He watched as Elle and Tilly stopped at the bar.
“What changed?” Kayden asked.
Jace looked back to his brother, having to roll the question over in his head a couple times before he could figure out his answer. “A few things. I don’t think I have anything to prove anymore, whereas when I was a kid, I felt like I had to do something big and important to be good enough for her.”
Kayden frowned. “You were always good enough.”
“I’m starting to believe that. And I guess, being back and around her all the time, my feelings have just become so intense I can’t fight them anymore. And I’ve lost so many people in my life that I know tomorrow’s not guaranteed. If I want something, I have to take it.”
“You’re not wrong.” Kayden was about to sip his beer when he stopped, eyes narrowing on the bar. “Who the fuck is that leaning over Elle?”
Jace’s gaze shot up—and anger punched through his veins. What the fuck? Some asshole was leaning into Elle’s side, his head low, presumably to talk into her ear.
Jace was stepping around the table when Elle turned away from the bar and started walking back to him. She only got a few steps in before the asshole turned and grabbed her arm to swing her back around.
Casper.
He stormed across the floor, reaching them just as Elle threw her drink in his face. Jace would have been proud if the asshole’s eyes didn’t blacken with rage. He lunged to grab her, but Jace stepped between them, shoving him away.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jace shouted.
“What amIdoing?” Casper sneered. “She threw a fucking drink in my face.”
“I know. I also know she wouldn’t have done it without a reason. So what did you do to make her throw it?”
“We were having a damn conversation, but that bitch decided to act like an animal—”
Jace grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him hard against the bar before shouting, “Did you not hear me last time? Youdon’tfucking talk about her like that. Do you understand?”
Casper’s eyes widened, his expression changing to one of fear.
When he didn’t respond, Jace yanked him forward and shoved him again. “I said,do you understand?”
A small hand touched his shoulder before Elle’s voice sounded. “Jace. It’s okay.”
It wasn’t okay. Not even close.
Suddenly, Kayden was beside him. “Jace. Let him go.”
“Not until he tells me he gets what I’m saying.”
The expression on Casper’s face shifted back to anger. “I understand,” he seethed.
Jace didn’t believe him for a second. Still, he released his shirt. “Get out.”
Casper’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have the right to—”
“But I do,” Cody said, crossing his arms from the other side of the bar. “Leave.”
Casper’s jaw clicked, his gaze shifting from Jace to Cody. “You’re shitting me, right?Iget a drink thrown in my face and I’m the one who has to go?”
“Damn straight,” Cody said. “Get out.”
Casper scowled as he looked back at Jace. “You’re gonna regret this, Walker.”
Then he shoved past Jace and stormed out of the bar. Jace waited until the door closed behind him before turning to Elle and studying her face. Her body. Searching for any sign that she wasn’t all right. That he needed to go out there and beat the fucker.
He gripped her arms. “Are you okay?”
