My pulse stumbles, and my heart kicks against my ribs with a burst of adrenaline.
This better not have been a fucking trap.
I keep Cruz in my line of sight, but my gaze darts through the yard, searching for Lola. Beckett. A clean exit.
It takes everything inside of me not to swing a glare Gage’s direction.
“I think you’re confused.”
“Nah.” Cruz’s voice drops pitch, calm and certain. “I’m a lot of things, Bells, but I’m not confused. And I’m not wrong.”
The quiet insistence wraps around my throat, dragging my attention back to him like a tether.
“Don’t worry,” he adds softly. “I didn’t tell Coco if that’s what you’re worried about. Not yet, at least.”
It is. Jesus, it is.
Fuck.
Lola was right. Coming here was a bad fucking idea.
I push to my feet, setting the cupcake aside but keeping the Coke clutched tight in my hand. “I should go.”
Cruz raises a brow, but Gage moves first, leaning forward and punching him in the arm. Cruz jerks back with a grunt.
“Don’t be a dick,” Gage snaps. Then he turns to me, his voice dropping. “Bell, you don’t have to leave. My brother’s just hangry. He started juicing and now he’s taking it out on everyone.”
Cruz scoffs, rolling his eyes. “I’m notjuicing. Jesus Christ, Gage. I makejuice. I don’t take steroids.”
Gage shoots him a look, eyes narrowing, mouth twisting into something halfway between a scowl and a smirk. “Don’t worry, Cruzie.” He claps him on the shoulder—hard. “Maybe one day you’ll bulk up and be as big as me. And hey, if you need a little help.” He shrugs, all mock innocence.
Cruz’s jaw tightens before he lets out a humorless laugh. “Careful,” he says quietly. “I don’t think you want to go there, brother.”
Their bickering creates a crack in the moment—just enough noise, just enough movement. An opening.
I don’t hesitate.
I shift my weight onto my back foot, preparing to step over the lounger instead of Cruz’s legs.
Cruz’s attention cuts back to me immediately, interest sparking like a struck match. “The Bells I remember,” he says, gaze drifting over me in a slow, unapologetic sweep that feels like a hand along bare skin. “Didn’t run at the first sign of trouble.”
My spine straightens. “Is that what this is, Cruz?Trouble?”
His mouth curves into something lazy and sharp. “Why? Are you in it?”
Heat flickers down my arms. My pulse thuds at the base of my throat. Every part of me wants to react, which is exactly why I don’t.
“Depends on your definition,” I say, letting the words tread the fine I always danced on with this Calloway brother. “But either way, I have to get going.”
Fuck it. I step over one of Cruz’s legs when Gage stands, fingers closing around my wrist. I stop short, caught between them. Cruz sprawled back and watching. Gage too close, breath warm against my skin.
“Wait,” Gage says, voice rough. “Don’t leave because of him. Say the word, and I’ll get rid of him.”
Something loosens inside me.God, don’t do that.Not when the years between us suddenly feel tissue-thin.
“I really do have somewhere to be,” I say softly.
It lands somewhere between truth and a lie. The place I need to be is simply not here. Not with every warning bell in my body ringing at once.
