Page 78 of Burn

“You have one second to remove your hand from my fucking girl or I’m going to ruin this nice wedding,” he promises.

Aaron shifts, pushing himself up and leaning so close to me that I catch a hint of cigarettes on his skin, his hand casually runs up and over my shoulder, and I shudder: keeping my eyes on Adrian, using him as an anchor, a lighthouse in a storm.Aaron turns to him, and his tone is too nonchalant when he holds out his hand and says, “I’m Aaron, but I guess you already know that.” Adrian doesn’t budge. “Guess you don’t wanna shake the hand of your girls’ ex, huh?”

What the fuck?

I shake my head. The movement is slight, and I doubt either of them caught it. Adrian’s hand moves, reaching out and grasping Aaron’s.

What is happening?

I’m drowning in my fear and confusion when Adrian leans in and growls, “I’ll gladly shake your hand with the hand I make her shake with.”

There’s a beat of tense silence before Adrian smirks, and the muscles in his arm flex. I watch Aaron’s hand twist unnaturally under the pressure, and the color drains from his face as he hunches forward, trying to free himself. Adrian holds firm, and I barely make out the crunch of bone as Aaron lets out a choked gasp.

“What’s wrong, Aaron?” Adrian’s tone is menacing. “I thought you liked being touched?”

When Adrian finally releases Aaron, he pulls his hand into his chest, wrapping the other around it protectively. He gasps for air and stumbles back, slamming into the table and rattling the glasses.

Adrian leans toward him, and he flinches. A victorious snarl spreads across Adrian’s face. “Get gone.” Aaron doesn’t wait for a second command. He pushes away from the table, rushing across the room.

Adrian lowers himself into the seat next to me as I reach for my champagne with a trembling hand. He shakes his head.

“Thanks for bringing me. This has been a lovely evening.”

Blameless

Adrian

“It’s not what you think.”

Lex’s voice is tense, laced with desperation, and I can’t hear whatever she has to say about the exchange I walked into, so I cut her off before she can continue. “Save it. It’s fine.”

I continue to shovel bites of food into my mouth. It’s the last thing I want, but I need to keep my hands and mouth busy to keep myself from doing or saying something I’ll regret later.

“But —”

I spin to face her, and the look on my face stuns her into silence. I glare long enough to be sure she’s done, then return my focus to the plate before me.

It’s not her fault that I’m so on edge. Under normal circumstances, I would let this go. I think. Maybe. I didn’t come here thinking there wouldn’t be someone she’d been involved with in the past, but watching him brazenly touch her minutes after…

Fuck.

The food in my mouth is like cardboard, and I’m not sure if it’s actually bad or if I’ve lost the ability to taste anything other than bitter anger. I drop my fork, and the sound of it clattering onto the plate makes Lex jump beside me. My drink from earlier is empty, so I reach for her glass of wine and swallow it down, needing to clear my mouth of the bland, dry chicken that seems to have turned to dust in my mouth. It’s warm and acidic, too heavy on my tongue.

Jordan Fucking Ellis.

I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it took him speaking to me for it to click. I haven’t seen him in over a decade, but before the night of our fight, I saw him plenty, both on and off the ice. The scar I noticed earlier is one he wears as a direct result of my inability to keep my shit together.

And the way he smiled and shook my hand. Christ. It threw me. I’m pretty sure I still have a No Contact Order that requires me to stay one hundred feet away from him.

Do those have expiration dates?

He asked how I wound up here, and I pointed to Lex, about to explain, and saw her with that guy. Even from across the room, I could read her body language. I could see that she wasn’t happy to see the guy, but my pulse was lodged in my throat, and I couldn’t think straight.

I take a deep breath. The voice that comes out of my throat is raw. “This isn’t about you.”

It’s a lie. Sort of. It’s not entirely about her but seeing him touching her pushed me too far. It was too close to home after seeing the guy I nearly killed for touching my girl. Her attention flies to me, and I don’t need to look at her to see the surprise.

“Charlie’s cousin,” I say. “I figured out where I know him from. We have… a complicated history.” Her hand lands on my forearm, and I flinch away from the touch, still too consumed by adrenaline, and so ready for a fight. She pulls back quickly, and I chase her, grabbing her hand in mine and turning to look into her eyes. The discomfort is still clearly displayed all over her. “Just give me a minute to calm down. Okay?”