Ari gets to his feet and pushes himself into the fray, screaming my name and shoving at my chest. He catches an elbow to the face and goes down hard. That snaps me back just long enough for my rage to flare even hotter, and I direct my focus at the same dickhead who was holding my little brother down.
Hands grab me from behind and pull me back just before I can make contact again. Naz’s voice cuts through the noise, sharp and furious. Jesse is with him, pale and glassy-eyed, but present enough to drop to Ari’s side. Cory, Jesse’s bodyguard, forces himself between me and the two assholes who were assaulting Ari. But he’s not paying them any mind, he’s blocking me from getting to them. The same way he faces the crowd when we’re in danger of being rushed by fans. LikeI’mthe danger here.
The manager appears behind a line of four security guards, two of whom circle around to stand at my back. Each of them takes one of my arms, while the manager looks over the damage thefight caused—an overturned chair, two men shouting and trying to see around the bodyguards that close in on them, Ari on the ground, and a crowd of horrified onlookers. Her tone is as sharp as the stiletto heels she’s wearing when she turns her seething gaze at me and suggests in no uncertain tone that we should leave immediately.
Cory assures her that we are and tells Naz to help Jesse while he directs me to the back entrance, where a large SUV with blacked-out windows waits for us.
Reality crashes back at me the moment the cold air hits my skin. I turn to reach for Ari, to pull him into a hug and make sure he’s okay, but he shrugs me off.
“Jesus, Ari. Are you okay?” I ask softly, reaching a hand to his cheek. It’s already bruising, stark against his pale skin.
“No thanks to you,” he spits, smacking my hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
I rear back, confused. I try to look around for some backup or explanation, but no one will meet my eye. Naz is helping Jesse into the SUV while Cory speaks in hushed tones to the driver.
“I was only trying to help.” Surely they can’t all be pissed that I got us kicked out. This place is exclusive and hard to get into, but it wouldn’t take more than a call to get us back in their good graces. It’s not like we did anything wrong.
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“They were hurting you.”
“No, they weren’t.”
“But you were?—”
“Enjoying myself?”
“No, but he was?—”
“It was consensual, Will,” he yells. “Once again, no one asked for your fucking help.”
“Well, excuse me for being concerned!”
“Just stop, Will. Stop being so concerned. I’m a big boy. I don’t understand why you care so fucking much.”
“Because you're mine!”
Ari’s eyes narrow and he takes a step towards me, voice low and seething. “Yourwhat?”
“My… brother,” I say, because he knows that’s all he can ever be to me. “You’re my brother.”
Something in his eyes dims. The anger dissipates, but so does all the light. What’s left behind is flat and unfeeling.
He turns away without another word, and with a pleading look at Cory, gets into the front seat. The partition is up before Naz and I climb in, Cory behind us. No one speaks on the way back to the hotel.
While Ari and Cory help Jesse stagger to the elevator, I head to the hotel bar. I need something to calm down before I can be in the same room as Ari.
Naz falls into step beside me, but doesn’t say a word. It’s not until we both have drinks in front of us that I turn to him.
“I guess you’re on his side, then?” I mutter.
Naz exhales. “My dude, I’m on both of your sides. But you gotta see that what happened back there was messed up.”
I appreciate that he doesn’t coddle me, but I’m too pissed to hear him out. He lets me stew while we finish our drinks. It’s not until I’m halfway through our second round that the adrenaline burns off enough for my shoulders to slump.
“You know very well those clubs have staff trained to make sure their patrons are safe, and that everything taking place is consensual. So Ari’s into some rough shit, what’s it to you?”
Embarrassment begins to creep in. The truth is, I do know all of that, but… ”He looked…smallbetween those two huge guys. It looked like they were hurting him.”
