Page 35 of You Belong With Me

And now that he’s back, that samedifficultyis flaring back to life, and threatening to consume everything I fucking care about.

Pushing a breath out, I turn on my heel and walk out of the room, and down the hall to the living room. I can feel the guys following me—either to back me up or make sure I don’t do too much damage. I’m not sure which.

The living room is packed, people dancing, drinking, “Welcome Home” decorations dangling from the wall, and balloons being tossed around the room. The music is so damn loud, I can’t hear my own thoughts.

I see Gabriel in the center of the room, dancing like nothing fucking happened. People surround him, cheering him on like he’s a fucking hero.

I wade through the crowd, and people step aside as I approach. Gabriel is turned away from me, so he doesn’t see me coming, and as soon as I get within arm’s length I grab him by the shirt collar, and pull him back.

He turns on me with a laugh but sobers the second he sees the seriousness on my face. The people surrounding us back away, giving us space. Gabriel reels back, but before he can say anything, my fist connects with his jaw, throwing him back.

“What thefuck?” he yells, straightening, his hand moving to his jaw.

Music pulses around us as I square up to him, ready to throw another punch. He anticipates me this time and his fist catches my cheek.

My breath hitches as I square off with him, my heart pounding in my chest. The air is thick with tension, neither of uswanting to back down. Gabriel’s jaw is tight, knuckles white as he clenches his fists.

"You think you can lay your hands on my consort, then just walk away?" I bite out, stepping toward him. My voice drips with anger, a spike of adrenaline burning through my veins.

Without answering, he lunges, his fist flying at my face. I mostly dodge him, but his fist grazes my cheek. I stumble back, shaking it off, the heat of anger rising inside me.

My body moves on instinct, and I charge forward, aiming low. I catch him off guard, tackling him to the ground with a grunt. We hit the floor hard, his back slamming into the wood.

Rolling on top of him, I pin his arms down with my shins and throw several more punches. The crunch of bone under my knuckles feeds something inside me, and I grit my teeth as blood flies in all directions.

Several punches in, Christian and Jackson, haul me off Gabriel. As I’m forcibly pulled back, I see him rolling around on the floor, moaning, hands held to his face. He pulls one hand away and looks at it, blood coating his fingers. “You broke myfucking nose!”

Straightening, I pull myself free of Christian and Jackson, but my brother’s hand stays on my chest—a reminder that he’ll step in again if he has to.

The music has been cut, and Gabriel is still on the floor, struggling to get up. “Release her,” I bark at him.

He looks at me, hand held to his nose. But he says nothing.

“Fuckingrelease her,” I yell. “Now.”

There’s probably some kind of stipulation in the bylaws that forbids a member from being forced to release his chick, but I’m beyond that level of giving a fuck. He’s giving her up now, publicly.

Gabriel laughs and shakes his head, like I’ve lost my mind, and he’s humoring me. “I’ve already said you can have her, Cuz. She’s yours.”

That’s right. She’smine.

“Touch her again andI swear to God, I’ll haul your ass down to the fucking basement.” Gasps ripple through the room, and I turn on my heel to leave. “Clean this shit up,” I call out. “The party is over.”

Jackson and Christian follow me into the hallway.

“Yo, dude,” Christian says, placing a hand on my shoulder to stop me. “What the fuck is going on?”

I rake a hand over my face, the need for violence still twisting through me. I’d hoped that shoving my fist into Gabriel’s face would satisfy the rage, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins only makes me even morebloodthirsty.

“Gabriel—”

Christian stops me. “Yeah, I know what you said about Gabriel. But, dude, this isn’t like you. You’ve always been so close to him, and now, what, one incident, and he’s your mortal-fucking-enemy?”

Adjusting my stance, I glance down at the floor. I know this doesn’t make sense to Christian, or the others, but Wyn does something to me—and how am I supposed to explain that to my brother, when I don’t even understand it myself?

“When he attacked Wyn—” I shake my head and look at Christian. “—I’d never seen that side of him. And the fact that he thinks he can do something like that to my consort?—”

People are starting to file out of the house now, brushing past us in the hallway, lingering glances being cast in my direction.

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