Page 291 of Face Off

“I’m including the entire fucking room.” He looks at Ryan. “Stop trying to get my bride arrested.”

Briggs presses both palms against his face before immediately wincing and lowering the left one. “Can everyone stop acting like I got my ass kicked? It was one bottle.”

“One wine bottle thrown at your head,” Aura says. She catches his chin and turns his face toward the window. “Hold still.”

He obeys while she checks the medical tape.

“What happened?” I ask.

Briggs glances toward Temple. She pulls both sleeves over her hands. “Rider left me at the bonfire to meet somebody.”

“A friend of Bliss’s from the agency arrived late,” Rider explains. “I said hello, walked her back to the castle, and went upstairs.”

“Temple was still outside,” Briggs says.

“Everyone else was leaving and I told Cade I was hanging back to walk her to her room.”

“That is the entire scandal,” Temple adds. “He walked me down a hallway and waited until I opened my door. He didn’t enter my room, touch me, or make one inappropriate comment.”

“Which showed impressive restraint,” Briggs says weakly. “I had at least four available.”

Temple’s mouth moves despite the anger in her eyes. “You told me your decorative suit of armor looked like Easton before coffee.”

“It did.”

Easton folds his arms. “Continue the story.”

Briggs rubs one thumb over the side of his coffee mug. “I went back to my room. Lyric was waiting.”

“With a bottle,” Ryan says.

“She had been drinking from it.”

Aura lowers the antiseptic wipe. “That doesn’t improve anything.”

Briggs’s shoulders pull inward. “Somebody told her I left the bonfire with Temple. She started asking what happened between us.”

“Nothing happened,” Temple says.

“I told her that. I said I walked Temple to her room because Rider left, and I wasn’t letting her wander around a castle full of drunk strangers alone.”

Ryan’s jaw hardens. “You did exactly what any of us would’ve done.”

“I know.” Briggs takes a breath that shakes on the way out. “Lyric said I was trying to humiliate her after our fight. She accused me of flirting with Temple in front of everyone to punish her.”

Temple’s face tightens. “You barely spoke to me after Lyric left.”

“I reminded her about your dessert.”

“You stole it.”

“I was establishing shared history.”

“Briggs,” Cade says quietly.

The humor drains from his face. “She kept saying I wanted Temple because everyone thought we were alike.” His fingers tighten around the mug. “I told her Temple had nothing to do with us and that I was done talking until she was sober. I started toward the bathroom to get her water, and she threw the bottle.”

“At your back?” I ask.