“I need to know.” He shifted closer to me. “Is that a yes or a no?”
My stomach tightened as I became aware of what he might do if I said no or didn’t move away and put an end to the situation. Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that if he tried anything I disapproved of, a ton of people would witness and stop him, but I stayed put. He stepped closer and closer until he was just a breath away. My eyes shut on their own accord, a habit that had developed from years of kissing. When his lips didn’t touch mine, I opened my eyes and gasped as Mason stumbled back a few steps. For a moment, I thought one of the drunken Stack Cup people lost their balance and bumped into him, but then I looked up and saw Lachlan glowering.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Mason stood straighter, suddenly in fight mode as he walked forward.
My mouth hung open for a second. The alcohol was making my brain a little slow to process the situation. Lach was standing so close to me that I could feel the anger radiating off of him. His glare was so intense that I thought, for a moment, Mason might burst into flames. What just happened repeated itself in my head, and finally, I snapped out of my reverie.
“What the hell, Lachlan?” I grabbed his left arm. He narrowed his eyes at me, my hand, and back at his teammate.
“Seriously, dude,” Mason tacked on.
“You know exactly what. Don’t act like you don’t,” Lachlan growled, taking a step forward, jaw grinding, angry eyes locked on Mason. I squeezed his arm and tried to pull him, even though there was no way in hell I’d be able to hold him back.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Mason’s eyes went wide for a fraction of a second before he shook his head and laughed lightly. “Is this because you called dibs? We didn’t agree on it. Prescott wouldn’t even appro. . .”
“She’s not Prescott’s,” Lach shouted.
“So what, she’s yours?” Mason arched an eyebrow when Lach didn’t respond. “What if I call dibs right now?”
“Mase, I love you, you’re my boy, but I swear on fucking everything. If you don’t back off, this won’t end well.” Lach took another step forward. My nails were short, but I dug the tips of my fingers into his arm. He didn’t even flinch.
Mason’s gaze swung from me to Lachlan. “We’ve been hanging out all night.”
Lachlan’s jaw ticked. He took one more step forward. One more, and he’d be in Mason’s face. A series of things ran through my mind in sequence: the dibs comment, Mason and Lachlan were going to fight and ruin Marissa’s birthday party, andholy shit, I’d never had two guys fight over me. Those thoughts were quickly followed by:What the actual fuck was happening?This was the first time in a long time that I’d fully participated in a party in two years, and this asshole was about to ruin it over some archaic bullshit that privileged jocks made up a hundred years ago? That was the thought that made me snap. I dropped my hand and took a step between the two of them. Even wearing heels, I was sure I looked like an ant between two giants.
“I can’t freaking believe you right now.” I turned my back on Mason to glare at Lachlan because, ultimately, all of this was his fault. “I’m not something you ‘call dibs’ on. I’m a human being. I’m not the front seat of a fucking car.” I stabbed his hard chest with my pointer finger and narrowed my eyes a little more as I stepped forward. His jaw ticked. “You donotget to ruin my best friend’s party, and you donotget totell me who I can and can’t speak to. What happened to Mandy Roberts? Was she not doing it for you, or did you finish with her and decide to come find me because you were bored and needed some entertainment?”
Lach’s eyes darkened, his expression harder, but he said nothing as he stared at me. Around us, a couple of people let out a series ofoooohsas if this was a fucking rap battle. My narrowed eyes snapped in their direction momentarily. I closed my hand into a fist and set it between his chest, pushing it in slightly as I glared at him again. I wanted to punch him so badly, but violence would get me nowhere, and it wasn’t like I’d hurt him anyway. I let my hand drop.
“Fuck you, Lachlan Duke,” I seethed, barreling my shoulder against him hard as I walked away.
Behind me, a loud, angry growl ripped through the silence. I saw flinches and shocked faces as I walked by, but I kept going. My entire body was shaking. I tried to contain it by balling my fists up and keeping my vision on the open glass double doors of the house. I clenched my fists tighter as anger continued to shoot through me in a way it hadn’t in a very long time,if ever. It felt like the longest walk I’d ever taken, with every pair of eyes glued on me. There were a lot of them. I still hadn’t spotted Marissa. She was probably inside dancing, oblivious to this. That would be the best-case scenario right now. This was a fucking nightmare. I’d almost reached the doors when I heard Lachlan call out my name once. Twice. Three times. I ignored each of them and focused on keeping my angry tears at bay because if I started to cry in front of people, I was really going to hate him.
