I opened my mouth to ask what was happening at the same time Garrett grabbed my hand and dragged me along with him. We were across the room from the front door when a flash of red caught my eye and I sucked in a surprised breath. “Is that…?”
The woman I recognized as Tatum from the after party weeks before moved through the house, straight to Lyla. Theyembraced like long-lost friends, both of their faces awash with a new wave of tears. “I’m so sorry,” I saw her say from my place beside Garrett.
His hand clenched mine, and when I looked up, his eyes were bouncing between Tatum and Declan, concern marring his handsome brow. The hug ended and both women wiped away the tears that were trailing down their cheeks.
Before I could speak a word, Garrett’s hand was pulling mine and we were on the move, heading to where they stood. “Tate.”
The woman’s head turned at the sound of Garrett’s voice, and a smile of warm familiarity overtook her face. A pang of jealousy ricocheted through my chest as he released my hand to wrap her in a hug. But then something unexpected happened. The moment they separated, she turned to me with the same friendly face she’d had for Lyla and Garrett. Then she hugged me.
When she pulled away, her warmth was still surrounding me. “You must be Gwen. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m glad to finally meet you in person.”
My mouth dropped open at her unexpected welcome, and it took several seconds for me to find my voice and stumble over my words. “I—you… uh, you have?”
“Sure. We ran into each other in LA. He couldn’t stop talking about you. I’ve been dying to meet the woman who was able to tame the caveman.”
“Please,” Garrett rumbled. “You know I was the easiest one to deal with out of all those assholes.”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes teasingly.
It’s nice to meet you too,” I offered. “Garrett had nothing but nice things to say about you.”
She had a huskiness to her voice that leant a sultry tenor to her laugh. “I highly doubt that.” She gave Garrett a playfulsmack to his abs. “This guy was like a brother to me growing up, so I was basically the annoying sister following them around, getting in their way.”
The rest of the guys joined our small huddle just then, and there was no missing the sudden tension that began swirling heavily through the air. I couldn’t help but focus on Declan, who stood somewhat removed as Killian and Mace greeted Tate like longtime friends. When they finished, he finally spoke.
“Tatum.” Those short two syllables packed more of a punch than I would have expected. Where Declan’s demeanor was an open book, full of avid yearning, Tate’s came across as bored and closed off.
You could practically cut the hostility with a knife. If Garrett hadn’t been holding so tight to my hand, I would have started backing away from the powder keg that was Declan and Tate. So I wasn’t at all surprised when I heard Lyla speak up. “I, um, need to get to the kitchen. We’re almost out of mini sandwiches.”
I almost opened my mouth to offer help as she began moving away but Mace beat me to the punch. “I’ll help.” He put his hand on the small of her back and began leading her away. I couldn’t miss the way her eyes flared with what looked like panic as he hustled her out of the living area and into the kitchen.
I shifted from foot to foot, trying to look anywhere but at Tatum and Declan, but I couldn’t turn away no matter how badly I wanted to.
“Deck. You look better than the last time I saw you,” she said in a flat, emotionless tone. Then her mask slipped and I saw the raw anger shining through. “Not that I’d expect you to remember the last time I saw you. If I recall, you were balls-deep in some skank and high as a kite. I’m pretty sure you didn’t even know I was there.”
“Oh fuck,” Killian mumbled.
“Ah hell,” Garrett grunted.
My eyes grew wide as saucers as Declan let out a feral growl. The next thing I knew, he had Tate over his shoulder and was stalking up the stairs as she shouted and pounded on his back. The sound of a door slamming shut out her shrieks, and I looked up at Garrett in concern.
“Uh… shouldn’t someone—”
“Just leave it, baby,” Garrett interrupted. “Trust me, you don’t want to wade into that mess.”
“About time those two hashed their shit out anyway,” Killian said, humor laced through his words.
A crash sounded from somewhere upstairs, loud enough for the whole house to hear. Lyla came running out of the kitchen, her lips more swollen and pink than when she left us, and her hair was suddenly mussed. “What was that?” she asked, looking up at the ceiling above our heads.
“My guess, World War III,” Garrett answered. “Deck and Tate are alone in a room together.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “Well… it’s about time.” She turned and headed back into the kitchen, Mace close on her heels.
I looked at Killian and Garrett and found I was the only one who seemed to be worried about the events taking place between the two couples.Well, all right then.
“You ready to get out of here?” Garrett asked, pulling my gaze from the kitchen doorway. I glanced up, unable to read his expression. “I’m thinking we need to talk too.”
A whole new mess of nerves exploded in my belly as I nodded, unable to speak. I was too busy worrying about what it was he had to say.
