“I can see why you two work,” I call after him. “She’s as much of a psycho as you are.”
He nods, proud. “I know. Isn’t it great?”
When I get back to the table, Reese is giggling and grabbing Ramsey’s hand, pulling him toward the stage. He yanks her back and throws her over his shoulder like it’s the easiest thing in the world, making her squeal as he marches her up to pick a song.
I watch Justin watch them. He doesn’t look pleased. Not unhinged like the guys and I would be. He’s not ready to throw punches. But he looks embarrassed. Like he knows he just got shown up and wants to punish someone for it. I suspect that someone is going to be Reese.
He turns to me. “What do you know about their relationship? She says he’s her best friend, but?—”
Tristan cuts in, his voice sharp and cold. “If you were with her, you’d know what she was doing and who was around her. Wouldn’t you?”
Justin opens his mouth to respond, but Winter speaks instead. Her voice is sweet when she says, “He’s literally snuffed the life out of someone for touching me. I don’t think you wanna debate him on this one.”
The song Ramsey and Reese picked starts and I instantly recognize it as “Him and I” by Halsey & G-Eazy.
Lilac, sensing the rising tension, turns to me with a teasing smile. “Know any more songs, cowboy?”
I throw my head back and laugh hard. God, I love her.
We miss most of Ramsey and Reese’s performance because two girls from Lilac’s skating team walk up to greet us. They’re with Danny and he doesn’t even have to say anything for me to be annoyed. I wrap my arm around Lilac protectively. Danny glances at Lilac and says, "Are you seriously going to let that guy control you?"
Lilac straightens, voice firm. "That guy is my fiancé. And it’s not control, it’s protection. He has my best interest at heart. Allof our teammates are showing up dead. And someone is stalking me. I’d think you’d understand."
My hand is already on her thigh, but my fingers tighten, flexing against her skin. I want to snap this guy’s neck. I’d stomp him out right here in the middle of the bar if I thought Lilac would be on board. But I don’t.
Because she’s handling it.
Because her family and the town we grew up in have spent years trying to silence her, and she’s finally using her voice.
So I keep my rage on a leash.
But if he says one more word, I won’t.
I’m not fucking playing when it comes to my girl.
When Danny and his little sidekicks finally walk away, Lilac turns to me and says, “You did really well. I thought you were going to throw a table.”
I smirk. “We can only have one furniture thrower in the group, and Hayden’s already claimed that title.” Just as the words leave my mouth, Ramsey and Reese return to the table. Justin overcompensates, wrapping his arm around Reese and pulling her to sit next to him in much the same manner Tristan did with Winter. The difference is that Reese doesn’t melt into Justin the way Winter does with Tristan.
We both look over. Madi is leaning across the table to chat with a girl sitting at a nearby table.
And Hayden? He’s posted up beside her, glowering at the guys at the same table like he’s mentally measuring how far he can toss each one.
“He’s such a sourpuss,” Lilac laughs.
Reese overhears and chimes in. “There are actual rumors about him at my school. Did he really throw a teacher’s desk out a fourth-story window because he got a bad grade?”
I snicker. If they knew even half of what me, Hayden, and Tristan have done, no one would believe it.
“Nah,” I say. “He only flips out over Mads.”
Hayden hears, and his reaction is instantaneous. He chucks his empty cup at my head. “Don’t fucking give my girl a nickname.”
Everyone laughs.
Reese grins. “You could give Lilac a nickname to get him back.”
I glare at her. “We won’t be doing that.”
