“I’m fine.” He waved me off and stumbled from the stool. I moved to steady him, but he jerked away from me before weaving his way around the villagers. Arran suddenly appeared in front of him, placing a hand on Jared’s shoulder. The farmer seemed to relax at Arran’s touch, and I turned to Aria, assured someone was taking care of the grieving man.
That assurance died under Aria’s wrathful glare.
Fuck.
“Ari—”
“I’m taken?” she hissed angrily. “I’m not a piece of property you can pee around.”
Before I even had a chance to defend myself, she shoved past me and stormed through the crowd toward the exit.
Fucking great.
Hurrying after her, I didn’t catch up until we were out the door. “Aria!” I reached her just a few steps away from the bar’s entrance, not caring if there was anyone around as I tugged her toward me.
She stumbled in her heels, and I steadied her, taking hold of her biceps. Aria pushed at my chest and it felt like it was caving in. “Aria, please.”
Her face was flushed, but I could see right through her. This was more than being pissed at me for acting like a jealous boyfriend.
Panic flared in the back of her eyes.
“I’m not yours. You get that, right?”
“Did you want to fuck him?” I snarled, hurt beyond bearing by her rejection.
“Of course not.” She huffed, shoving my hands off her. “But I’m also not your girlfriend. I thought I made that perfectly clear.”
The caving-in feeling worsened. “Aria,” I exhaled her name hoarsely. “You and I both know there’s so much more going on here than just sex.”
That trepidation I saw on her face hit red alert status, and I muttered a curse as she took a few steps backward, retreating from me. “No.”
“No?” I followed her. “Just no? That’s it? That’s all I get?”
“We had a deal,” she insisted. “Don’t do this.”
“Aria, I—” The squealing of tires cut me off, and my eyes flew in the sound’s direction.
It took my brain a second to make sense of what was happening, but horrified understanding dawned just in time.
An SUV was careening off the road, heading at speed directly toward us.
Instinct took over, and I yelled Aria’s name as I threw my body at her. I had the presence of mind to turn my back as I wrapped my arms around her, taking the majority of the impact as we hit the ground.
Blood rushed in my ears. The sound of a growling engine and Aria’s cries were muted and far away as the wind knocked out of me.
“North, North!” Aria’s hands smoothed over my chest, her concerned, frightened expression coming into focus.
Tires squealed again, and I glanced over her shoulder in fright, only to relax marginally as the SUV reversed and sped off. The sight of Walker running into the road jolted me, and I realized the commotion had drawn people from the pub.
“Did you hit your head? North?” Aria’s fingers were on my face now. “North, say something.”
My mind reeled as I gaped up at her, and the first words out of my mouth were, “Did someone just try to fucking kill us?”
Twenty-Four
ARIA
It was hard to determine whether North was okay because he wouldn’t stop asking if I was all right. After the initial shock of someone driving their SUV at us, all he cared about was me.
