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I felt nothing but fury simmering under my skin. “I get it, all right.”
Tonight I was grateful for my height. It made reaching Jack’s 6’5” frame that much easier.
I positioned myself, brought my weight to the balls of my feet, and relaxed enough for my knees to have a soft bend. He never would’ve looked away for the second he did if he knew what I was planning.
“Fuck you, Jack.” My fist slammed into his jaw. I wasn’t looking for any permanent damage. I just wanted him to know I was pissed at him.
The poor bastard didn’t know what hit him. Literally.
His howl of laughter and pain followed me into the room.
“Asshole,” I muttered under my breath the second I saw the other occupant in the room.
Killian lay in the middle of a bed. Judd, who had a startled look on his face, by his side. “Yes, that was directed at all of you.”
“Dude, don’t let her get too close,” Jack warned them while rubbing his jaw, making sure to keep his distance. “She’s got a mean right hook.”
Killian’s eyes fluttered open. He squinted at the light filtering into the room from the window. “Tink?”
My hand flew to my lips to stifle the sob building in my throat as I drank in the sight of him, alive and conscious, despite the bandages and the sickly pallor of his skin. Those few seconds stretched into an eternity, where nothing existed but the miraculous sound of him speaking my name, and the overwhelming gratitude that threatened to shatter me into a thousand pieces. I blinked rapidly against the hot tears that blurred my vision, my heart hammering so loud everyone in the room must have been able to hear it.
I wanted to be the person who ran to his side, crying prettily, telling him he was so stupid for putting himself at risk. Instead, the volcano of anger erupted.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
KILLIAN
“What the actual fuck, Killian?” Tris demanded, storming toward me. Her blonde hair whipped around her shoulders and her eyes flashed like a warrior ready for battle. “Do you have a death wish?”
I straightened up in the bed, and groaned as nausea rolled through me.Fucking concussion. My hand went to my throbbing head. “Tink?—”
My chest clenched at the sight of her. Even furious, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her fear, poorly masked by her fury, had me reaching for her even though she wasn’t close enough to touch. A familiar ache bloomed inside me—the one that had been there since I first began to fall in love with her—knowing I couldn’t have her.
I was a fucking idiot.
“No, do not,Tinkme. What is wrong with you?” She threw her hands out in frustration. “We have one disagreement.One,Killian.” She held up her pointer finger, the tremble in her hand betraying her. “And you revert to self-destruct mode and nearly get yourself killed!”
Bile gurgled up into my throat at the reminder. “Peter?—”
Her lips pursed together, lines of anger formed around her eyes, and her brow furrowed. “Has nothing to do with this, or with me and you. What do you not get about him being myfriend?I had to go with him. He’s my boss, you dumbass. Not because Ichosehim. Although, right now, I’m seriously reconsidering that.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
She hadn’t chosen Peter.
And I was a fucking asshole putting her in the middle and asking her to pick a side.
Shame washed over me, hot and suffocating. My wrist throbbed, reminding me of the price I’d paid for going back on my word. How could I have doubted her? Trissabelle, my Tink, had always been loyal to a fault. Of course, she’d fulfill her obligations. It was one of the things I loved most about her—her big heart, with its capacity to care for others even when they didn’t deserve it.
And here I was, acting like a jealous prick, risking everything we had started to build. The truth slammed into me with brutal clarity: Peter would always be in our lives if we were together. I didn’t have to like it, but I had to accept it to some degree. The alternative—life without Tris—wasn’t an option I could survive.
“And don’t think I’m done withyou,Judd.” Her furious gaze swung to him. His large frame casually leaned against the bed. “How could you pull him into that mess again?”
Judd raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll just … go get some coffee,” he muttered, making a hasty retreat.
As the door closed behind him, Tris turned back to me, eyes blazing. God, she was stunning when she was angry—all fire and strength.
“Tris, I’m sorry,” I said, my voice hoarse. “It was stupid of me to agree to help.” And it was. I recognized that now more than ever.