Before I know it, I’ve grabbed his jacket and slammed him back against the wall hard enough that the mugs on the counter rattle. Nick’s smirk falters, replaced with a brief flicker of uncertainty.
“You stay away from her,” I say, every word sharp as broken glass.
Rob appears instantly, moving between us, one arm braced across Nick’s chest while the other pushes against mine. “Alright, enough,” he says firmly. “Knock it off.”
Nick’s bravado returns the moment someone else has hold of him. “Don’t pretend, mate,” he sneers, “we both know she’s just another notch on your bedpost.”
Phil has both fists in the back of my jacket now, dragging me away inch by inch. “Alex. Don’t do something stupid. He’s not worth it.”
But I barely hear him. My vision tunnels, rage humming low and tight beneath my skin.
“She’s not another notch,” I bite out. “And I’m not ‘done’ with her. Not now. Not ever.”
Nick snorts. “You’ve known her five minutes. Don’t be pathetic.”
And then it tears out of me, fierce and unfiltered.
“I love her, you idiot!”
The room goes dead still. Rob’s eyes blow wide. Phil freezes, hands still knotted in my jacket. Even Nick falters, his mouth snapping shut as if someone’s slapped a hand over it.
That is exactly the moment Tommy steps into the doorway.
“What the hell is going on here?”
His voice slices clean through the tension. All three of us instinctively straighten like schoolboys caught fighting behind the bike sheds. Tommy’s hair is still damp from the hill, his jacket half-zipped, but the look he levels at us could probably extinguish a wildfire.
Rob clears his throat. “Bit of a disagreement.”
Tommy’s gaze flicks from my clenched fists to Nick’s crumpled shirt. “This what we’re doing now? Brawling in the rescue centre? Do I need to start assigning time-outs like you’re toddlers?”
Nick shifts, suddenly very interested in a patch of floor tile. “Just a misunderstanding,” he mutters.
“A misunderstanding that nearly turned into a disciplinary meeting,” Tommy says sharply. “Sort yourselves out or take it outside. And if either of you brings this rubbish on a callout, you’re off my roster until you grow up.”
I nod because it’s easier than trying to speak around the remnants of fury lodged in my throat. Phil’s hand squeezes my shoulder, a silent plea to let it end here.
Tommy gives one last warning glare, then jerks his head for Rob to follow him. As they leave, I hear him mutter, “Forty three years old and still scrapping like teenagers. Bloody ridiculous.”
Nick slinks out without meeting my eyes.
The kitchen falls quiet again. My pulse finally begins to slow.
Phil steps round in front of me, eyebrows halfway up his forehead. “You love her.”
It isn’t a question. More like he’s reading a headline out loud.
I drag a hand through my hair. “Yeah,” I say, breath leaving me in a rush. “I do.”
Phil’s grin spreads slowly, bright as a sunrise. “Mate… that’s brilliant.”
“It’s terrifying is what it is,” I mutter.
“Maybe,” he says, clapping my shoulder. “But it’s also the most alive I’ve seen you in years.”
I can’t argue with that. Not when the truth of it settles so solidly in my chest.
Phil nudges me towards the corridor. “Come on. Shower. Food. And then you can tell me exactly how one woman has turned you from Fellside’s most committed bachelor into a man who starts fights at dawn.”
