Page 6 of The Inquirer

Nope.

I was in control. I got to decide what I did, when I did it, and with who.

Whom.

Fuck it.

“Fuck you, Isaac. You and the horse you rode in on.”

With that harsh insult out of the way, I opened my mouth to tell Isaac Huxley exactly what I thought of him.

Three

Bradyn

I was hovering on that line between waking and sleep when the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive woke me all the way. Since there weren’t any guests scheduled to come into the ranch until the end of October, my mind immediately went to Nyx.

Even while I told myself to just let it go, that I could wait until morning to find out if she was actually back or not, I climbed out of bed and walked over to the window. I recognized the truck as Isaac’s and wondered if he’d decided to bring back someone for the night but wanted to use one of the cabins instead of taking her into his room at the main house.

I didn’t blame him. I couldn’t imagine trying to have sex with someone knowing that my parents were right down the hall.

Then I realized who was with him, and my stomach clenched. When Nyx kissed him, I started to turn away because I didn’t want to see that, not even when I was as mad at her as I was. Except more movement kept me watching.

Isaac wasn’t kissing her back, and it looked like she was pissed about it.

She wasn’t staggering, but I didn’t doubt that she’d been drinking. It didn’t take much for me to put together that Isaac had found her at the bar he’d mentioned going to, and he’d brought her back here because she was drunk. Not because he planned to sleep with her.

I could hear her yelling, though not the words, and I was out the door before I realized what I was doing. I trusted Isaac not to take advantage of Nyx and not to hurt her, but I still felt a wave of protectiveness wash over me, and I kept walking.

Halfway to her, I remembered that I was just in a pair of boxers, but I wasn’t about to go back to put on clothes and shoes. Who knew what would happen in that short amount of time?

“Fuck you, Isaac. You and the horse you rode in on.”

Under other circumstances, I would’ve found that funny, but I could see her spiraling, and protecting her from herself took priority. I stepped between her and Isaac, my hands up with palms out in case she decided to throw a punch. Considering how we’d left things, physical violence wasn’t completely out of the question.

“What the fuck do you want?” Nyx put her hands on her hips and glared at me.

“I can take it from here, Isaac.” I didn’t look away from the raging woman, even though I was talking to the man behind me.

Nyx scowled. “I don’t need to be taken care of, asshole.”

Clearly, alcohol hadn’t made her forget that we were pissed at each other.

“Let me get you inside, Nyx,” Isaac said. “You shouldn’t be wandering around out here when it’s dark.”

“I’m not a child, Isaac. Fuck off.”

Isaac sighed, and I was tempted to roll my eyes.

“Go ahead back to the house, Isaac.” I turned just enough to show him the seriousness on my face. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.”

She was muttering things under her breath that I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear, but I ignored her for the moment because Isaac stepped closer. “I can handle her.” His voice was low. “You don’t need to play superhero, Bradyn.”

I liked Isaac. I really did. He was a good guy, and he treated his parents well. Any man or woman would be lucky to have him.

Except Nyx.

She was here under false pretenses and had lied to his parents. That was the reason why. It had nothing to do with the fact that I still wanted her despite all that.

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