Page 100 of Shots & Echoes

A slow, simmering rage settled in my bones. I wasn’t about to stand here and watch this shit play out.

I moved before I even thought about it, stepping into their space like I owned it. Because Idid.

“Evans.” Her name came out low, sharp. A command. A claim.

She turned fast like she wasn’t expecting me to be there—like she hadn’t already felt me watching.

“You’re with me.” My voice was quiet but lethal, cutting through whatever bullshit Chris was selling.

I wasn’t asking.

The words sliced through the air like a blade.

Chris blinked, taken off guard, but the surprise vanished almost instantly, replaced by that smug fucking smirk of his. He thought this was a game. That he had some kind of shot. That I didn’tmeanwhat I said.

Iris sucked in a sharp breath, her body tensing just enough for me to notice. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out. She was waiting—processing—feelingthe weight of what had just shifted between us.

I could see it in her eyes.

She knew she belonged with me.

Chris, the cocky little shit, had the audacity to chuckle. “Didn’t realize we were making teams, Callahan.” His tone was light, but I could hear the challenge beneath it. Testing me.Fucking testing me.

My jaw tightened, fingers twitching at my sides. I wasn’t in the mood for this. I wasn’t in the mood forhim.

I didn’t even look at him when I spoke. My eyes were locked on her. “You’re with me,” I said again, voice low, rough, absolute.

A statement. A claim. A fuckingfact.

Her breath hitched, barely noticeable, but I caught it. And that single, involuntary reaction? It sent a vicious, satisfied thrill tearing through me.

Chris might not have known it yet.Shemight not have admitted it yet.

But she was already mine.

Iris blinked, surprise flickering across her face, but she didn’t hesitate. She never did. When I called, she came.

Without a word, I led her toward the bench, putting enough distance between us and Langley so he couldwatchbut nothear. Let him fucking wonder. Let him know he didn’t belong in this conversation—didn’t belongnear her.

In the shadow of the rink, I turned, closing the space between us. My voice dropped, low and edged with something dark. “You think I don’t see him trying to put his hands on you?”

Her body tensed, shoulders squaring like she was ready for a fight, but her eyes—those sharp, electric eyes—darkened with something else. Something that made my blood burn.

“What’s it matter to you?” she shot back, voice laced with fire. A challenge.

I stepped in, close enough to feel the heat coming off her skin, to make sure she felt me. “It matters because you’re mine.”

The words landed between us like a match striking dry wood, igniting the air, thickening it. Her lips parted slightly, her breath coming faster, but she didn’t deny it. She didn’t step back.

Sheknew.

Every time she let me push her, every time she held my gaze like this—unflinching, breathless—she fuckingknew.

She could pretend all she wanted with Langley, keep up the act, smile at him like he had a chance. But here, in this moment?It was just us. The world outside blurred into nothing, drowned by the pulse pounding between us, the silent war neither of us wanted to end.

I leaned in, slow and deliberate, my breath ghosting against her cheek. “Don’t think for a second I won’t protect what’s mine.”

She swallowed, the faintest hitch in her breath betraying her, but she didn’t move away. No retreat. No surrender.