Page 403 of Love Bites

Damn. It wasn’t fair that after all these years, Austin still looked as hot as he ever did, while I just looked like the same old Lexi. I’d filled out a little more as I used to be a beanpole with long legs in high school, but some men just got better with age.

I pulled on the doorknob. “I’m not mad. I just don’t like being controlled.”

His body language altered and I could almost feel the heat licking off him. “Is that what Beckett did?”

“No, no. You’re taking it all out of context. Don’t go beating up any more of my old boyfriends, okay? You’re not my brother. That’s what Wes should have been doing.”

Oh, God, I was going to cry again. When my bottom lip quivered, I quickly looked away.

Without warning, Austin yanked me into his arms. I fought against him but he held on tight. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him,” he whispered in a broken voice.

My breath hitched as the apology summoned painful memories of the night they found Wes’s body. Austin was over that night and lost it, slamming his fist into the wall. All I could hear were my mom’s screams as I stood catatonic in the middle of the living room while the trooper delivered the news to my dad. Then Austin had tried to hold me and I broke free and fled.

I couldn’t do this here, so I opened the door and pushed him away.

Denver was lying on the sofa in a pair of sweats with a bowl of cereal on his chest while Jericho sat at the bar on the right, smoking a cigarette.

“Do either of you have a car?” I asked hopefully. “I need a lift.”

Jericho slid off the barstool, patted out the butt of his smoke, and flicked his eyes at Austin. “Come with me, honey. I’ll take you where you need to go.”

“She’s not leaving.” Austin’s voice made the hairs on my neck stand up.

“Do you want to go with me?” Jericho asked, his voice sincere. He walked up and I suddenly felt sandwiched between the Cole brothers.

“Yes.”

He looked up at Austin. “Free will, brother. You know it and I know it. She ain’t your bitch, so you—”

That was it.

Austin swung a hard fist right over my head and it cracked against Jericho’s face. Jericho spun around and hit the floor. Shocked, I stumbled forward and turned around. Austin glared at Jericho so hard he could have torched him with the fire in his eyes.

“Donotcall Lexi a bitch, are we clear? Let that be the golden rule of this motherfucking pack. Spread the word.”

And just like that, Austin Cole stood up for me. Not because of pride, male territorial instinct, family obligation, or even jealousy. But because it was something that mattered… tome.

Austin kepthis word and drove me home to my apartment. We had a brief argument in the car because he’d left Jericho bleeding on the floor without so much as an apology. He reassured me a Shifter heals when they shift back and forth from their animal to human form soon after injury, but Jericho was too proud and he would probably wear that shiner. I didn’t get the guy thing, and I especially didn’t understand the dynamic between brothers. My brother had never punched me for calling someone a name.

Naya must have heard me tromping up the stairs and swung open her door. Cotton balls were stuffed between her cherry-red toenails.

“Why is your bra hanging out of your pants?” She snatched it and dangled it in front of my face.

I yanked it away and she widened her gossip-loving grin.

“Your hair isn’t brushed, either!” she said excitedly. “Who were you with? I want all the juicy details.”

“Not now, Naya.” I fumbled with my keys.

“Someone was looking for you.”

My back straightened and I curved around, watching her blow on her fingernails.

“Who?”

“That cop from the other night. Are you in some kind of trouble? This time it wasn’t about the neighbor downstairs.”

“Uh…” My mind went blank. Maybe Beckett was trying to get me in trouble. I bent over the railing to see if my car had been stolen, but it was still there. “I don’t know. That’s weird. Are you sure it wasn’t about the neighbor? I’m not going to the station to file a complaint, if that’s what he wants.”

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