CHAPTER ONE — DAVID
And it's working.
He's fucking fingering her right at the bar.
Unbelievable.
I don't know if I'm angrier with Philip or myself, because this is my fault too. I underestimated him. I thought he wasn't a threat. Clearly, I was wrong. When Stephanie first brought him to the block party, presumably to make me jealous, I didn't think he was a threat. But I was wrong.
Because the way she's looking at him tonight clearly indicates that he is. And the fact that he was just fucking fingering her in public shows that I severely miscalibrated how much of a risk he was.
As much as I hate him, I'll admit that he is game. I look at her flushed pink cheeks, and I want to rip his head off.
Stay calm. I take a deep breath. I can't get out of control here. Losing control shows weakness. And I'm not weak.
Philip looks surprised, but not scared, which pisses me off. He stands up, and I notice that he's not small. I'm taller than him, but at 6'4", I'm taller than almost everyone. Still, I only have a few inches on him.
I guess he was around 6'2". And he's in shape.
I can tell that he lifts based on his biceps, which are peeking out from under his white T-shirt.
He looks about equally muscular to me, which I don't like.
I lift heavy a few days a week. Just basics: bench press, dead lifts, et cetera.
I'm 230 and I can bench press 300 pounds.
This blonde-haired, blue-eyed, baby-faced kid looks like he could give me a run for my money, unfortunately.
He's somewhere between 20 to 30 years younger than me, which gives him a big advantage.
But given how angry I am in this moment, I would bet everything that I can take him. He follows me as I turn and walk out of the club. I push open the door, and as the metal clangs and the cool air hits me, I realize I'm acting like a fool.
What the hell am I doing right now?
The thought hits me, but then I glance back and see Stephanie clasping his hand like a life raft, and the thought dissolves.
The rage from before comes surging back.
Thank God I'd called an Uber for Jocelyn before any of this went down.
She looked a bit disappointed, but it would've been 10 times worse if she'd witnessed this.
It was already hard to be composed around Jocelyn when I saw Stephanie, but there's no way in hell I'd be able to keep my composure now.
Jocelyn is the woman I came to the club with.
I came here tonight expecting a fun, normal date, and it was going in that direction until Stephanie showed up, which threw everything off.
As soon as I saw Stephanie with this blonde-haired bozo, I became agitated.
All of Jocelyn's flaws, like her inane obsession with reality TV, became 10 times more irritating.
Thoughts of Stephanie flooded my brain like an intrusive thought, and every time I glanced and saw that boy's hands all over her, my blood pressure rose. It kept rising until I realized I needed to get Jocelyn away from me before I did or said something I would regret.
So I told her that while I enjoyed our time together, I was going to head home, and I offered to call her an Uber.
She was a bit disappointed, but took it gracefully.
I lied, of course. I wasn't going to head home myself, but I had to have some tact.
I wasn't going to tell her that I was going to stay and monitor my younger tenant that I was in love with.
Fuck. Did I just think that, that I'm in love with Stephanie? I'm in so much trouble.
I've been trying desperately to avoid getting attached to her, and it seems like all of that effort has been for nothing, because here I am in the parking lot outside a club for Zoomers, about to square off with a man half my age.
I know this is insane. Rationally, I know I shouldn't do this, but I feel like I'm out of control, and my decisions aren't mine anymore.
I glance at Philip, who steps in front of Stephanie, protecting her. I feel another surge of anger, and as it fades, a twinge of bitter jealousy rests on my tongue.
That could have been you.
After all, I was the one who brutally left Stephanie after fucking her pretty aggressively earlier tonight. I was callous, cruel. I knew that then, and I know it now.
I felt like I had no other choice. I had to create some emotional distance between us, but clearly, that didn't work. I'm regretting everything.
Most of all, I'm regretting the fact that I'm not the one Stephanie is hiding behind right now. I want to be that protector for her, but I'm not. And honestly, I can't blame her.
Why would she choose me to be that man? It's not like I've given her any reason to think that I would be able to show up.
While it might be too late to become that person for her, I can humiliate her current man. And if he can't handle me, then he's not worthy of her anyways.
I'm doing her a favor. She deserves a man who can protect her. Let's see if he can.