Page 35 of The Inevitable Us

“Why don’t you get the fuck out,” a voice behind him growls out.

Sawyer is standing behind Garreth, shooting daggers at him, holding a bouquet of pink English roses wrapped in green paper.

Garreth looks back, noticing the roses in Sawyer’s hand. His eyes scale up Sawyer’s much larger frame, and he raises his hands in defeat. “Dude, just being neighborly. Bringing the new girl a coupla beers. Didn’t mean any harm.” His eyes come back to me, and he whispers words meant only for my ears. “You didn’t mention you were into older guys, Rosalie.”

Garreth’s body is thrown against the wall, his back flush against the brick with a startled expression on his face. Sawyer circles Garreth’s neck with his hand, nostrils flaring. “I don’t think you should be whispering to a woman that isn’t yours,” Sawyer warns in a tone I’ve only ever heard him use on a crazed fan who once grabbed me at a hotel. When he’s in a situation where my family is threatened somehow, he uses a loud or authoritative voice.

His tone is low and menacing at Garreth. “You’re the guy from the school. You live in the building?”

Garreth’s Adam apple bobs as he swallows, “Yeah, second floor.”

“So you have no reason to be on this floor anymore then, do you?” Sawyer answers back, his understanding tone wrapped in mockery.

“Yeah, umm the gym,” Garreth stammers out.

Sawyer gives hima look. “You sure about that? Cause I saw a twenty-four-hour gym down the block. You haveno reasonto be on this floor anymore,“ he warns. “No reason to bring alcohol to someone under twenty-one, and definitely no reason to come near my woman.”

I stand with my hands crossed on my chest, not at all impressed with the show of machismo. I’m already upset with him, and now he’s just making it worse. “Cut it out. Now, Sawyer.”

His eyes shoot to me, and he scans my body. His face falls, noticing I’m angry. He gazes back at his captive before releasing him finally. “No reason to be on this floor,” he growls again as Garreth scampers to the elevator.

“That was only mildly inappropriate,” I drawl out at Sawyer once the elevator doors close.

He pushes past me, entering the apartment. “You were going to let him in!” he accuses.

I slam the door behind my lunatic…whatever Sawyer is. Boyfriend? Ex-bodyguard? Not-really-my-lover?

He walks into the kitchen with my flowers, placing them on the counter, and lifts the lid to the now cold sauce. “You were going to let him in?”

My eye twitches. “I’m allowed to have friends.”

He narrows his eyes at me, and his nostrils flare. “That guy does not want to be your friend!”

“I was just trying to be nice to him,” I say, my eyes glaring daggers at him.

“You were going to let a man you don’t know well into your apartment alone, Baby Girl.”

“Sawyer, he’s my neighbor. I was just being friendly. He seems like a nice guy.”

“Nice guys don’t give underage girls beer.”

I answer with an eye roll and a huff.

He crosses his arms around his body and points to the garlic parmesan cheese rolls I spent two hours preparing. “You were going to give him my bread.”

That’s it. Breaking point. He shows up when he’s not invited, doesn’t show up when he should, and then acts like this? Umm no.

I pick up a roll out of the cast iron skillet I’d used to bake them and throw it in his direction. His eyes follow the flying bread but he doesn’t seem startled at all by my outburst. It misses, hitting the wall behind him.

Glancing at the roll on the floor, his eyes dart back to me, filled with warning. Oh, he’s mad? Let the games begin.

Chapter nineteen

Sawyer

Rosalie’saboutasgoodat hitting her target with bread as she is at aiming with a pistol.

The Colemans have always been a spirited family. There were many slamming doors and sibling wrestling matches over the years. So Rosalie tossing a roll at my head when I’m hours late isn’t something that surprises me. It wouldn’t have shocked me if she’d thrown the cast iron skillet. The asshole at the door, however, did.

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