“Stella thinks I’m hot?”
“If you’re the Wes she talks about, then, yes, I assume so.”
“Man, she’s so fucking hot.” That bothers me a bit. Funny, I usually don’t care. I mean, Stella is beautiful and so is Emery, but in all reality, no bad dude would survive with either of them. No guy has ever spoken about my sisters. Wes nods, this shit-eating grin on his face, but then it vanishes. “Aiden told me to stay clear.”
“Eh, I’m not surprised. But I know Stella. She’ll do what she wants.”
He strokes his jaw as he sets down his phone. “I’m not a relationship kind of person, so I wouldn’t be good for her.”
I shrug. “Ah, okay.”
“Is that Ally girl really dating a dude name Taco?”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, apparently.”
“So, she’s one of those serious relationship types? No hookups?”
I blink. “I don’t know. It changes. Right now, he’s a hookup but almost a potential relationship.” Why does it make me gag saying that? Wes nods, and I ask, “Why do you ask?”
“She’s hot. Thought I would see if she was interested.”
Why am I squinting and wishing this guy to the place where Shelli’s Wedding Book from Hell belongs? “But you just said you don’t want a relationship.”
“I don’t. It’s not my thing,” he says with a grin, and I try to ignore the need to tell him to stay the fuck away from Ally. Maybe I can scare him?
“A lot of dudes say that, and the right girl comes along—and bam!”
“Bam?”
“Bang? Boom? I mean, it’s your choice on the sound it makes when your jaw hits the ground and you’ve been smacked by the love stick.”
He blinks. “You know, Aiden said you were a dorky dude.”
Yup, I’m not a fan of this guy. “Well, this was fun,” I say dryly just as Aiden comes back in the room. I check my phone. “Dude, you ready?”
“Yeah, let me tell Shelli.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Wes tries, and I grin at him.
“No worries, but stay away from my sister.” His eyes widen. I don’t know why it bothers me that he called me dorky. Everyone does. But this dude, he doesn’t even know me. “And Ally.”
“I thought you two weren’t together,” he protests, holding his palms up at me.
I tower over him as I grab my phone. “Doesn’t matter. Stay away, or we’ll have words.”
Did I just threaten a dude for Stella and Ally? What the hell is wrong with me?
He smirks. “We’ll have words?”
Before I can tell him I’ll kick his pretty-boy face in, Aiden comes back into the room. “Ready?”
I give Wes one last look. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Wes laughs. “Dude, your brother threatened me!”
Aiden looks over his shoulder and laughs. “Probably deserved it.”
He did, but as we head out, Aiden asks, “What did he do?”
“He doesn’t want a relationship, but he wants to sleep with Stella and Ally.”
“At the same time?”
I whip my head to him in horror. “Ah, no!”
He grins at me. “Oh well, I bet you didn’t get mad until he said something about Ally.”
I don’t answer that; I just pull out my car keys and then pat my other pocket to make sure the gym key is in there. It’s not. Shit. “Where did I put that key to the gym?” I look through the car, in my cupholder, and it’s not here. “Shit.”
“Did you leave it at your condo?”
Then it hits me. I gave it to Ally to hold for me. “Fuck no, Ally has it. Get in. We gotta catch her before she goes to the movies with NachoFuck.”
Aiden snorts. “NachoFuck. It’s like Not Your Fuck.”
I give him a dry look. “And people call me a dork.”
He grins as he pulls up the navigation. “You’ll need to go through the neighborhoods. There is a wreck on the interstate.”
“Ooh, hopefully that delayed her.”
As I ride, I chew the inside of my cheek. Something is stirring inside me, and I need to get it out. I don’t do well with dwelling. “I can talk to you about anything, right?”
I feel his gaze on my face. “Yes. It’s the truth—this car makes you look like a douche. You should have gotten a truck.”
For fuck’s sake. “Aiden,” I warn, and he laughs.
“Yeah, of course. What’s up?”
I bite my lip, pulling in a breath through my nose. “I’ve always found Ally to be gorgeous.”
“She is.”
“And I’ve always had a little bit of a crush on her.”
