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“Oh, you haven’t changed, have you, Abigail?” he whispered.
Squeezing my eyes closed, I sucked in a breath through my nose. “Leave me alone, Tristan,” I spat through my clenched jaw. “Just… leave me alone.”
“Come on, baby. I didn’t think you knew the meaning of the wordno.”
An arm shot out from behind me, shoving Tristan back three paces, and then a dark, broad back was blocking me from Tristan’s view. A familiar scent enveloped me, and my stomach dropped with relief, knowing Will was there to protect me, but my heart still beat painfully hard in my chest. Adrenaline and fury and fear shot through my body like pulses of wild electricity.
“Will,” Tristan said with an obnoxious laugh that told me he didn’t sense the danger. “Good to see you, man.”
Will took a step towards him, and though I couldn’t see his face, the rage and possession in his voice sent a shiver up my spine.
“Touch her again, and I’ll fucking end you.”
50
Will
At the edges ofmy vision, I noticed people stopping to look, but I didn’t care. This was the scumbag who convinced Abbie to sleep with him when she was barely sixteen years old, then dumped her and laughed while he told every guy at school that she was easy.
Abbie retaliated with a rumour that Tristan had a tiny cock, and he’d graffitied half of Valentine Bay with the words “Abigail Ellison is a slut”. Not satisfied that he’d hurt her enough, he made three of his mates tell the entire school that they’d slept with her, too, just to make sure the label stuck.
He left the Bay straight after high school, and his parents moved out of the area not long after that, but nobody missed them. If I’d known Tristan had bought entry to this event—myevent—I’d have cancelled his ticket and scrubbed his name from the list.
And I’d never have let Abbie know how close he was to getting near her.
I’d punched him the day he told me he’d pressured Abbie to sleep with him, laughing like it was a joke, and that day was the only time I’d ever swung at another person. I was just a kid then, and it wasn’t a good hit, but I was so fucking ready to take another shot.
“Ah.” Tristan nodded like we were mates and I’d told him a secret. “I get it. You’re fucking her, aren’t you?”
Rage burst in my pulse, but I clenched my jaw and said nothing. Tristan tried to step around me, but I mirrored his body with my own. He wasn’t going to touch her. He wasn’t going tolookat her. Not if he wanted to leave here in one piece.
Behind me, Abbie laid a hand on my back. “Will,” she said in a low voice that only I could hear, “just throw him out, and we can get on with our night.”
Somewhere in the crowd around me, I heard Luca and Josh trying to push through. Then Logan was laying a calming hand on my shoulder, but it only annoyed me, so I shrugged him off.
“He’s fucking her,” Tristan laughed again, then sighed theatrically. “About time. From what I hear, you were the only man in this town who hadn’t.”
Blood roared in my ears, and I lurched forward, grabbing the front of his shirt. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Will!” Abbie tugged on my arm. “Leave it alone. Let’s go.”
Tristan laughed under his breath. “Thanks, Abs. I knew I could count on you. What do you say, Will? Let’s just leave it alone, eh? Let me go, and I’ll leave. Like I wasn’t ever here.”
It took effort to uncurl my fingers, but I was suddenly aware of phones being held up and pointed at me and Abbie’s nails digging anxiously into my side. I loosened my grip and set Tristan down. “Get the fuck off my property.”
“Sure, sure.” Tristan dusted himself off, then waved to the crowd. “Just a little misunderstanding, folks. All sorted now.”
Logan laid a hand on my back as he shook his head. “Fuck, Kidd. I’ve never seen you like that. I know he’s a prick, but he’s not worth it.”
Tristan knocked into Logan on his way past, then flicked Abbie a derisive look. “Neither is she.”
I spun on my heel, pulled back my arm, and slammed my fist into his face.
And fuck, it felt good.
51
Abbie
