Page 66 of Broken Bonds

“I told you I won’t!” Ace shouted at him. “I fuckingtoldyou, Ryan. Justlistento me. I don’t want to hurt her. And you can’t keep every guy away from her. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and hot as fuck.” Ryan balled his hands into fits as Ace raised his hands to block his face. “Just let me see where it goes with her before you beat the hell out of me,” he pleaded.

My heart fuckingmelted.

“No,” Ryan snapped. “I won’t let youtry things out. I won’t let you into her life because her heart is fragile enough without all your shit on top of everything else she has to deal with.”He took another step toward Ace. “Now, get out of my house before I give you a black eye for even thinking about my sister.” Ace raked his shaking hands through his black hair, his eyes clenching shut in anger.

Grabbing Amber’s hand, I yanked her toward me. “Get in the middle of that now,” I whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened, and shaking her head, she took a jerky step backward.

“Hell no; your brother might kill me,” she whispered back, her green eyes focused on my raging brother.

I scoffed. “He won’t hit a girl.”

“You do it,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes at me.

“I can’t!” I snapped at her. She eyed me curiously but thankfully didn’t pry. Instead, she eyed my brother again, and after sucking in a deep breath, she sauntered over to his trembling form, swaying her hips.

I sighed, face-palming myself. Was she serious?

“Ryan, is it?” Raising a shaking hand, she trailed a finger over his shoulder.

Ace frowned at her in confusion as Ryan glared at her. “Don’t touch me,” he gritted out in anger.

She looked at me, raising her eyebrows as if to say, ‘You see!’

“How come I’ve never seen you on campus, handsome?” she seductively asked, falling into the role a little easier. Ace used the opportunity to take a step back, eyeing Ryan warily. I knew he didn’t want to fight with his best friend. Fuck, I didn’t want them to fight either.

Noticing Ace’s move, Ryan pushed Amber out of his way, then charged for Ace, who didn’t move, standing tall and strong like a mountain in the foyer of my parents’ house.

“I didn’t want to do this, but you left me no choice,” she mumbled before jumping onto Ryan’s back like a monkey. I gaped at her.

Ryan fumbled backward, Amber’s weight causing him to lose his footing. They both fell with shouts of pain. Ace looked at me, relief filling his entrancing blue eyes.

I’m sorry,he mouthed, looking away from me to the fools still groaning on the ground.

“You crazy bitch!” Ryan complained, getting up and glaring down at Amber, who was climbing to her feet and rubbing her elbow while glaring at him.

“Listen here—nobody calls me a bitch except for my mother, sisters, and this girl right here.” She jabbed a finger in my direction. “You just crossed a line, prick. Now, shut up, sit down, and leave the sexy asshole alone.”

Ryan’s jaw dropped in shock, and I saw Ace fighting a grin as the fiery girl told my brother, who was double her size, what to do.

“Thanks, Amber. I owe you.” Winking at her, I laughed at Ryan’s still speechless face. He took a seat on the single armchair, while Amber took a seat beside me, patting the spot next to her for Ace to sit down.

“Spill the tea, girl!” She bumped my leg as she shifted excitedly on the couch.

Jumping from the contact, I tried to muffle my cry of pain. “She’s torn both her hamstrings,” Ace informed her, his eyes watching me warily.

“What the—” She curbed her tongue just as my mother walked into the room.

“Celine, who is this, Honey?” she asked, smiling at Amber.

Amber jumped off the couch, extending her hand for a shake. “Hello, ma’am. My name is Amber. It’s nice to meet you.” She beamed as she shook hands with my mother.

“Named after that hair, are you?” Mom laughed, earning a giggle from Amber.

“You bet. My mom was so surprised to see the red when I was born that she had to name me after it.”

Mom smiled at her. “Do you go to college with Celine?”

“Oh, yes,” Amber nodded her head. “We have a class together where we’re the only girls, so I decided that we had to be friends.”

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