“Yeah, I see that.”
“But lately, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m home and she’s in my face, but it’s been stronger than usual.”
“Sure, that makes sense.”
I look over at him. “It does?”
“Yeah,” he says with a shrug. “When you’re around someone you’ve always been attracted to, it’s hard to ignore. I see the way y’all are together, and I know you’ve been fighting it, for obvious reasons. You guys are great friends. But what if you can be more than friends, and your relationship be even greater?”
I slowly nod. “I know her, and I don’t think she feels the same.”
He exhales. “Okay, that could pose a problem.”
“So, I should just keep it moving, right? Like, no sense in messing up a good friendship?”
He doesn’t answer me right away. “I think you need to decide if your friendship with her is enough, or could the possibility that your forever has been right beside you all these years urge you to see what happens.” I swallow hard. “Either way, you can’t go wrong. Take a risk or stay complacent.”
“What would you do?” I find myself asking, and he grins.
“I’m marrying the girl who has loved me her whole life. I wasn’t with her on that because she was always Shea and Elli’s little girl to me. But then she made it really hard to resist her. And when I fell, I fell hard. I risked my career and relationships with our extended family because I realized she was right and she was the one for me. But the thing is, Ash, we’re two different dudes. I love the thrill of fighting for what I want. You like everything planned out for you and easy, which is why you ignored for so long that your fiancée was a lesbian.”
“I didn’t know,” I try, but he shakes his head.
“You knew, but she was low drama. And with Ally, she’s that constant comfortable person. No matter what, she has your back. And why would you risk that for a relationship that could end?” I meet his gaze, and he gives me a knowing look. “The thing is, I know you. You’ll wait to see if she makes a move, and if she doesn’t, you’ll continue wondering if she could possibly be the one.”
His words scare the shit out of me because they’re so true. As I pull onto campus, I don’t answer him. I need to analyze this a bit before I am able to put into words what I am feeling, how his words affect me, and what the hell I want to do.
When we get to Ally’s dorm building, I’m glad to see her car parked in her spot. But what I don’t expect to see is Ally screaming at Taco, her own face clearly red even in the dark and her eyes wild.
“Holy hell, is that the NachoFuck guy?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Ally is about to kick his ass.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I say as I pull to the curb, not even worried about parking in a space.
I throw my door open just as Taco yells, “Get the fuck out of my face! You ain’t shit.”
“Who the hell is he talking to?” Aiden asks, getting out before me. “I know he isn’t talking to Ally like that.”
Heat burns my skin as I get out of the car. I know what Ally is about to do before she does it. Her palms come up, slamming into his chest, and he falls to the ground. I would cheer her on, but this can’t be good. Not with the way he is looking at her. He gets up quickly since a crowd has gathered. I push through them, Aiden behind me, just in time to see that motherfucking asshole grab Ally by the neck.
My whole body goes taut, I am stunned to silence, and I don’t even hear Aiden yell. I know what is happening. I see it. I see everyone around me, but something isn’t clicking. Did this dude just grab Ally by the neck? It’s like I have tunnel vision, and Taco is at the end of it. If I were Darth Vader, I would choke this bitch-ass dick with the Force. Unfortunately, I’m not, so I do the next best thing.
I slam my fist into his jaw.
I’ve never been in a fight. I’ve only ever wrestled with Aiden, but I know if I were to look at him, Aiden would be proud to see Taco lying on the ground. To my surprise, though, Taco bounces up like one of those inflatable boxing toys and squares up. He wipes his mouth, a few drops of blood dripping down his jaw as his eyes narrow to slits. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for a while to kick your ass.”
“Same here, you bitch.”
He scoffs and lunges at me, catching my chin. I hear my name, but I’m in the zone. I refuse to allow this dude to think he can lay hands on Ally. I throw a punch that he dodges, but I still hit the side of his neck. I throw my left first and get him square in the middle of his throat. He gasps for breath and backs off a bit. His eyes are on fire, but I know mine match. He flings his body at me fully and knocks me back into the grass, landing on top of me. It knocks the air out of me, and then he punches me in the eye.