Chapter 23 #2
I shove myself in the middle of the situation, making sure I’m between Marty and Miles, so if Miles tried something, he’d be taking me on, not Mart.
As I settle, I feel the heat radiating like a ball of fire in my chest, which feels like it’s about to burst out and set fire to this asshole. “There a problem?” I ask.
Normally, if I were to intercept a fight, being a fucking giant, that would be enough to at least see the fear or worry in a guy’s eyes as he accepts I’d easily kick his ass, but not this guy.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say he believes he has a chance of putting up a decent fight, which really, can’t be true, since he’s gotta be a foot shorter than me, not to mention that I’m stacked with enough muscle that it’d be like taking on a fucking boulder.
This isn’t just the kind of guy who’s willing to get into a fight; this is the kind of guy who doesn’t care about losing one either.
“Are you all gonna rotate who wants some from me?” Miles asks.
“Dude,” Dax interjects, “I’m really sorry about that.”
“Like fuck you are, you Sigma Alpha shit.”
I never could have imagined someone would be going like this for Dax, of all people. I mean, really, Marty…this is definitely more something he would get.
I get in Miles’s face. “Get our frat out of your damn mouth,” I say through my teeth.
“Okay, okay,” a voice comes from nearby, and Troy and Atlas push between us.
Atlas drapes his arm around Miles. “Let’s have a quick chat, ’kay?” As he leads Miles off, I notice Ty and Lance are only a few feet away. They must’ve come over during the commotion.
“Everything’s good,” Troy assures us, and I realize how wound up I am, my chest in knots, my breathing shallow.
“Why the fuck is he even here?” I ask as my rage doesn’t settle, that ball of fire feeling like it radiates up to my face.
“He only wants to help, same as you guys. He made a mistake, but he’s actually a decent guy once you get to know him.”
“We all know he’s here because he was court-ordered to be. Does he get a prize for that?”
“This doesn’t count toward his community service. Atlas has offered to sign off, but he said no. Okay?”
This news totally throws me, goes against my impression of him as being nothing but some Omega Psi asshole. Not that he’s Omega Psi since the stunt he pulled.
“He has a temper, but he’s a good kid,” Troy says. “You’re gonna have to trust me on that.”
I can’t imagine why Troy would align himself with this asshole. Although, as much of a dick as Miles made of himself, Troy wouldn’t stick up for someone who was a total piece of shit.
“I’ll definitely have to take your word on that one.”
Dax glances toward Atlas and Miles, who are having a chat on the other side of the house.
“I know he started that,” Troy says, “but if we can get him to cool down, you’d be okay with him staying?”
I should keep my mouth shut since the other guys have more reason to be mad at him than me.
“In his defense,” Dax says, “it did seem like he really believed I did that on purpose.”
Why is Dax defending this prick? From what I could tell, he’s not wrong, but it doesn’t change that he was the one starting all that crap.
I have to interject. “There was no reason for him to step toward Marty like he was about to throw punches.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Marty says, but I can see that his hands are a little shaky from the incident. Miles clearly activated his anxiety.
“He balled his fist up and stepped toward you.”
“He was upset,” Marty insists.
“It’ll be fine,” Lance says, and Ty’s right behind him. “Agreed.”
“Why is everyone suddenly defending this guy?”
Marty approaches and rests his hand on my shoulder, which instantly helps set me at ease. “No one got hurt, Ry. It was a misunderstanding.”
I take a few breaths.
He’s right.
I know it’s because he was threatening Marty that I got worked up.
But even knowing I might have overreacted, it doesn’t make me like that asshole. He set fire to Sigma Alpha. I don’t care if it was an accident.
“Why don’t we all take a minute to breathe and then get back to work?” Troy says. “How’s that sound?”
Marty, Dax, and I take the opportunity, heading into the yard. Dax hits the porta potty, and Marty and I settle by the partly constructed home.
“You good?” Marty asks. He must sense how agitated I still am.
I size him up, like some part of me is checking to make sure he hasn’t been harmed, which is fucking ridiculous since Miles didn’t lay a finger on him.
“That dick was awfully close to getting a black eye if he tried to do something,” I snap.
“I really didn’t feel threatened. I’ve had worse exchanges with Atlas.” He says that playfully, but I’m too on edge to ease up about this.
“Well, if he’d fucked around, he would have found out.”
His lips curl into a smile. “It’s adorable when you get really protective like that.”
I glare at him, which turns that smile into a grin. The knots in my chest loosen.
“Whatever,” I grunt.
He glances around quickly before moving closer and whispering, “Come on. Admit it. You were getting in the middle because you didn’t want anything threatening your piece of ass.”
I can tell he’s joking, but maybe because of the mood Miles put me in, it bothers me. “You know you’re more than that to me, right?” I’m surprised by the words myself—like when I thought of him as my man earlier—and the way he flinches, he’s surprised too.
“Yeah, I was making a joke.”
Warmth rushes to my face. “I know. I shouldn’t have said that.” Why the fuck am I being so weird?
“It’s okay,” he says. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Something’s very wrong.” I don’t mean it to come out as severely as it does, but it’s the truth. Marty looks concerned, so I lean closer. “I’m all worked up, and there’s only one thing that would set me at ease, and I’m pissed I can’t just take what I want in front of all the guys right now.”
“We’ll just have to make up for that later, won’t we?”
As much as that would normally put me in a great mood, knowing that I only have a couple more weeks with his perfect ass, his beautiful mouth…and fuck, the guy I enjoy spending so much time with, keeps me on edge.
“I guess Miles won’t be coming to the graduation barbecue,” Dax says as he approaches.
I step away from Marty so that I don’t give Dax the wrong idea about us—or maybe the right idea…? As I look at Marty, there’s an eagerness in my belly, but also frustration that I have to keep my distance from him still, assuring me of something I’m gonna have to admit sooner or later.
I’m definitely catching feels for this guy…