Page 25

KEENE

“T he fuck , man?” Parker demanded, glaring at me with more anger than his usual amount, which was saying a lot.

My mouth opened, and I gaped at him before wheezing, “Where the hell did you come from?” And I’m honestly surprised I got that much out, what with his forearm lodged against my windpipe.

“I was in the living room, talking to Archer,” he answered calmly before bumping me back into the refrigerator threateningly. “Now why did you have your fucking hands on my girl?”

“I was just?—”

“Wrong answer.” He pressed harder against my neck, cutting off my words with a choke. Leaning close, he hissed, “You don’t touch her. Ever.”

I lifted my hands in surrender and mouthed the word, “Okay,” because I definitely didn’t have enough air to actually verbalize it.

But Parker only narrowed his eyes as if my response was more offensive than reassuring. I kept eye contact with him the whole time, sure this was it. I was going to die, here and now.

Until Hope appeared at his side, touching his arm gently. “Parker, honey,” she said, speaking in a calm, even voice to cool him down. “He can’t breathe.”

“Good,” he growled, talking to her but still looking at me. “Maybe that’ll teach him to never fucking attack you again.”

“He didn’t attack me.” Hope rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath for a moment before adding, “I mean, not really. I knew he wouldn’t actually hurt me. It’s Keene , Grumpy. Seriously.”

Parker finally turned his head to look at her directly. “Then why were you screaming to Alec for help when I walked in the fucking door?”

Hope heaved out an impatient breath. “Because I accidentally admitted I knew who his mystery girl was last night, and he was just trying to get her name out of me.”

He whirled back to pin me with a glare. “This is about that ?”

“Yes,” Hope answered for me. “Now, let him go. His face is turning purple.”

For a moment, Parker refused to budge. Then he lifted a finger at my face in warning. “If you ever put your hands on her again, I will hurt you, and I will like it. Got me?”

I bobbed my head and sent him a thumbs-up. He shoved me back one last time into the refrigerator, making me bump the back of my head before he stepped away, giving me air and enough space to bend over and rest my hands on my knees, coughing for more oxygen.

As Parker tugged Hope protectively to his side, Alec finally came forward to stand next to his sister, his gaze darting worriedly between me, Hope, and Parker, as if he wasn’t sure how to proceed from there. Xander peeked out from behind him to check on me, her eyes wide with worry.

I cleared my throat a couple more times as I straightened into a stand and stroked my hands soothingly over the front of my neck.

When my scowl veered toward Parker, he lifted his eyebrows, meeting my gaze in challenge. “You want to come at me the way you went after her?” he asked. “Because I know everything she does about your little friend you met up with last night.”

My mouth dropped open. “You know who she is?”

He sent me a mocking smile. “Yes, I do.”

I shook my head, unable to believe this. “Well, who ?”

His smirk turned into a chuckle. “Now why would I tell you shit after you just fucking harassed Hope?”

“Oh my God.” I lifted my hands in disbelief. “I wasn’t going to hurt her. I was just trying to waylay her to get her to talk to me.”

“Yeah,” Hope snorted. “Like that was going to work out real well for you, even if Parker hadn’t come along.”

“Seriously, man.” Alec shook his head in disappointment. “You can’t just hold a girl like that against her will.”

“Holy shit, I’m sorry!” I cried. “Grabbing her was…instinct. I just wasn’t done talking yet, and she was getting away. The idea of harming her never even crossed my mind.”

Parker folded his arms over his chest and lifted one eyebrow, not swayed in the least by my apology.

So I repeated, “I’m sorry,” and I looked directly at Hope this time to let her know I’d never meant to scare her.

She waved her hands, immediately excusing me. “Hey, I was over it the moment I got free of you. You’re good with me, bud.”

My shoulders relaxed a fraction before my gaze pleaded. “So you’ll tell me her name?”

“Oh. Uh…” Her eyes filled with dread, and she winced before sliding her gaze questioningly toward Parker.

Pleasure filled his evil smile. “Not on your life,” he announced. “I owed her a favor, and she cashed it in last night. We can’t tell you anything.”

I shook my head, not understanding. “You… What?”

“Your mystery girl did something helpful for me in the past,” Parker explained slowly, inclining his head. “So I owed her one. And last night when she begged us not to tell you who she was, we had to oblige.”

“The fuck if you did,” I insisted.

He and I were part of the seven . That was our brotherhood, our goddamn alliance. The members of the seven came first. Always. We had an unbreakable bond that had tied us together since we were kids. Nothing shook that, not even favors we owed fucking outsiders.

