Page 79 of Get Undressed With Me

“I know, man.”

“What the fuck would you have done?”

Hayden took a minute to answer.

“I would’ve lost my mind and done the exact same thing. Although knowing Min, she would’ve decked the guy twice before I got there.”

“Then why are you looking at me like I fucked up?”

Hayden threw him an incredulous look. “Min is my girlfriend. More than that, she’s the love of my life.”

“Okay?”

“So what does it tell you that you’re reacting the same way I would?”

Gus was silent, thinking about that, realizing exactly what Hayden was implying and also exactly how right he was. He leaned against the wall, smacking his head back against it.

“I’m fucked.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

Gus let out a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, trying to block the image of the guy touching Brittany.

“Look, man, work yourself out. But Brittany is family to Min, which means she’s family to me. And that means I can’t let you go all toxic alpha male out there without her permission. Whether you like it or not, she’s a public figure, and you know she can handle herself without you losing it on some asshole in front of a hundred camera phones. Understand?”

Gus nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”

“Good. Now, I know you’re coming to the release party as her security. Tonight is important. You’re not allowed to pull something like that. You’re not allowed to ruin it. Do you understand me? If you think you can’t handle it, you need to find her another guard for the night.”

“I can handle it.”

Hayden studied him a long time, and Gus felt his respect for the man grow even more. Finally, he nodded.

“Good. Now get your shit together before you go in there. And stop scaring the fans.”

And with that, Hayden was gone, leaving Gus alone in the hall to figure himself out. He had never reacted like that before, never been the jealous or overprotective type. But it was different with Brittany. He didn’t like to think she was in danger.Didn’t like some other guy touching her, especially without her consent. Sure, she was obviously good at handling those problems herself since they’ve now happened twice during the convention. But Gus found he could no longer stand by when it happened, and he didn’t like how crazy he felt watching things like that go down.

But this was Brittany’s life. If he wanted to be involved in it beyond the convention, and lord knew he did, then he had to trust her to take care of herself. He couldn’t stomp around like an idiot yelling at people.

With a deep breath, he resigned himself to standing on the sidelines for a little bit longer and then went back into the room, ready to take care of her however she needed. Inside, the meet-and-greet was wrapping up, Brittany smiling for the camera with one last group of people, and then she thanked them for coming and their support. Once done, she ducked into the green room. With a glance around, Gus followed her.

“I’m sorry,” Gus said the second he walked in. “I was an ass. You are fully capable of handling situations like that without me going all alpha and making it worse. I’m an idiot.”

Her body sagged, the tension suddenly leaving, and Gus was reminded of how rarely Robbie would apologize for the stupid shit he would do.

“Why did you do that?” she asked. “There was security there to deal with things like that, they were already on their way.”

Gus held his hands out, feeling exposed.

“I don’t like seeing someone else touch you like that.”

“Don’t tell me you were jealous of that guy.”

“Fuck no.” He struggled to find the words, but he knew this was important, even if he sounded crazy in the explanation.

“Brittany, the stalker, your public profile, how I know Robbie treated you… you deserve better than all of that. You deserve your boundaries and your space and your ability to feel safe, andI get really, really angry when I think about the people in your life who haven’t respected that. I’m sorry that came out today. But you deserve the best, and you haven’t been getting it for a while now, and that pisses me off.”

Brittany stared at him, and Gus found himself holding his breath, knowing this moment was somehow going to decide something and not exactly knowing which way he wanted this to land.

---