Brielle looks between us, her mouth rounding out. “Wait, what’s happening?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly. “I should probably go find?—”
“Nah, don’t rush off on my account,” Drake cuts me off, moving closer. His chains rattle like a warning. “I’m just trying to figure out when you decided to make a move on my girl.”
I inch back. “That’s not?—”
“Isn’t it?” Drake’s voice gets louder, and I can see heads turning our way. “Playing the hero, swooping in when she’s good and drunk? Smooth move, Oliver.”
“Drake, you’re being crazy,” Brielle says with a laugh, and I can tell she’s pleased as hell that he just called her his girl.
“Crazy?” Drake snorts. “Logan Oliver doesn’t do anything without a reason. So what’s the reason, pretty boy? It looks to me, you decided you want what’s mine.”
A dull laugh pumps through me. “Dude, you are way off base here.”
“Am I? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re trying to steal my girlfriend.” Drake gets in my face, close enough that I can smell whatever cheap cologne came with the leather jacket. “And I don’t take that crap from anybody.”
“Dude, she’s not even your girlfriend yet,” I snap before I can stop myself.
Wrong thing to say. Drake’s face goes nuclear.
“The hell she’s not.” His fists come up, ready to start something. “Just because I haven’t asked her out doesn’t mean you get to make a move.”
“Drake, stop it,” Brielle pleads, but we’re well past listening.
“You know what pisses me off most?” Drake continues, puffing up like he’s ready to throw me into the deep end of the pool and hold my head under. “You already got my stepsister wrapped around your finger. That’s not enough for you?”
The mention of Skyla hits like a punch to the gut. “Leave her out of this.”
“Why? Truth hurts?” Drake’s smile turns vicious. “Everyone knows you’re stringing her along while you shop around for backup options.”
“You’re being a moron.”
“Am I?” Drake shoves me, hard enough to make his point. “Stay away from what’s mine, Oliver.”
Brielle breaks out in a shrieking giggle and gives me a thumbs-up behind his back. It’s clear she approves of the possessive aggression going on here.
I shove him back, harder than I meant to, and he stumbles toward the pool’s edge. For a second, I think he’s going in, chains and all, and I’d be lucky enough to watch him sink to the bottom. But he catches himself at the last second, whipping around with murder in his eyes.
“You wanna go?” he asks, spreading his arms wide. “Come on then. Let’s do this.”
Everything goes silent around us. The music’s still playing, but our corner of the party has turned into ground zero for tonight’s main event.
“Drake, stop,” Brielle says, stepping between us. “This is stupid. I’m not anybody’s property.” She looks livid, definitely not flattered. “And Logan was just being nice to me, which is more than I can say for you lately.”
Drake’s face falls for a moment. “Bree, I didn’t mean?—”
“Yeah, you did.” She shakes her head, backing away from both of us. “You ignore me for weeks, act like I don’t exist, and then, the second another guy talks to me, you want to fight about it? That’s not how this works!”
She turns and stomps off, taking her boobs with her, and leaving Drake standing there looking like someone just kicked him in the balls.
The crowd starts to disperse, disappointed that the fight fizzled out before it began. Drake stares after Brielle for a long moment, then turns back to me with a newfound rage in his face.
“You’re going to pay for this, Oliver,” he roars before taking off in the opposite direction.
This is not how this was supposed to go.
This is the exact opposite of how it was supposed to go.
