My heart is hammering, and it feels like someone is squeezing the shit out of my lungs. I can’t seem to breathe deep enough. The very last thing I want to do is be in Nathaniel’s presence.Especiallywith Mateo. The images of him railing Nathaniel overmybed flood into my mind without my permission, and I have to swallow against the bile threatening to rise in my throat.
I need to get out of here. I consider making a run for it, just darting away, but it hits me that Mateo is still holding on to Nova’s leash. I can’t leave her here with them. So, instead, I blurt out the first question that comes to mind. “What the fuck are you doing here, Nathaniel?”
He doesn’t even live here. He lives in Pullman, in the house we boughttogether.I’ve never seen him randomly frolic around Desert Creek.Ever.
Nathaniel stands back up from petting Nova, gaze connecting with mine. His irises are a menacing shade of green that I used to think were sexy. Now all I can think about is how they’re ugly as shit compared to the mint green of Mateo’s.
What? No. I shouldn’t be thinking that.
“I’m in town for the car show,” he says plainly. His eyes drop to my neck at what can only be the hickeys, and I see the exact moment he spots them. Anger flares wickedly in his features as he lifts his gaze back up to my face before realizing I’m not alone.
It’s at this moment, I realize how close Mateo now is to me. He must’ve shifted closer at some point in the last minute since Nathaniel approached us. Our shoulders are brushing.
Nathaniel huffs out a laugh, but there’s nothing of humor in the sound. “What are you doing with him?” The question comes out cold.
I can feel the rage radiating off of Mateo. “That’s not for you to worry about, now is it,cabrón?”
My body is frozen in place as I drag my eyes from Mateo to Nathaniel at the same moment he glances back at me, then down to my neck, then back at Mateo, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. “It was you, wasn’t it?” He doesn’t bother clarifying; we all know what he’s referencing.
Mateo takes a step forward, stopping right in front of Nathaniel. The way his body is positioned, he’s acting almost as a shield to me. He’s taller than Nathaniel by at least a couple of inches. Looking down his nose at him, I can’t see his face, but I can hear the ice in his voice when he says, “Yeah, it was. What the fuck are you going to do about it?”
My eyes widen at that, glancing around the area to make sure nobody is watching. Palms slick with sweat, I wipe them on the front of my pants as my heart pounds, blood roaring in my ears.
“You fucking asshole,” Nathaniel grits out.
“I’m sure it was surprising hearing sounds like that coming out of Travis,” Mateo growls. “We all know you could never pull anything like that from him. But don’t worry, I know how to take care of him like you never could.”
I really should break this up before it gets nasty. Say something… anything. Or even just walk away. But I can’t. It’s like my body is frozen in place, my thoughts a complete blur. My chest aches with my lung’s inability to seem to work.
Nathaniel grunts, stepping up to Mateo, their chests fully touching now as they puff them out, glaring at each other. I have never seen Nathaniel get into a physical altercation with anybody in my life. He’s almost as non-confrontational as I am, and that’s saying something. But looking at him now, he’spissed.
“You got a lot of fucking nerve, asshole,” he spits out through gritted teeth.
“Okay, that’s enough,” I grunt, stepping around Mateo, and coming face to face with Nathaniel. Finally, it’s like time catches up with me, and my mind remembers how to work. “If anyone here’s got a lot of nerve, I’d say it’s you.”
Nathaniel blinks at me a few times. “Excuse me?”
Mateo grabs onto my arm, trying to pull me back behind him, but I shake him off. I need to do this. Need to say this.
Dragging in a deep breath, I square my shoulders, making sure to look Nathaniel in the eye. “What you did to me was fucked up, Nathaniel. I gave youeverything, I was always there for you. I forgave you more times than I can even count, even when you didn’t deserve it. You knew how much I wanted a future with you, and you led me to believe you did too. And instead of just being a fucking man, and being up front with me, you act like a fucking coward and bring someone intoourhouse, and let them screw you inourbed.”
My chest is heaving, my heart pounding so hard, I can’t even tell how cold I am. The adrenaline coursing through me gives me the courage to keep going.
“I deserved better than that. Better than you.” I point my finger in his direction. “When I caught you with Mateo, it fucking broke me. It made me question what was wrong with me, what I did to make you do that.” Huffing out a humorless laugh, I glance over at Mateo for a moment before continuing, eyes locked back on Nathaniel’s. “What you did isn’t a reflection on me. There’s nothing wrong with me, and everything wrong with you. So, yeah, you have a lot of nerve showing up in this park, acting like everything is okay.”
Nathaniel’s gaze bounces between Mateo and I for a moment, almost like he doesn’t know what to say. I expect him to argue or deflect, do his typical gaslighting bullshit he knows so well. Instead, he cocks his head and asks, “So, you what? Decided to hook up with him as payback?”
I want to say I’m surprised. That him painfully missing the mark of what I was saying is shocking. It isn’t. “Did you even hear what I said?” I ask, my voice cracking. I hate it.
Mateo shoves me out of the way again, and this time, I let him. Getting right in Nathaniel’s face, his eyes narrow as he bares his teeth to him. “It’s okay to be a little jealous,” he drawls, sounding as cocky as ever. “I probably would be too if I heard what you did. You know he moans so pretty for me, andmmm,he tastes so fucking goo—”
It happens so fast. Before Mateo can even finish his sentence, Nathaniel’s fist connects with Mateo’s jaw, his head jolted to the side as he stumbles into me. Bringing his hand up to his jaw, he rubs as he smiles wickedly at Nathaniel. The punch didn’t even faze him.
“Is that all you got,pendejo?” Mateo then grabs Nathaniel by his shirt with one hand, his fist colliding with Nathaniel’s nose, blood spurting out on impact. The sicklycrunchsound is unmistakable. My hand flies to my mouth as I gasp, stepping back.
Nathaniel drops to the ground like a bag of potatoes, Mateo wasting no time climbing over him and punching him again… and again.
Finally, after several hits, my brain decides to work again, as do my limbs. I grab onto Mateo’s shoulder, pulling him off of Nathaniel. It takes a few tries, as he’smuchstronger than me, but eventually, he stands up, moving back, his head twisting to meet my gaze. His eyes are flared with anger and there’s sweat glistening on his forehead.
