“You stay here,” Hutch demands. Spinning on his heel he takes quick strides out of the room and I hear the door open, followed by a very familiar, very angry voice.
I poke my head into the hall, but I can’t see anything. Hutch hasn’t let our visitor inside yet. I debate on staying there and hiding or going out and stabbing my ex. Anger rises up in me as I think about everything I lost—all the years of friendship burned down by betrayal, the years of giving myself wholly to a man who was unfaithful, and let’s not forget, my fucking self-respect. I put up with his shit for too long. Now that I’m free of him, I’m kicking my own ass for letting it go on so long.
I blame him for that, too.
He made me doubt myself. Made me feel like I wasn’t good enough. That I couldn’t do better than him. Well, fuck him. Rage burning through my blood, I storm into the living room.
Seeing Shane standing beside Hutch has me stopping in my steps. How could I ever have thought Shane was the one for me? He can’t even hold a candle to Hutch.
Everything about Hutch screams man. His wide shoulders and chest that tapers into a trim waist. And don’t even get me started on those muscles. The deep cut of each slab is defined in the most delicious way. If my ex wasn’t standing two feet away, face red as he yells at a very scarily calm Hutch, I would climb him like a tree.
“You need to crawl back into your car and drive the fuck away.” Hutch’s tone is relaxed, but I can see the twitch of his jaw and the flex of muscles that indicate he is anything but.
Shane, oblivious to what’s brewing beneath the surface, levels a glare at Hutch. “You better let me in there, my fiancée is in that house and I’m not leaving here without her.”
Hutch growls—literally growls at Shane—as he takes a threatening step forward, his calm demeanor cracking. Before things can escalate between them, I walk further into the room.
“There you are, baby. Tell this ogre to let me in,” Shane addresses me as if nothing bad has happened between us. Every one of his words grates on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.
Hutch scowls at Shane when he calls me baby, but a gentle hand on his arm has him relaxing minutely. He looks down at me, quirking an eyebrow, asking me silently how I want to proceed. I smile sweetly at him, loving that he’s letting me call the shots, even though I can tell he wants to pummel him.
Shane’s gaze narrows in on my hand resting familiarly on Hutch’s arm. A look of confusion, followed by one of anger, flashes on his face. He meets my eyes and says the single most stupid thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.
“You slut! I can’t believe you would cheat on me after everything I’ve done for you.” Spittle flies from his mouth as he screams at me.
“Oh no, you did not just call me a slut,” I scream back, launching myself at him. I pull my fist back, punching him square in the nose. The instantaneous blood flow is almost as satisfying as the crunch of broken bone. I’m reeling back to hit him again when Hutch grabs me around the waist and pulls me back, kicking and screaming.
“You motherfucking, cum guzzling, bag of ball sweat!” I yell to his crouched figure, blood dripping through his fingers as he holds his broken nose. “Hutch, you put me down right now. I’m going to bury this douche drinking shit stain.”
“Calm down, Hellcat. I think you’ve gotten your point across.”
“I am calm. I’m Mother-fucking-Theresa with how fucking calm I am.”
Hutch chuckles, but doesn’t let me loose. “I can see that, but how about we not kill the pathetic little man-child? I can think of a lot more interesting ways for you to work out your aggression.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively and my pussy clenches, completely on board with that option.
“Fine, but I’m going to pout because he really does deserve worse than a broken nose.”
“You’re right, he does, but the fact that he’s lost you is a pretty severe punishment.” He brushes his lips over mine and I instantly melt. “Let me take out the trash and we’ll see about all that pent up aggression.”
“Time to go, asshole. There’s nothing here for you.”
Shane looks at me beseechingly. “Blakey, I forgive you, just come home and we’ll put this whole mess behind us.”
“Hutch is right, Shane. There’s nothing here for you. Go home. I’ll send one of my brothers to get my things.”
“But…” Shane starts to say something else, but Hutch doesn’t let him. He grabs him by the back of his shirt, then unceremoniously drags him across the porch and down to his car. He pushes Shane into the car and slams the door. Hutch doesn’t move until Shane’s car is nothing but taillights in the distance. As soon as they fade away, he’s crossed the short distance between us and has me wrapped in his strong arms.