Page 125 of The Rebel

But Rhett was only half the battle.

I was also wrangling with Cooper, who was trying to move around me, doing what he could to get his hands on Rhett.

I wasn’t going to allow any of it.

Not even when Cooper said, “Get out of my way, Rowan.” His voice was calm but extremely sharp and dripping with ice. “I’m going to fucking kill your brother.”

“Kill me?” Rhett shouted back. “Your hands were all over my fucking sister. So were your lips. I’m the one who’s about to kill you.” He attempted a side move, which I blocked. “Who the hell do you think you are, Spade?” He was moving like he was in a boxing ring, his feet quick, his concentration directed on his enemy. “How dare you touch her!”

“He’s my boyfriend.” I put my hand on Rhett’s chest, hoping the contact would settle him, but he didn’t even look at me. Not even when I added, “That’s who he is.”

“Rowan, I don’t need you to protect me.” Cooper was doing everything but lifting me, yet nothing was getting me out of the way. I was far too determined. If I stayed in the middle, I knew neither side would throw a punch. “If your brother wants tofight, I’ll gladly give him the beating he needs. It’s about time I kicked his ass.”

Both men were panting, pushing against me to get to the other.

“No!” I looked over my shoulder and then at Rhett. “Neither of you are fighting—do you hear me?”

“I’m going to rip his fucking face off,” Rhett promised.

“Both of you, stop!” I lifted my hand off Rhett’s chest and waved it in front of his face, getting his eyes to focus on me. “You’re not hearing me. I’m telling you Cooper is my boyfriend. You’re not going to do anything to him—do you understand?”

It was as though the words had finally hit him.

Which was confirmed when a whole new level of rage rolled across his face. “He’s …what?”

“My boyfriend.” I paused. “It’s been going on since my very first trip to Canada.” A statement that wasn’t fully accurate, but minor details didn’t matter now. “I didn’t tell you because I felt like I couldn’t.” I took a breath. “But I wanted to, and I’ve needed to, and I’ve just been waiting for the right time when you, Ridge, and I were all face-to-face because I wasn’t going to have this conversation over text.”

He shook his head, the movement almost violent. “I don’t believe you. You’re just bullshitting me.” He avoided Cooper’s eyes. “You wouldn’t date him. You wouldn’t do that to our family.”

Rhett’s protectiveness of me caused him to be a ticking time bomb that was going to detonate at any second. Because I didn’t know how he was analyzing any of this, I wanted to make it clear that what he had seen wasn’t our first kiss. That Cooper and I were far more than a one-night stand. That we were actually something.

I felt that would hold much more weight than anything else I could say.

But that wasn’t enough. So, I tried to add, “Rhett, I care about him?—”

“Fuck you.” He was pointing at Cooper. “It’s one thing to play dirty, but to go after my sister? That makes you a fucking slimeball—you know that?” He stared him down. “That’s so low … even for a Spade.”

“You can call me whatever you want, but don’t pretend to know how I feel about her or go and throw accusations around that aren’t true,” Cooper said. “You know nothing, Rhett—about us or the situation. But what I can tell you is that whether you approve of us or not, that won’t change a thing.” His hand went to my stomach. “She’s mine.”

Rhett’s stare dipped to Cooper’s hand and lifted back up to his face. “You’re lucky she’s standing between us. If she weren’t, you wouldn’t be walking out of this hotel alive.” He shoved his hands through the sides of his hair, and that was when he finally looked at me. “This is un-fucking-believable.” His top lip lifted, like he was about to snarl. “Rowan, tell me this is all a lie. That you’re not with him?—”

“I’m with him, Rhett. And I’m telling you, I really care about him.”

Rhett was breathing heavily, and I could hear his fury in every exhale. “Wow. You’re better than I thought you were, Spade. Better than I ever gave you credit for. This is some serious mindfuckery.”

He clapped his hands together several times. “You really outdid yourself by going all out to fuck my family, didn’t you?”

His fingers then balled into a fist. “Why? For what? So you could piss on the enemy? Because you somehow thought this would give you the upper hand? So you could go around saying you fucked a Cole? Why, Cooper? Explain this to me because I don’t understand why you would do this?—”

“Because I love her,” Cooper said, his hand tightening on me. “That’s the reason I did this. There is no other explanation.”

Cooper’s response slapped me.

It then slipped inside my body and shot straight down to my toes.

He loved me.

A word neither of us knew the meaning of.

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