He stalked over, doubled his fist and punched Sawyer in the jaw.
“Hutch, no!” she cried as she struggled to right herself.
Goddamn hands were still tangled in her panties. All she managed to do was tumble forward on the couch and then finally to the floor at Cam’s feet.
Cam put his arms around her and pulled her up. He freed her hands and tossed the underwear aside. But she was focused solely on the scene in front of her.
Sawyer stumbled back, his eyes like ice.
“You son of a bitch!” Hutch yelled. “How could you do that to her? She’s not one of your whores, Sawyer.” He turned and whipped his gaze over Cam. “And you. I never thought you’d treat Reggie like this.”
He turned back, ready to hit Sawyer again, and Sawyer just stood there, his eyes dead, waiting for whatever punishment Hutch decided to inflict.
Hutch punched him again, and Sawyer staggered back, but he made no move to defend himself. She could see it in his eyes. Resignation. Guilt. Standing there like he deserved it.
When Hutch started for him again, Regina screamed.
“Hutch! Stop! Goddamn you, stop!”
Her fingers balled into fists at her sides. Cam touched her arm reassuringly, but she shrugged him off.
She glanced between Hutch and Sawyer, both furious but for different reasons. There was fear, anger and concern in Hutch’s face. All wrapped up in one giant ball of emotion.
Sawyer was pissed, but hurt also lurked in his eyes. And rejection.
And this was it. That moment she’d refused to entertain. The entire reason she had fought against this whole arrangement they wanted. Because it was now they expected her to choose sides. If she went to Sawyer, Hutch would see it as a betrayal, whereas if she went to Hutch to figure out what the fuck his problem was, Sawyer would see it as a rejection of him.
“You swore,” she said in an unsteady voice. “You swore it would never come down to this, to me choosing, and goddamn you it has. I won’t do it. Iwon’t.”
She yanked herself from Cam’s grip, tears burning her eyes. She stumbled away, ignoring Cam’s worried call.
No. Never. This wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t going down this road.
She ran past Sawyer, into the kitchen to collect her clothes, minus her underwear.
In the distance, she heard a door slam with such force it shook the house. Sawyer.
She closed her eyes to hold back the tears of frustration and pain.
She finished yanking on her clothes, grabbed her keys and bolted out the back door, no clear idea of where she was going other than away.
CHAPTER 30
Cam drove through town keeping a sharp eye out for Reggie’s new RAV4. His hands curled tighter around the steering wheel as he fought the rising tide of panic.
Things had gone to hell fast, and this time . . . this time he wasn’t sure the rift could be mended. Hutch had gone all postal on Sawyer. Sawyer and Reggie had both left the house, and Hutch was barricaded in his room.
And he was out searching for Reggie. Hoping like hell she hadn’t run far. Her house was out. It was still in shambles. He’d swung by Birdie’s place, but she was still staying with Virginia. A stop by her house hadn’t netted him any results.
He drove by Jeremy Miller’s house but didn’t see Reggie’s car. He hit her other haunts, but again, nothing.
“Where are you, Reggie?” he murmured as he drove back toward Birdie’s place. There was only one other spot he could think of, and it was a bitch to get to.
He pulled behind Birdie’s house and set out across the pasture that led to the back boundary of the Fallon spread. When he topped the next hill, his lights caught the back reflectors of Reggie’s RAV4.
Relief made him shaky. But on the heels of his relief came fear of the impending confrontation with Reggie.
It had happened. What she’d feared. What he’d feared. They had all feared. Meltdown.
