Maybe I would’ve backed off, but the smaller guy, who seemed to be a year or two younger than me, looked fucking relieved. It was clear I’d done the right thing.
“If you didn’t want anyone to say anything, you shouldn’t have been yelling like a dick,” I said, waggling my eyebrows.
Rowen groaned. “Sure look,” he butted in, sweeping me back a step by putting his arm in front of me. “Maybe we could buy ye a drink, and ye can let yer wee boyfriend here have some peace. Head on home. Talk it out tomorrow when everyone’s tempers have cooled.”
The lunkhead growled and gave off wild dog vibes. “We’renottogether anymore.”
“Sorry to bother you,” the smaller guy said, and he sounded so defeated that I felt terrible.
The dick shoved his boyfriend back against the truck—as if only a few words from him were a killing offense—and anger had me doing the same thing to the jerk until he smashed against the metal with athud. Adrenaline flooded my body, and I laughed as the dickhead straightened and took a sloppy swing at me.
“Oh, really? That’s it?” I asked, easily stepping out of the way. “I’m a cave man, but I can’t throw a decent punch,” I said, mocking him in a tone that had always made Padraig see red, then go nuclear.
Rowen shocked the hell out of me when he stepped in and punched the guy, his entire body moving with the blow. The cranky dick did not pass go or collect two hundred dollars, simply slumped back against the side of the truck, then fell on his ass.
“Damn! You have moves!” I said with a laugh. I shook his shoulder. “Holy fuck!”
Rowen shook out his hand and glared. “Ye are not getting pummeled on a date with me.”
“Hey! I was gonna win that one.”
He rolled his eyes. “Ye also aren’t getting arrested for murder on a date with me.”
The small guy let out a tiny noise, staring between the two of us.
“Ye get inside and ye find a safe ride home. Ye hear?” Rowen said sternly.
He nodded and ran off toward the Crab Kitchenette.
Rowen grabbed my hand and dragged me back toward the Spyder. As the exhilaration from the fight began to wear off, I felt bad that I’d ruined something Rowen had planned. He held out his other hand, and I realized he wanted the keys, so I gave them to him, and then he opened the passenger door and shoved me down into the seat. The door slammed shut. I frowned at him as he got in the driver’s seat, then adjusted it before backing out of the spot in a hurry.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
He laughed, and while he waited at the exit for a few cars to pass, he brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. My body rushed with excitement from his simple touch. “What am I gonna do with ye?”
He pulled the Spyder out onto the road, and I wasn’t sure if we were heading toward home or away from it.
“Have food delivered and fool around with me on the couch while we pretend to watch a movie?” I flashed him a toothy grin.
He grunted. “I’m trying to treat ye right, Fallon. Ye deserve it.”
“Says who?” I forced a laugh but felt weirdly upset at the same time.
“Me,” Rowen said, a seriousness in his tone that reminded me he could be every bit as dangerous as Cillian and Aspen.
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “You pick the place.”
He glanced at me and smiled. I turned my face toward the passenger-side window as he took my hand because I still felt like I had no idea what I was doing, but that was okay. I tickled my thumb across Rowen’s palm. I had someone here who would take care of me.
14
ROWEN
My knuckles burnedfrom the punch I’d given the abusive arsehole, and while I should’ve regretted it because I never liked fighting physically, as it was more personal, I didn’t feel an ounce of remorse. Anyone who used their power and height to terrify a weaker, innocent target deserved a good beating.
I squeezed the soft leather of the Spyder’s steering wheel, staring down at the redness that had begun to darken the knuckles on my right hand. I saw the bruise every time a streetlight outside brightened up the car through the windshield for a quick second before we fell into the darkness again.
“So, where are we going?” Fallon’s soft voice filled the small cab, a lull of calmness I enjoyed hearing. He was happy, and that was the most important thing. I believed in God, but sometimes I had to make up my own mind, and Fallon was part of that decision. At least I didn’t have to worry about telling Cillian’s ma. I could already imagine her reaction at me dating one man, let alone two.
