If it were any other time and not an all-out brawl Cameron would've watched their exchange like a movie, instead he helped slowly move them away from the doors as other people began to come out to join in on the fight. Cameron pushkicked someone out of the way, forcing them into another person while Gavin gave a football player a maniacal grin that welcomed him to just try and touch him. He in fact did not try and went after someone else.
They were a few yards away from her cabana keeping a good perimeter around her when Ebony let out a clipped scream. He and Gavin both turned to see Luis holding herin a bear hug from behind lifting her off the ground. Luis grinned at Gavin and looked beyond him over his shoulder.
Gavin turned just in time for the surprise attack as Ethan launched himself at him.
"You can't be serious," Gavin growled.
Despite years of Taekwondo Ethan wound up with an arm pinned behind his back and hauled off to the edge of the pool.
"I need the five grand," Ethan screamed as he was launched into the pool.
By this time Luis had the common sense to let Ebony go and run away, not before giving her a rushed apology.
Ebony's head came around sharply in surprise. "Five grand?! Gavin, don't tell me you offered-"
Her words were cut off as two girls rushed her just as someone hooked Cameron around the neck. Struggling with his own attacker behind him, Cameron watched as Sienna's best friend, Miranda Bridges, grabbed at Ebony. Cameron got his hand under the guy's wrist and yanked it down before twisting away from him. He wanted to push the bastard in the pool but his focus was on Ebony. He could hardly take his eyes off her as her hands moved with lightning speed. One jab to the stomach the girl doubled over. Like someone taking out the trash, Ebony grabbed the girl, half dragging half walking her to the pool's edge before tossing her in.
Cameron was amazed. "Holy shit that was-"
A blur of blond darted in between them. Cameron watched as Sienna dove for Ebony. With the pool at her back and people all around her Ebony had no room to move, instead she sent a swift punch like a viper strike to Sienna's face knocking the girl into the pool.
"Fucking hell!" Cameron laughed.
The shock of the situation was plain on Ebony’s face. "She tried to tackle me."
Coming closer to her, he nodded. "I saw."
Surfacing from the water, Sienna held her nose and looked to Gavin who was standing near the other end of the pool having just tossed three other guys into the pool. "I think she broke my nose," she wailed.
Ebony rolled her eyes at the dramatics. "I didn't. Trust me, I would have felt it."
And enjoyed it, Cameron mentally finished her sentence for her.
Two things suddenly happened at once. Sienna's brother Sutton comes after Ebony and both Cameron and Gavin yanked him backward onto the hard concrete. While Abbi Winston, Sienna's other best friend, rushed Ebony. She was able to dodge the bulk of her weight but not the girl's grasping hands. Time seemed to slow as Cameron watched the girl’s fingers find the dangling purple strap to Ebony's bikini bottoms. Like a soldier on a kamikaze mission, Abbi clutched onto the string as she fell into the water.
Ebony didn’t look shocked. She didn't scramble back. She didn't try to hold onto her bikini; she did the smartest thing she could do and fell in with her.
Cameron took a step forward to jump in after her but a large figure blurred past him, his body knifing into the water first.
Under the water now, Cameron squinted his eyes across the blue water trying to see through the crowd of bodies. Brown and pale skin caught his eye. They were in the deeper section of the pool where the water was a darker blue. Ebony was holding her half-on-half-off bikini bottoms with one hand while trying to use her other hand to swim up. Cameron could see from the strained expression on her face she needed to breathe. But Gavin was holding her down, pushing her further to the bottom.
Cameron's heart pounded and he began to swim toward them but stopped when Gavin's hand hooked around the back of her neck and pulled her to him. Cameronwatched with wide eyes, forgetting all about his own dwindling air supply, as Gavin's mouth covered Ebony's. The fight in her left her body and air bubbles left her nose. Gavin was giving her air. A second later Gavin was pulling back and he reached for her bikini and knotted the string with quick efficient movements.
Cameron surfaced first, the noise of everyone around him coming into focus as the water came out of his ears. Ebony's gasp captured his attention and he watched as she wiped the water from her face. Gavin was right beside her glaring at Abbi who was across the pool trying to disappear into the chaos.
Slowly pulling his gaze away from her, Gavin looked up and smirked at the sole person still dry and standing. "Well, Shanel, it looks like you're the winner."
Shanel jumped up and down excitedly.
The crowd was still roaring from the excitement when Gavin escorted Ebony out of the pool, keeping a possessive hand around her waist. Cameron stepped forward, every intention of coming to her side but Gavin’s eyes found his. It wasn’t a warning look, not even anger. It was somehow colder than that—it was brutal. It was a measured determination. It was the kind of look that didn’t need words to say he wasn't giving him any more warnings to back off.Cameron didn’t look away. He forced himself to return his stare. Commanded his fists not to ball at his sides at the sheer effort. His heartbeat thudded in his ears, louder than the music. He could’ve laughed it off, should’ve rolled his eyes and turned away like always.But he didn’t.Because in that second, something in him snapped.Not anger. Not jealousy.It was need. Quiet and certain and long fucking overdue. He needed Ebony to see him. He needed Gavin to know he wasn't one of his minions.And if Gavin wanted to throw down another line in the sand, Cameron would happily cross it.
Chapter thirteen
Ebony slammed the sticks down without hesitation, no warm-up, no sound check, just pure release. Her curls, down and loose, whipped and frothed around her head with each strike to the drum. She probably looked like a wild woman, but she didn't care. Every beat echoed the pulse of anger she hadn’t said out loud, the words she had bitten back for weeks. Her arms moved fast, like her body couldn't get the rhythm out fast enough. The snare cracked and the bass thudded with each hit. Out here on the open water it didn't matter how loud she played, the sea took it away. Allowing her—no, daring her—for more.
She wasn't really playing. The music, her favorite band Masked Gods, blared on the speakers and she was following along to the beat but her mind was racing.
For some delusional reason she had thought after the pool party Gavin would have been done with Sienna, after she had sent her shitty friends and brother in a coordinated attack to embarrass her. From the way he had glared murder at the girl, Ebony had thought that was the end of that.
