My sister’s brows draw together as she glances at Dilynne and Elodie. “Uh, okay…”
I wave my finger in the direction of Vienna, but when my eyes land on her, there’s now two more men talking to her.What the actual fuck?
I growl in frustration as Dilynne places her hand on my shoulder. “Use your words, Rhonan. We don’t speak caveman.”
Pushing her hand away, I take another step closer to my sister, lowering my voice. “Why did you introduce Vienna to a guy?”
Her eyes widen, but she still looks confused. “I—was I not allowed to, or something?”
“Laney…”
“What? You two aren’t together, and Ryan said that he was looking to be set up. The only single person I could think of was Vienna, so…”
“What about Dilynne?” I say, pointing to her best friend.
Dilynne huffs out a laugh. “That boy is way too soft-spoken for me.”
“I thought that’s how you liked your men,” Elliot interjects as he, Fletcher, and Henley all arrive where we’re standing. “That way you can boss them around, right?”
Great, now the gang’s all here.
Dilynne directs her icy glare right at Elliot. “You mean how you were with Tori?”
Elliot’s smug smile falls from his lips, but Fletcher steps in. “Let’s not start, you two. Rhonan seems to be on the verge of a mental breakdown right now, so we don’t need another situation to manage.”
Dilynne flips Elliot off, to which he returns the gesture, and then Laney rolls her eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re so angry about me introducing them,” my sister continues speaking on our original topic.
“That’s a lie, and you know it.”
She smirks. “Oh really? And why is that?”
Suddenly, I feel everyone’s eyes on me.
It’s now or never, Rhonan. Time to shit or get off the pot.
“Because I want her,” I declare out loud for everyone to hear—and something about letting those words out into the universe makes the knot in my chest loosen.
Dilynne yells. “Hallelujah, folks! Our man just had a come-to-Jesus moment! Everyone, give him a round of applause.”
My sister nods proudly while clapping her hands. “Glad you can finally admit that.” She tosses her head in Vienna’s direction. “And now that you did, why don’t you go get her?”
When my eyes lock on Vienna, there are now four men standing around her, intensely focused on her face and body, one of them clearly attempting to make her laugh.
Fuck this.
That woman is mine.
My feet carry me across the space, bypassing people attempting to say hello to me and hordes of people entering the property for yoga. But all I can focus on is the woman that I need to remind of our connection, the woman that I want to claim in front of all of these idiots so they know to back the fuck off.
When I make it to their group, Vienna’s laughter cuts through my intense rage, calming me instantly.
“And that’s when I said, maybe we should get a glass of wine then,” one of the morons says like he’s telling the punchline of a joke.
But when Vienna laughs this time, I can tell it’s fake. That’s not the same laugh that she has when she’s with me and Ellis. It’s not easy and natural, reminding me of the way birds sound when they whistle while flying—effortless and light.
No, it sounds like a cry for help, if you ask me. And I do have a habit of rescuing this woman when the time is right.
“Vienna,” I say, cutting in on their conversation and pulling all of their eyes to me. My eyes remain on her, though.
