But he says, “They said you were sitting close together. That you were all over each other. And I knew there was something odd about the atmosphere when I turned up the next morning, but I couldn’t putmy finger on it. It never entered my head that my best mate might have fucked my girl behind my back.” He yells the last bit, turning to glare at Archer.
“Jude!” I’m embarrassed and shocked. “Stop this, right now. Archer’s right—you and I had broken up, and what happened after that is none of your business.”
He turns his laser glare back to me, and hurt fills his eyes. “Don’t you get that it doesn’t matter? It was the same fucking day. Obviously the two of you had feelings for each other, or it would never have happened.”
“I’m not going to argue with you about this.” I’m trembling. Arguing with Jude is pointless. He never backs down, and he never admits he’s wrong until much later. This will just escalate and spiral, and I know the only answer is to walk away.
As I turn, though, he grabs me by the shoulder, spins me back, and holds my upper arm. “Don’t walk away from me.”
“Don’t touch me!” I try to yank my arm away, but he’s holding me firmly. I lift my arm and try to twist it out of his grip, but it’s painfully tight. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Leon and the other guys frown and start heading for us. I wince. “You’re hurting me!” His fingers are going to leave bruises.
He yanks me toward him, so his face is near mine, and fear flares inside me. “I feel like you’ve stabbed me in the fucking heart,” he whispers, his face full of pain.
“Get off her.” Archer appears beside us and grabs his arm.
Jude releases me, suddenly enough that I lose my balance. I stumble back, trip on something, and fall onto my butt.
Archer growls and propels him a few feet away, but Jude fights back, putting both hands on Archer’s chest and pushing him. To my surprise, instead of backing off, Archer moves forward and shoves him back, hard. Infuriated, Jude comes for him. As he does, Archer draws back his hand and gives him a right hook to his chin, and Jude falls to the floor.
“Jesus.” Leon, Hal, and Stefan rush over to separate them, and the Quad is filled with raised voices.
Izzy and Noah run to me and help me up. I’m shaking so hard, I can barely stand, tearful and upset.
“Thanks, Izzy,” Noah says. He smiles at me. “Come on, Beth. Let’s go back to my house and I’ll make you a cup of coffee.”
He places a hand in the middle of my back, and I don’t argue as he leads me around the side of the building. As he goes, he gestures something to Leon, but I don’t see what. I concentrate on walking without falling over, still trembling.
“It’s not far,” Noah says in his calm, gentle voice.
I start crying, though, unable to hold the tears in.
“All right, it’s going to be okay.” He leaves his hand in the middle of my back, gently guiding.
We walk like that past the paddock, with Hector the horse looking over the gate at us, and along the path to where Noah’s house sits on the top of the cliff. He opens the front door, and I bend to say hello to his two German Shepherds, Willow, and Spike, who’s in a doggie wheelchair.
“Hey,” he says as his wife, Abby, walks up. “Beth’s had a shock, and she’s a bit upset.”
“Oh no…” Abby puts her arms around me, and I start crying for real. “Ahhh, come here sweetie.” She leads me into the living room and sits beside me on the sofa.
“I’ll make a coffee,” Noah says, and goes into the kitchen.
Abby hands me a tissue from the box on the coffee table, and I sob into it for a few minutes. I feel overwhelmingly sad and upset at the thought of Jude and Archer arguing, and how upset Jude was. I can’t believe Archer hit him.Later, the guilt is going to descend big time, and I know he’s going to regret that.
“Here you go.” Noah puts a tray with two cups of coffee on the table and a plate of homemade cookies, then perches on the edge of the armchair opposite.
“So what happened?” Abby asks as I dry my eyes. “Will you tell me?”
I blow my nose. “Archer and Jude had a fight.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Oh my God, why?”
I put my face in my hands. “Jude and I had an argument on Valentine’s Day and broke up. I was upset and went for a drink in The Driftwood. Archer found me there, and I ended up going back to his place because I didn’t want to go home. And one thing led to another, and…” I lower my hands, my brows drawing together.
“Oh,” she says. She exchanges glances with Noah, then looks at me. “I’m not surprised,” she says. “Archer is kinda gorgeous.”
That makes me give a reluctant laugh. Noah shoots her a wry glare. “I don’t know that that was the appropriate response,” he scolds.
Abby shrugs. “I’m not going to criticize a woman for finding comfort after a breakup.”
