Page 96 of Love Me Steadfast
I slam my heel down on his foot, but he just laughs.
There’s a flash of movement in my peripheral vision. “Let her go!”
It’s William. With Theo right behind him.
“Fuck off, Hayes,” Shane says like he’s bored, still trying to shuffle me off.
William slams his fist into Shane’s back. He grunts in pain, his grip on me going slack. Theo wrenches me away from Shane who spins to William with an angry roar. Screams erupt from the crowd as fists start flying, the crunch and smack of fighting occluding the music and lively atmosphere.
“Stop!” I shout as Theo disappears back into the crowd where William has tackled Shane, his fists pounding into his face.
William’s going to kill him.
Theo grabs Will and yanks him off. “That’s enough, man!”
William struggles to be let free. The crowd closes in, and moments later, a path opens up to the door and Theo and Will drag Shane outside.
I race after them, feeling all eyes on me as I pass.
Outside, the brisk night air pricks my hot cheeks.
“You ever put your hands on her again, you’re fucking dead,” William says, shoving Shane down the path.
Shane spits blood into the snow. “What the fuck’s your problem?” He’s lisping thanks to the cut down the middle of his lip. “It’s not like she’s yours.” He nods toward me standing on the porch, rubbing my bare arms, his jaw set in a hard line.
William turns, the animalistic edge in his eyes melting back. It’s like watching a lion lick his chops after a kill, defiant and sated. He’s bleeding from a cut near his eye and his T-shirt is torn at the shoulder. But there’s no denying the warmth pulsing through me as we stare at each other. Goose bumps erupt on my skin. With William, I’m safe. It’s how I always feel with him. His aggressive behavior might be alarming, but that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect me is kind of intense. And yeah, it’s also hot.
This is it, my heart says.This is the moment everything changes.
“Fucking hothead,” Shane calls over his shoulder, but nobody is looking at him.
Because Theo is standing between Will and me, his hands on his hips, watching us, a frown twisting his lips.
William walks toward me, his steps purposeful, like a predator stalking his prey. I could duck back into the house, hide, but my feet are rooted in place.
When Will climbs the steps, the pool of light from the windows illuminates the abrasions and cuts on his handsome face. His lip is split, and his left eye is swollen, his eyebrow pulpy with quickly congealing blood and split skin.
“Be with me, Charlotte.” His words come out desperate, tense. His chest quivers and those dark eyes flash with hunger, and desire. Not lust, but something deeper and scarier. Something unmistakable. Something I feel inside me too. It fills me with light and hope while also sending my stomach pitching and rolling like a boat caught in a storm.
“Hayes, what the fuck?” Theo says behind us. He’s moving toward us, the tap of his sneakers on the gritty path growing louder.
“Nothing’s the same,” I say, panic setting in because as powerful as this is, the moment is all wrong.
“I know.” William reaches for my hands. They’re bloody, knuckles split, but I take them, the warmth from his touch spreading through me. “But it doesn’t change how I feel.”
“Hayes!” Theo barks. “Get your fucking hands off my sister.”
I bristle at his words, but a surge of strength electrifies my spine. William’s choosing me. It’s scary and thrilling at the same time.
“Come on, Charlotte,” William says, squeezing my hands like he didn’t hear the threat in Theo’s tone. “Say that you want this. Say that it’s possible.”
Tears prick my eyes because how many times have I shut off that fucking song in anger, as if it’s mocking me?
Theo wrenches William’s shoulder, pulling him away.
“No!” I cry out as Theo grabs a fistful of William’s shirt. “Don’t hurt him!”
William doesn’t fight back, but his eyes are dangerously dark.
