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She held out her hand to Skylar, her smile warm and accepting as conversation began filling back in around us.
Skylar attempted to portray happiness, but her face fell flat. “H-Hi.” Her voice shook, and I cursed Rhett in my head.
Haley introduced Wyatt and Garrett, but I couldn’t focus on their exchange as my mind lingered on Rhett’s single-worded rebuke and the fallout of his disdain.
I could understand his jealousy, but he’d gone too fucking far. To see and actually feel the woman I loved wanting to wilt inside herself and hide away because she didn’t measure up to his standards…his perfection, damn near choked the air from my lungs.
My stomach churned, and even though I hadn’t yet eaten, I expected I wouldn’t have long before emptying whatever liquids sloshed inside.
Squeezing Sky’s hand, I turned toward Haley. “Watch over my angel?” I managed to rasp out. God knew Rhett would do no such thing.
“Of course!” Haley wound her arm through Sky’s as though they were best friends, hanging onto her in a possessive hold that promised protection I could trust.
“I’ll be back in a few.” I kissed Skylar’s temple.
Without a glance at Rhett, I headed for the stairs on shaking legs, needing the privacy of our bedroom.
Closing the door behind me released the control I’d held over myself.
“Fucking hell!” My entire body thrummed with the need to punch a wall, but I couldn’t break my hand.
My churning stomach was more than enough to deal with. At least its contents stayed where they belonged while I paced, my pulse speeding and jaw aching from grinding my teeth.
I loved Rhett. Wholeheartedly, with every bit of my soul, but goddamn that man to hell and back again. Why couldn’t he grow the fuck up and own his emotions? He thought he was so strong in hiding his true feelings from the world, but naming them, accepting them, learning to deal with that shit every other human on the planet did would have taken even greater toughness than he thought he possessed.
“Fuck!” Shaking my head, I spun around to pace the other way.
The door pushed inward, and Rhett crossed the threshold, concern etching his brow.
I didn’t expect to hear an apology—but wouldn’t have accepted it anyway. Sky was the one he ought to have gone to, dropped to his knees, and begged forgiveness for being an absolute fucking ass, not me.
He opened his mouth, and I held up my shaking hand before he could say a word.
“Don’t.” I bit the word out, spun, and walked away, gathering my thoughts to lambast him.
I seethed, face hot and heart thumping. For the first time in our lives, disgust for my partner’s choices flamed through me.
“How could you?” I finally let loose, spinning to face him.
Rhett straightened, his gaze going cold.
“You had to realize how nervous Skylar was about meeting our friends tonight. You know her insecurities about her inability to control herself sometimes and yet you have the balls to criticize her in front of our guests?”
“She was making a spectacle of herself.”
“Since when do you give a fuck about what other people think, huh?” I shouted. “How many times have you stated you could easily survive without the social circle we’ve surrounded ourselves with? Let’s be honest here…unless you’re balls deep in Skylar’s ass, Rhett, you act like you can’t stand her! Fuck…after that goddamn fucking word, she’s damn well aware of it too!”
Rhett’s jaw ticked, but he didn’t argue.
“You’re the one who changed our profile,” I reminded him, my voice wavering, hands fisted at my sides, “so you have no right to climb aboard a high horse like the rest of those rich snobs downstairs. You have no excuse for your rude behavior to a woman who isn’t the angel you’d have preferred.”
I took a quick breath, but Rhett didn’t bother trying to inject in my tirade.
“If you knew you weren’t mature enough to deal with the petty feelings you would have for a woman of my choice, then you shouldn’t have made that change!”
My stomach heaved—and I bolted toward the bathroom, barely falling onto my knees before emptying my stomach of wine and bile.
I gagged and coughed, the harsh heaves causing tears to spill down my cheeks.