Page 18 of Forgive You

Jacob ignores Jordan. Instead, he fixates on me, wickedness dancing in the small rise of his eyebrow, fueling my rage like I’m at a fucking gas station.

Why can’t I fucking let this go?

Why does it still bring out this primal beast inside me when he treats her likethat. Like dirt. Likeshit.What the fuck is keeping her with him?

I don’t get it.

“Maybe.” Jacob shrugs. “But it will be all gone when her legs are wrapped around my waist in a couple hours.”

Breathe, Jason.Count to ten. Walk away.Anything.

“You don’t deserve her,” I manage to grit out.

“But I still have her. I win,brother.” He winks.

And I lose it.

A roar tears from the depths of my gut, raw and loud, and it’s followed by my clenched fist that connects with my brother’s jaw a mere split second later. The moment my knuckles are slammed against his face, a burst of energy releases, rippling through every single cell with a rush of adrenaline.

There’s a faint registration of people shrieking, gasping, and calling my name around me, but not enough to calm my mind and take the high road.

I’m not a fighter. Hunter, my best friend, is a retired MMA fighter. Jensen, my buddy, the NHL player, he’s a fighter. I am not. I like the challenge of destroying you with my words, always balancing the line of what I can and can’t say.

But, man, does it feel absolutely glorious to punch Jacob in the face.

It doesn’t change the anger radiating off my tuxedo-covered body as I bare my teeth at him. If anything, it makes the snarl I’m aiming at him only that more menacing, but I now understand why Hunter lived for his fights when he was younger, because I’m ready for more. I’m ready to draw blood.

“You don’t win shit!” I shout.

“Jason,breathe,” Jordan whispers close behind me.

Jacob’s eyes grow as big as saucers, his expression shocked, as he’s rubbing his jaw before I can see his demeanor changeto match mine. Dark, brooding, and without limits. When I was younger, I avoided fighting with him, because growing up with Jacob Spencer as my big brother, I learned quickly that he fights dirty and without morals. He doesn’t hesitate to cross boundaries that normal people never would, but I’m done playing nice.

Oh, yeah, let’s go.

“I’m gonna kill you,” he rumbles, embodying every bit of the sick motherfucker I know he is, with an energy you wouldn’t wish upon your biggest enemy.

But he doesn’t scare me. I grew up with this asshole. I got twenty something years of pent-up frustration about this guy. He wants to kill me? I’d love to see him try.

“Bring it on,you sick son of a bitch.” In response, I amble forward, diving in again.

I expect him to be ready and catch my attack this time, but my punch pounds as hard into his face as my heartbeat in my ears, deafening and trembling, before his shoulder slams into my stomach.

I stumble backwards, forced by the impact, until my back is held up by someone’s chest. Strong arms fold around my upper body, holding me back, while Jacob is peeled off my me, trying to break loose from Ford’s grip. He continues to fight against his grasp, kicking, grunting and squirming for release with eyes that are crazed like a dog with rabies.

“Jason, this is aworkevent and people are looking,” Jordan hushes in my ear, and my gaze darts further than the tunnel vision I had in the last thirty seconds.

With a heavy chest, I breathe into my nose, then exhale loudly, my attention fixed at my sibling I hate with a passion.

“Yo, buddy. Calm the fuck down,” Ford booms in Jacob’s ear. “There are a handful of high executives and athletes fromallover the country here. ThatincludesNorth Carolina.”

Hearing his resident state seems to click something in his head, because the squirming stops and all that is left is panting breaths from the both of us.

“That’s right.” Ford continues. “You’re in real estate, right? Acting like a fucking madman is gonna instantly ruin your chances with all these people here.”

It calms Jacob down, because his body relaxes, and I shake my head when that calculated smirk slowly creeps onto his face again.

I fucking hate him so much.

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