“She was actually hiding behind the tree we were standing next to when you raced up,” Hope told me, twisting Parker’s betrayal even deeper into my chest.

My mouth sagged open. “You’re kidding me?” When both Parker and Hope shook their heads, I blew. “This is bullshit.” Focusing on my friend , I growled, “Did the nameless little liar tell you I thought I was with someone else the whole fucking time we were together?”

Parker nodded once. “She did.”

Shaking my head in disbelief, I muttered, “And she still gets more loyalty from you than I do? Wow. Thanks for letting me know where I rank.”

His expression changed. “Keene.”

He didn’t like me questioning our friendship or the sacred seven bond. But he still wasn’t going to tell me her name; I could see it on his face.

With a regretful sniff, I muttered, “You know what? Fuck you.”

As I pushed past him, he grabbed my arm and growled, “Hey.”

But I shook him off and waved a finger at him in warning. “Uh-uh. No holding me here against my will just because you want to talk .”

“Motherfucker,” he warned.

Except I didn’t care. Stepping threateningly toward him, I snarled, “Are you sure we’re even friends at all? I mean, you have no loyalty, no care, no consideration for us at all. You showed your true face when you started fucking Alec’s sister behind his back.”

My words were the kill shot I was seeking.

As the entire kitchen went deadly silent, Parker’s face drained of color. He sank away from me, not able to reply because there was nothing he could say to defend himself against that particular attack. He knew he’d messed up by sneaking around with Hope when they’d first started hooking up.

Alec, however, shocked the shit out of me when he defended the bastard by shaking his head at me in disappointment and whispering, “Dugger.”

Which only made me scoff. “I know. I know. You forgave him for that because he’d fallen in love with her.

” I rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t make what he did any less of a betrayal.

” I jabbed my finger toward Parker. “And he made it clear just how important we weren’t by how easy it was for him to break a forbidden rule. ”

Parker barked out a hard laugh. “You think that was easy for me?”

“It wasn’t Parker’s fault anyway,” Hope jumped in. “ I’m the one who?—”

“I don’t fucking care,” I broke in. “I don’t give a shit if you drugged him up, chained him to the bed, and climbed on top of him naked. He’s still the one who kept it a secret. He’s the one who killed our friendship.”

“Jesus,” Parker broke in. “I didn’t kill anything. You just need to calm the fuck down and take a breath. No one is?—”

With a snort, I shook my head and shot back, “Calm down? That’s rich, coming from you, Mr. Always Pissed Off.” The guy was anger incarnate. He didn’t even know what calm meant.

When he gaped at me, completely puzzled by my behavior, I growled, “Are you going to tell me her name or not?”

His jaw worked, and regret fluttered through his eyes before he winced and murmured, “No.”

I sniffed bitterly. “That’s what I thought. I’m fucking leaving.” And turning away, I stalked off.

Alec reached for my arm, but I brushed his hand away, and behind him, a wide-eyed Xander skittered out of my path, saying nothing as she watched me go.

“Keene,” Parker boomed after me, but I merely flipped him off over my shoulder and kept marching.

In the living room, Damien was coming down the stairs from the top level. Seeing my face, he slowed to a stop and tipped his head in question. “What’s going on?”

I faltered a step, almost pausing to tell him. But he’d side with Ohrley. I mean, Alec had already sided with him. No way would Archer not side with him too.

“Dugger, would you just fucking wait a second,” Parker demanded as he followed me into the front room.

My back muscles tensed at his voice, and for the life of me, I couldn’t face him. I was too hopped up on my righteous indignation.

I knew he’d probably camp himself outside my room and just wait for me to come out if I went down the steps, so I veered left toward the front door, snatching up my black hoodie I had hanging from the coat tree and grabbing a pair of shoes sitting under it on the floor as I went.

I think the shoes were Damien’s, but I didn’t care.

I bundled them into my arms and charged out the door, satisfied by the slamming of the screen behind me.

In my Jeep, I started the engine, glad I habitually stuffed my keys and wallet into my pockets whenever I put on jeans. As it roared to life, I took a moment to shrug on the hoodie and shove my feet into the shoes.

Parker came outside to stand ominously on the front porch, scowling at me through the front windshield as if the power of his stare alone would induce me to shut off the engine and return to him.

It didn’t.

I narrowed my eyes his way and reversed from the driveway, escaping at last.