“Get me another beer,” he said.
I turned my head back to him.“Excuse me?”
“I said, get me another beer.Now.”Something in his tone was sharp.Demanding.Wrong.
I leaned back a little, caught off guard, and my brain scrambled to catch up to what had just happened.Before I could respond, Jude was there.
“I think you can get your own beer, man.”
Jesse looked up at him, and the look on his face—it wasn’t the Jesse I knew.It wasn’t the guy I’d been on dates with.
It was something else.
Ugly.
Cold.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Jesse said.
The air shifted.Jude didn’t move or blink, but something in him snapped tight.
“Uh, I can get him a beer.It’s not a big deal, Jude,” I said quickly.
The last thing I wanted was a scene.
Not here.
Not now.
This was Eden’s night.
Jude looked at me and his eyes were dark, hard, but I knew that wasn’t directed at me.
“Jude, please,” I whispered.
“You know what?”Jesse said suddenly, pushing up from the bench.“I think it’s time we leave this lame fucking party.”He stood too fast and swayed, grabbing the edge of the table to steady himself.
My heart dropped.“Maybe we should go,” I said.
I stood too, trying to smooth things over, trying to get us out of whatever this was before it got worse, but I didn’t make it far.
Jude stepped in front of me, blocking me with his body, and boxed me in between him and the table.
“Nah,” he said, voice low, final.“I just think Jesse should go.You’re not going anywhere, Ever.”
“She came with me,” Jesse snapped, “so she’ll leave with me.”
Jude turned fully toward him, folding his arms across his chest.“I don’t fucking think so,” he said.“You can walk your ass home and pick up your bike tomorrow when you’re sober.”
“She’s mine,” Jesse said.
Something inside me recoiled hard.I was not his.Not even close.
We had gone on a handful of dates, but that was it.
I became aware of everything around us all at once.
People watching and conversations dying down.All eyes on us, and that was exactly what I didn’t want.I wanted to disappear.
