to get around people, but the bar is crowded and loud.
“I wasn’t—”
“You were jealous.” Connor goes on like he didn’t hear me, still giving me that weird smirk. “It’s okay. That’s the little game we’re playing here.” He hiccups.
“I wasn’t jealous.” My voice comes out sharp. I’m gripping the crutches harder than I need to, nails digging into the foam. “I don’t care if you have a girlfriend.” I gesture with my crutch for him to get out of the way. “Move.”
He steps closer and I shrink back, but there’s nowhere to go. I’m backed against the counter. My pulse skyrockets, pounding in my ears. I search for Rory but Connor’s in my way, moving in front of me, mouth on mine—
A horrified, revolted sound falls out of me and I flinch back, every cell in my body recoiling. Commotion explodes in the bar—noise and movement and energy. On instinct, I lift a crutch and swing it at his ankle. It connects with the bone and I feel the impact up the length of the crutch.
“Don’t fuckingtouch me,” I bite out just as Rory hauls Connor off me with a murderous expression.
“Motherfuck.” Connor hisses in pain as Jamie and Hayden pull him back. “She hit me.”
“Get him the fuck away from her,” Rory thunders, searching my eyes with a frantic look. His chest is rising and falling fast and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “Are you okay, baby?” His hands come to my jaw, tilting it up as I nod.
“He kissed me,” I say, almost to myself, and I can feel my lip curling with disgust as I replay the gross beer smell, the feel of his lips mashing against mine. I swallow, pulse still racing. Behind Rory, Connor tries to shove Hayden off, but Hayden holds tight. For once, Hayden isn’t smiling. He wears the same furious, stony expression as Jamie.
“I know.” Rory’s voice is sharp like a knife but his gaze stays locked on mine. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
CHAPTER54
RORY
Protective rage burns through me.
We never should have come here. We should have gone straight to Hazel’s place so I could tuck her into bed and keep her safe.
I take in the angry flush coloring her cheeks and the way her nostrils flare, and the urge to make it better fires through me like a bullet.
I was supposed to prevent stuff like this. That was the whole point of our agreement.
“I’m okay,” she says. Her throat works again. “Pissed off, but fine.”
Everyone in the bar is either staring at us as I help her to her seat or at McKinnon, still trying to shove Owens and Streicher off as they hold him like sentinels. They’re almost as furious as I am, and beneath the jealous rage, a pulse of gratitude hits me. Even if I wasn’t here, they’d stick up for Hazel. They know what she means to me, even if I’ve never told them explicitly, and they care about her.
When she’s seated, I give her a kiss on the top of the head. “You okay here for a moment?”
She nods, and I give her another kiss before straightening up and stalking over to McKinnon.
