Page 18 of The Ring
“A little bit,” I tell him, holding my thumb and index finger close together to show a small amount.
“More like a lot,” Nate shakes his head before turning to the bartender to order me a sparkling water.
I pout. “You’re no fun.”
“You will thank me tomorrow.”
“I highly doubt it.”
He smirks. “We’ll see.”
The bartender hands him the sparkling water, and hemakes me take a few sips. I make a face of disgust at him. I’ve never liked sparkling water—I find it like a soda without the good part.
“Are you having fun?” I ask him as I look around the red… everything. The walls. The lights. The booths. And the people talking and dancing.
“Not as much as you.”
True, he looks a little tipsy, but that tends to be the standard for the boys when they go out. Except for Lucian and him, which is weird.
I put the water down on the bar counter, and while doing so, I lose my balance.
Me + alcohol = bad coordination, but luckily, Nate catches me.
We both laugh as he helps me regain my balance. Nate carefully tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, and I look up into his brown eyes. His hand lingers on my cheek, warm and steady, before he leans in and kisses me. I kiss him back slowly, the taste achingly familiar. I shouldn’t—but this is better than alcohol for forgetting your problems. For a few seconds, my mind goes quiet. It feels so good. Then, suddenly, someone yanks him off me.
Fuck.I didn’t need to look to know who it was.
“What the hell are you doing?” TJ shouts at Nate, his voice cutting through the music and drawing people’s attention.
This will not end well. TJ is drunk. I don’t know how he got drunk so quickly because when I went to the bar, he was pretty sober.
“What does it look like?” Nate responds, unmoved.
TJ shoves him hard, his nostrils flaring. “Get yourfucking hands,” he points at me, “away from her.”
“Or what?”
“She’s mine!” TJ growls, lunging. His fist connects with Nate’s jaw with a sharp crack.
Nate reels back, ready to hit back, but West and Lucian throw themselves between them, while Laurie and Annabelle make their way to me.
West grips TJ, trying to pull him back, and Lucian is doing the same with Nate.
I look around. Hundreds of eyes are on us. Drinks freeze mid-air. A few phones are out, recording the fight, despite the club’s rules.Fantastic.
“You’ve lost the plot, mate! She isn’t yours anymore—you lost any claim to her the moment you slept with her mother!” Nate yells, and I hear several gasps. In the shock of the moment, Lucian loses his grip on Nate, and Nate lunges, swinging a punch at TJ. “Youdisgustme! She deserves better!”
Quickly, Lucian regains his hold on Nate, yanking him back before the fist lands.
I—I want to cry, but I force my tears back. Of all the ways I’d imagined this coming out, this is worse than anything I imagine.
“Who, you?” TJ mocks.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Nate shoots back, his lips curling with satisfaction. He may not have landed the hit, but he’s landed another one, and it hits harder than the punch ever could.
It takes TJ a second, but he eventually understands what Nate was implying. He looks at me for the first time since the fight began, in a way he never had before. Not with love or anger or even disappointment. Just something hollow and cold. It’s not the way you want anyone to ever look at you.
Was… was this the way I looked at him when I found out he had sex with my mother?
