Trust in Me

“Let me go!” she yelled.

The hair on the back of my neck rose at the real fear in her voice. I tripped—fucking tripped—and then I shot forward, plowing through those in the way. I didn’t even see them.

Fury tasted like blood in my mouth as I grabbed ahold of Avery’s arm, pulling her away. Her startled gasp was like thunder in my ears as I shoved Tony back. The fucker stumbled as he backpedaled, hitting the wall.

I was on him in a heartbeat.





Fourteen

I was going to break this motherfucker’s face. It was as simple as that. He was touching her and it was obvious to anyone with a pea-sized brain that she hadn’t wanted to be touched.

Shoving my hand into his chest, I slammed him back into the wall as my other hand curled into a fist. “What the fuck, man? Do you have a fucking hearing problem?”

“I’m sorry.” Tony raised his hands, shaking. “We were just dancing. Didn’t mean any shit by it.”

“Cam,” Avery cried out.

I shoved Tony back as he started to speak again, and Jase was suddenly at my back, grabbing ahold of me. He wrenched me away, and Tony staggered against the wall.

“You need to chill the fuck out,” Jase said.

I tried to duck Jase’s hold. “Let me the fuck go, Jase.”

“Fuck no.” He was in my face, hands on my chest. “You don’t need this, remember? Getting into a fight is the last thing you fucking need right now. So back down.”

My blood boiled with the need to put my fist through the guy’s face, but Jase . . . dammit, Jase was right. I couldn’t get into a fight. My probation would be revoked, and I couldn’t put my family through that, or Avery.

Avery.

I spun around. A crowd had gathered between us and she stood with Brittany, her face pale and eyes glittering with unshed tears. I started toward her, but Jase blocked me.

“You need to calm down before you do anything.”

Ollie appeared at my side, shoving a beer in my hand. “Jase speaks the truth, man. Avery will be fine, but you . . .” Serious for once in his life, he shook his head. “You need to chill out for a little while.”

I let them push me toward the door and when I looked up, I couldn’t find Avery in the crowd. She was gone.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Jase slept in whenever he stayed in this house, I pulled out my phone, sending Avery a quick text. Jase slammed the door, but I ignored it, waiting for a response. I shouldn’t have let them drag me in here. Right now, Ollie was outside the door, playing guard. I should be with Avery, making sure she was okay.

“What the fuck got into you, man?”

I stared up at Jase. “She used to dance.”

His brows shot up. “What the fuck?” he demanded again. “What in the fuck does that have to do with anything?”

Dropping my head into my hands, I shrugged. I had no idea what the hell that had to do with anything, but I had this feeling that dancing for Avery—for her to do that—was a big deal.

Jase cursed as he spun around and then pivoted right back at me. “What is going on with you, Cam? You don’t get pissed off like this. You don’t get bent out of shape over—”

“Don’t you dare say over nothing.” My chin jerked up, eyes narrowing on Jase as fury roared through me like an out of control freight train. I shot to my feet. “He was touching her, Jase. He was grabbing on her and—” I cut myself off before I said the words I didn’t want to, the ones forming on my tongue.

“So?”

“Are you fucking serious?” I shot forward, but Jase didn’t back down. He went toe to toe with me. “So? You okay with a guy—”

“Fuck no, I’m not, but Jesus H. Christ in a manger, Cam, he was some drunk idiot freshman and you and I have seen much worse go down than that.” His eyes flashed an intense silver, a sure sign he was about to lose his shit. Good. So was I. Again. “And before you say you’ve intervened in those situations, too, I know. We both have, but you’ve never tried to take a guy’s head off.”

He had a point. What the fuck ever. “This is different.”

“Because it’s her?”

The way he said “her” made me want to put my fist through the wall. “You better be very careful, bro, when it comes to your next words.”

His pupils flared wide as he held up his hands. “Look, Avery seems like a nice girl. She does, but the last time I checked, you two aren’t seeing each other.”

“So?” I threw the word back at him.

Jase looked like he now wanted to put his fist through me. “She’s turned you down how many times? And you’re acting like a pissed-off, possessive boyfriend, and the last thing you need is to get into a fight. Or need I remind you that if you do, you break your probation and you will in up in prison? Not jail, but—”