I double back again before throwing up my arms in frustrated indecision.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” His voice drawls as he watches me with his arms crossed now, leaning up against a random car, seemingly amused that I am at war with myself.
“Where the hell do you get off stomping around and pouting like this?” I ask as I subconsciously move closer to him.
“I don’t know,” he says, like this interaction is the most boring thing he can imagine. “Maybe I thought you might have the decency to not grind all over a piece of shit like that while we’re legally married.”
“Need I remind you that you literally had four girls in our bed this afternoon?”
“Julian!” he snaps. “Julianbrought four girls into our room.”
“Well, you seemed pretty comfortable with them.”
He claws his hands down his face, muffling a noise that is half groan, half growl. “You have great taste, by the way,” he says. “Tate? That guy is basically a fucking predator.” The second the word is out, his mouth snaps shut.
“Apredator, really? You mean someone who takes advantage of another person in a vulnerable state? Hmm, that sounds so familiar.”
Bennett pushes himself off the car and comes to meet me so that I’m toe-to-toe with him and am forced to tilt my head back to see him. “That is not the same fucking thing and you know it,” he says. “Forget about the fact that guy is trash. You want to blow up this whole little married act? Go ahead. See if I give a fuck. This was all your doing. You think Wexley is going to punish me? You think they want to risk losing a private donor like my mother on top of the corporate dollars she funnels into this place? Besides, I’m not the one taking advantage of this situation. You are! So maybe you should think about that next time you want to let a guy like Tate hang all over you for everyone to witness.”
A feverish heat spreads through my core as his focus darts from my eyes to my lips, his frame hulking over mine. I want to bite him. I want him to get close enough for a kiss and then I want to sink my teeth into his lip until he bleeds. I want him to hurt.
His hand comes up to my face, inches from my cheek, and I refuse to pull away. This thing between us is a game of chicken and I will not be the one to flinch right now. He’s been so brazen with me in public, but when it’s just us—I refuse to be the one to move first.
“Clover?”
I stumble back a little and see that Tate is just a few feet away.
“Everything okay here?” he asks, and holds a hand out for me like a lifeline as he lifts his chin toward Bennett.
“Tate,” mutters Bennett.
“Good to see you, man,” he says, and it is quite clear thatgoodis the last thing he means. “I was about to head out if I can give you a ride, Clo.”
“Her name is Clover,” Bennett bites back.
“Clo is fine coming from friends.” I take a step back from Bennett without breaking eye contact. The adrenaline slowly leaves my body as I wrap my arms around my middle and pull Tate’s jacket tighter. “That would be great. Let me check on my friend inside.”
Against my better judgment, I leave the two of them outside while I head in to hunt down Daisy, who is cuddled up on a sofa with her hockey player.
She moves to stand up, but I wave her back as I lean down and yell in her ear over the music. “I’m going to head out, but only if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” she says. “Text me when you get back?”
“Of course,” I tell her. “Have fun.”
As I’m walking back outside, my body collides with another, and Bennett is gripping my shoulders. “Where’s your friend? Who’d you come with? Daisy? Briar?” he asks.
“Daisy. She’s fine,” I tell him. “She’s staying. I’m leaving.”
He shakes his head vehemently. “No. No way. You cannot go with him alone.”
“I’m a big girl,” I tell him. “But thank you for your sudden concern.”
“I know you think I’m a monster, but that guy is a pig, okay? He isn’t safe.”
I can’t stop from rolling my eyes. “Do you ever wonder how many people warn their friends to stay away from you?”
Bennett flinches, but I’m not done.
