Page 16 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

The driver opened my door, and I got out, still very confused. A team name and logo were plastered across the side of the white bus.

“What the fuck does it say about our family that we came to the same conclusion?”

I gave the driver a nice tip when he rolled my suitcase over before driving off. Naji was outside, leaning against the wall and smirking at me. Fuck.

“Nothing good. Did you ask him about it?”

“What’s the point? He’ll just deny it.”

That was true. “So, what did you do?”

“I handled it,” Nathaniel said, diving into the finer details of moving everything around.

“Is everything okay,” I mouthed to Naji.

He opened the door and pointed toward the den, laughing the whole time. Now I was really confused. Nathaniel kept talking as I walked through my house.

“Let me get this straight. You took your four-year-old son to a strip club. No wonder Savannah almost killed you,” I said, smiling as I rounded the corner and stopped in my tracks.

My den had been turned into a jock convention.

Everywhere I looked, from the floor to my pool table, I found shirtless boys passed out.

One guy was wearing only his underwear and a football helmet.

Empty bottles of alcohol littered the room.

My vision blurred. The rage and jealousy brewing inside of me was a deadly combination.

“Nathaniel, I have to go. I’ll call you back,” I said, hitting End before he could ask what was wrong.

Music was playing from somewhere in the house, but I ignored it to slip through the narrow path between bodies toward the patio.

Stepping outside, I growled at the sight before me.

The recliners had been pushed together to form a makeshift bed.

Fawn was asleep next to Steph, but the guy on the other side of Steph had his arm wrapped around both girls.

I was going to break every single one of his fucking fingers.

My hands balled into fists, and my blood boiled as I marched around the pool toward Fawn. I couldn’t contain my rage anymore and didn’t give a fuck if the guy was drunk or dead. Grabbing his hand and ankle, I heaved him into the pool. He woke up just before he hit the water and screamed.

“What the fuck, man,” the asshole said as he resurfaced.

Fawn sat up and looked around. At any other time, I would’ve found her confused expression adorable. She glanced at the asshole in the pool before her eyes slowly focused on my face.

“Oh my god, Titus, I’m so sorry. Everything was going to be cleaned up before you got home.”

She scrambled off the chair and grabbed her phone, which woke Steph up.

“Just five more minutes. I shouldn’t have had that last drink. My head is pounding,” Steph said.

“Steph, get up right now,” Fawn ordered.

“Why are you being such a—” The words died in Steph’s throat when she opened her eyes and spotted me. “Oh shit.”

“Oh shit is right,” I snarled at Steph, who impressively managed to get to her feet like she was spring-loaded. “Get them out of my house and clean up this mess. Then, call the housekeeper for a deep clean. I want every surface shampooed and sterilized.”

I needed to get away from Fawn before I did or said something I would regret. Marching for the back door, I made it into the den before the asshole I threw in the pool got out and approached me.

Bad fucking move.

“Do you know who the fuck I am,” he asked.

This idiot was lucky I wasn’t armed. I turned and stared him down.

“I don’t give a fuck who you are. Do you know whose fucking house this is?” I growled, trying and failing to keep my cool.

Asshole looked at Steph and then Fawn before locking eyes with me once more.

“Yeah, that’s right, asshole. This is my home, and unless you and your team want to leave here in handcuffs or body bags, I suggest you get the fuck out!”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Call it whatever you want. It’s the truth. You have ten minutes before I make the decision. Get the fuck out or see what happens.”

The other jocks were in various stages of alertness as I pushed through the crowd and stomped toward my bedroom. Muttering under my breath, I tried to get control of the raging green beast in my chest, but all I wanted to do was put my fist through a wall.

Fawn touched my arm just as I got to my bedroom.

“Titus?”

My fury overrode all common sense as I spun around, grabbed her by the arms, and pushed her up against the door.

Fawn whimpered and cringed like I was going to hit her.

I immediately let go. My chest was heaving, and our eyes locked.

She was driving me completely insane. I’d never lost control before, not like this.

“I’m sorry. I promise we didn’t go anywhere other than the den and the pool. They brought all their own alcohol, and…shit…I should’ve asked you first.”

“Who the hell are they?”

“Steph got a job as the head social media marketer for the football team. We’ve gone out with them before.

We were here, eating pizza, and Steph suggested…

.” Fawn hung her head and then looked up at me, resigned.

“I’m sorry, there is no excuse. You weren’t going to be home for a few more days, and I didn’t think it would hurt.

I shouldn’t have said yes unless you were okay with it. This isn’t my home,” she said.

Just like that, Fawn stabbed me in the heart. All the toxic anger that had been swirling around deflated like a popped balloon.

“No, that’s not true.”

Cupping her cheek, I ran my thumb over her soft skin. God help me. I wanted her. I wanted the headlines to be about us getting married, not me and Vera.

“This is your home. You’ve always treated it with respect. I’m tired, and I overreacted.”

She stepped in dangerously close to me. My muscles trembled as she placed her hand over my heart.

“I’d never hit you,” I said, my voice ragged as she wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head on my chest.

Caving to my desire, I held her. She had become a woman overnight. The sweetest temptress the world had ever seen. Her big green eyes captivated me, her kind soul spoke to me, and my heart beat only for her. God help me.

My bed was only a few feet away. I battled back all the feelings pushing me to drag her into the room, lock the door, and to hell with the consequences. Luckily, Fawn stepped back before I lost my senses completely.

“I better go start cleaning,” she said and slipped away before I could stop her. I remained locked in place as I watched her walk away. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “I hope you had a nice trip. The pictures were beautiful.”

An ice bucket dumped over my head would have been kinder.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.