Ididn’t expect Mila to thank me. She stood there, eyes burning and chest rising as if she’d just been dragged through hell and dared someone to say something about it, and I knew we weren’t done. This wasn’t the place for the fight brewing in her expression. “Come with me.” I kept my voice low.
She didn’t move.
“Mila.”
Her gaze flicked to where the other guys lingered near the fire, the glow painting them in gold and shadow. Chase and Jax were on alert, eyes scanning the party as though a threat might appear at any second. Theo? His attention had already shifted—locked onto Tori as she flicked her strawberry blond hair over her shoulder and the suggestive expression she shot his way.
I didn’t wait for Mila’s agreement. I turned and walked into the tree line behind at the edge of the party, down the sloped path toward the lake. I knew she would follow. She always did when it mattered.
It was quieter here, darker. The fire and noise behind us faded to background static. Just the lake ahead, rippling in the moonlight, and the ache building beneath my ribs.
She finally stopped a few feet behind me.
“You don’t get to do that,” she snapped. “You don’t get to swoop in and play fucking savior.”
I turned to face her. “You wanted me to let him drag you off into the woods?”
“I had it under control.”
“Bullshit.”
“I did.” She stepped closer, chin high. “I can handle anything these spoiled assholes throw at me. You forget who I am?”
“No,” I said, too fast. “That’s the problem. I remember exactly who you are.”
That hit something in her—a flash of pain, quickly masked by anger. “Then stop pretending I need your protection,” she bit out. “You lost the right to play hero from the moment I returned and you treated me like the enemy.”
“Enemy, huh?” I crowded her. “Funny. You act as though I crowned you that. But let’s not pretend you didn’t come back swinging. From where I’m standing? You’ve worn the title since the day you left. And sure as hell when you came back.”
I stepped farther in, just enough to make her lean back. Not enough to break the tension but to shift the air between us. My voice dropped. “Tell me something, Mila. That night—you could’ve called. Given one reason. Why didn’t you?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her laugh was bitter. “Forget the past. Let’s focus on the present. Specifically on tonight.” She jammed her finger into my chest. “You can’t hate me one second and then defend me the next.”
I didn’t answer. Didn’t trust myself to. She nailed it. Straight through the ribs. No hesitation. I stood there, chest rising where her finger had jabbed me, every inch buzzing with words I couldn’t say. Because she wasn’t wrong. Ididhate her. And I wanted her anyway.
The part that still ached when I looked at her—the part I buried under loyalty and legacy and whatever broken thing I called a heart—wanted her more now than ever.
She was so close I could feel the heat radiating off her skin. Sparks jumped in the space between us, taut and magnetic. One lean forward and I could kiss her. Claim her. Ruin every line we’d drawn. My pulse thundered. My hand twitched, caught between restraint and wanting to touch her—just once.
“I never said this made sense,” I muttered, stepping back just enough to put some much-needed space between us. “But if you think I’ll stand there and let some piece of shit put hands on you, you’re even more delusional than I thought.”
She blinked. “You’re pissed that I won’t let you play protector?”
“I’m pissed that I still give a damn.” There. Out in the open.
Her mouth parted like she had a comeback locked and loaded—but nothing came. Just silence. Thick. Electric.
I watched her eyes shift, the anger fading slightly into something else. Confusion? Or maybe hurt. I could never tell with Mila. She kept her walls high.
“You’re confusing, Luke,” she whispered.
“You think I don’t know that?” I ran my hands through my hair, hating the duality of my feelings for her. How everything was changing.
She didn’t answer. Just stood there in the dark, the lake behind her glinting as if it held all the things we wouldn’t say.
“I shouldn’t feel anything when you’re near. But I do. And I can’t forget how it used to be.” Her eyes searched mine.
“You really think I came back just to hurt you?”
