The ride back was quiet, Mia’s arms wrapped tight around my waist as we navigated the winding roads.My body still hummed from our time at the waterfall.Her kiss, her touch, the way she’d come apart against my fingers behind the curtain of falling water all replayed on loop in my mind.This woman had wrapped herself around my insides but good.As we rounded the final curve toward her cabin, I felt her tense against my back.
A sleek silver sedan sat in her driveway, its polished surface reflecting the afternoon sun like an unwelcome beacon.Two figures stood on her porch.A man in pressed chinos paced like a caged animal while a dark-haired woman perched on the railing, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.Fuck.I didn’t need introductions to know exactly who they were.
“Scheiße,” I muttered, slowing the bike to a crawl.“Mia?”
Her fingers dug into my ribs as she peered around my shoulder.“It’s them,” she confirmed, her voice tight.
I felt a tremor run through her as she took a deep, fortifying breath.Everything protective inside me unfurled, demanding I take her out of here and back to that fucking waterfall.“We can turn around,” I offered.“They don’t deserve your time.”
She took another deep breath, her forehead pressed between my shoulder blades before she thumped it a couple times.“No.I need to end this properly.”
I nodded, respecting her decision even as my jaw clenched.I pulled up beside her cabin, cutting the engine but keeping my body between her and the unwelcome visitors.Eric, I presumed, went rigid at the sight of us, his face contorting with an ugly mix of shock and rage.The woman’s head snapped up, her mascara-smudged eyes widening.
“Mia!”she cried, scrambling off the railing.“Oh my God, thank God you’re OK!”As if she had any right to worry.As if she hadn’t been the one to drive a knife into Mia’s back.
I dismounted first, offering my hand to help Mia off the bike.She took it, her fingers cold despite the warm day.I gave them a reassuring squeeze before letting go.
“Who the hell is this?”Eric demanded, stalking to the edge of the porch steps.He was tall and fit but… soft, someone who’d earned his physique in the gym where no one hit back.He had the pampered look of someone who’d never had to fight for anything in life that mattered.His eyes raked over me with undisguised contempt.I knew what I looked like.I also knew I looked as dangerous as I felt right now.
“This is Oktober,” Mia said, her voice steadier than I expected.“Oktober, this is Eric and Jade.”
I didn’t offer my hand.Just nodded once.Jade rushed down the steps toward Mia, tears streaming unchecked down her flushed cheeks.“Mia, please,” she sobbed, grabbing for Mia’s hands.Mia took a step backward, not letting the other woman touch her.“I’m so sorry,” Jade whispered.“So sorry.”
“We were worried about you,” Eric said, coming close to Jade and putting a hand on the woman’s shoulder.He squeezed hard enough his knuckles blanched white, and Jade flinched but only slightly.
“Worried?”Mia repeated, her voice flat.“Is that why you were fucking my boyfriend in my bed?”I thought she might sound bitter or even angry.Instead, she only sounded curious.
Eric flinched at her bluntness.“Jesus, Mia, keep your voice down.”He ran a hand through his carefully styled hair.“This isn’t like you.Just… come home so we can talk about this like adults.”
I almost growled.The condescension in his tone made my fists itch to pound this motherfucker into the ground.
“I am talking like an adult,” Mia replied, again not heated or emotional in any way.“And I’m not interested in whatever you came here to say.Your actions spoke loud and clear.”
“You don’t understand,” Jade pleaded, reaching for Mia again.This time Eric jerked her out of the way.
“Jade, shut up,” Eric snapped, then forced his face into a concerned expression.“Mia, baby, let’s go somewhere private.Without your… new friend.”He gestured dismissively in my direction.“This isn’t you.Running off, hooking up with some random thug.”He scoffed.“Come home.We’ll sort everything out.”I had a moment to wonder if he intended for both Jade and Mia to get in his car and leave with him.I felt another low growl building in my chest but held my tongue.This wasn’t my fight.Yet.Soon, but not yet.
“You don’t get to decide anything for me, Eric,” Mia said.She actually gave the motherfucker a gentle smile.
Eric’s face darkened, and he suddenly lunged toward Mia.“For fuck’s sake, Mia, stop being childish --”
I moved without thinking, stepping between them so that Eric nearly bumped into my sturdier frame.“That’s close enough, friend.”My accent thickened in my anger, but I kept my voice low.
Eric looked at me like I was something foul.“Get out of my way, asshole,” he hissed.“This is between me and my girlfriend.”
“Ex-girlfriend,” Mia corrected from behind me.I felt her hand on my arm, gently pulling me back.“Oktober, please.I need to handle this myself.”
I met her gaze, searching for any sign of fear or uncertainty.Finding none, I nodded once.“I’ll be right here.”
“Like hell,” Eric snarled.“Mia, we’re leaving.Now.”
I stepped aside just far enough to give Mia the space she’d asked for.But I’d be damned if I moved too far from her side.This man wasn’t leaving with her if she didn’t want to go, and the woman didn’t get to hurt Mia with thoughtless words.
Jade moved closer, fresh tears making her makeup run even more.“Mia, please.”She cast a quick glance at Eric.I got the impression she guarded her words carefully.She hadn’t offered an explanation to her actions.She only pleaded with Mia, but I was unsure exactly what the other woman wanted.
Eric’s tone softened, becoming cajoling.“Baby, I know I screwed up.We both did.But what we have is too important to throw away over one mistake.”
I watched the way Mia’s jaw tightened, how her nails dug into her palms.Her reaction said she held herself together through sheer force of will.“It wasn’t a mistake,” she said quietly.“It was a choice.One you both made, knowing exactly what it would do to me.”
