Page 219 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

And then another voice cuts through all of it. “What the hell is going on?”

I know that voice instantly.

Max.

I turn.

He’s striding in through the front doors, hair a mess like he drove here fast, expression thunderous... until he takes in the scene and everything changes. Me. Wayne. Fletcher. Rex. Tiffany in their grip, half feral. Mrs. Kline. Denise sobbing behind the desk. Cleaning supplies scattered across the floor.

For one absurd second, he just looks stunned.

“What happened?” he demands. “Tiffany, is this why you texted me? You said it was an emergency.”

Tiffany twists toward him. “Max!”

And then I see it in his face.

Not love.

Not even concern.

Just exhaustion.

Like he’s so profoundly tired of her that it’s eating through the last of whatever excuse he had for letting things go so far.

He stares at her. At the scene. At me.

His whole face changes. “Shit.”

Tiffany jerks harder against Rex’s hold. “Tell her, Max. Tell her she needs to leave. That she’s crazy for turning up here again when you don’t want her anymore. She’s lying…”

I make a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cough. “Lying? You just admitted everything!”

“I admitted nothing,” she screams. “You twisted it!”

Max looks at her as if he no longer recognizes her.

Then, slowly, he looks at me again.

A shadow passes across his face, surprising me.

Shame.

Actual shame.

He drags a hand over his mouth. “June…”

I stiffen automatically at the sound of my name on his lips.

My body does it before my brain can think. Fletcher feels it and shifts half a step closer to me, creating a wall of quiet, solid heat at my side. Wayne hasn’t moved from in front of me. Rex still has Tiffany restrained, his expression flat with focus.

Max notices all of it.

He notices Wayne’s hand still curled like he wishes it were around a throat. He notices Fletcher at my shoulder, and the way that none of them look remotely inclined to let him near me.

And maybe he sees exactly what it looks like when I’m protected by people who aren’t trying to own me.

Tiffany is still trying to pull herself free. “Max, say something!”