“Pleasewait, Lyla.”
“What?” I snapped as I whirled around. “What can you possibly have to say to me?”
“I didn’t do anything with her.” He ran his fingers through his thick hair. “I swear. I know what you saw and what you think, but. . .”
“I know exactly what I saw,” I said, lowering my voice since I was pretty sure I was yelling now, but I wasn’t going to let him gaslight me on top of everything else. “It’s fine. You don’t belong to me.” I blinked at my own words, the truth in them hitting me for the first time and making me realize how stupid all of this was. Lach’s jaw twitched when I said that, but I continued because I needed to end this right now. “We’re not together. We’ve never even. . .it’s fine. You don’t owe me an explanation.”
“I do.” He stepped forward until he was right in front of me. My treacherous heart skipped. “I should’ve pushed her away sooner. I didn’t even know who the fuck was next to me. I wasn’t paying attention to her at all.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t even bother to entertain that statement.
“I swear, Lyla.” He put his hands up like he was pleading, praying. “I swear.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re allowed to do whatever you want with whomever you want.” I shrugged. “It still doesn’t excuse your stupid little temper tantrum or acting like you have any right to say who I can and can’t hook up with. You realize how fucked up that is, right? For you to do as you please and expect the opposite of me.” I paused, a growl escaping my lips. I was so angry at myself for entertaining this at all. “You know what? This is fucking stupid. I can’t do this.”
I spun around and continued into the house. Thankfully, no one in there noticed me at all. Between the loud music and the dancing, I was just another partygoer looking for the bathroom. My body was still humming when I finally reached it. I rushed in, slammed the door behind me, and locked it. I did a quick sweep to make sure I was alone and gripped the edge of the sink with my shaky hands as I stared at my reflection.
Even with my makeup, I could see the flush on my cheeks. It had to be the alcohol making me feel this way. I took several deep breaths. I really wished I’d never brought Mandy Roberts into the conversation outside. She had nothing to do with this. Oh my God. We’d just had that argument in front of the entire party. This was scary and mortifying. I hated that I’d let my guard down for him. Most of all, I hated that even now. As I replayed every word he’d said, my stomach was somersaulting like it was participating in the fucking summer Olympics. I moved to the toilet, sat on the toilet lid, and buried my face in my hands. I knew he was outside. I felt his warmth following me through the house as I searched for this bathroom. Maybe if I waited it out, he’d get sick of this and leave.
Every girl at this party was vying for his attention, so soon enough, one of them would catch it, and he’d walk away. My heart sank into my stomach at the thought.This is what you get when you let someone in. You knew this would happen. You freaking knew it, and you allowed it anyway.God,I wanted to go home but needed to stay until Marissa was ready. I wouldn’t leave without her, and I refused to rush her at her own birthday party. I did need to find her to make sure she was still okay, though, and for that to happen, I’d have to open the door and face whatever awaited outside. I slapped my forehead once lightly and twice more when I thought again about how everyone at the party was talking about this. Most of them probably didn’t even know who I was. But Lachlan Duke, praised hockey star, the hottest guy on the team, and quite possibly at our university? He’d undoubtedly be the subject of their gossip chain, and I would be as well. Fuck Lachlan for this. Fuck Mason. Fuck the hockey team and any man who thinks they can claim a woman for the hell of it. And you know what, double-fuck Lachlan for making mefeelthings. I used the bathroom and washed my hands before opening the door.
Lachlan was taking up the door frame with his imposing figure, with his stupid beautiful eyes, and his stupid disheveled hair, and his stupid strong jaw, and his stupid plump lips, and his stupid amazing body. He was looking at me like he was about to apologize again. Even though I didn’t want to hear it, I refused to have him follow me around, acting like a dissonant shadow.
“Seeing you with him felt like a punch in the gut,” he said when he finally spoke. “When you walked by me earlier, I wanted to carry you over my shoulder and keep you to myself. It wasn’t until Marissa made that comment that I noticed Mandy was there. I’m not kidding about that, Lyla. . .”
