Page 149 of Loved

I grabbed the front of Mason’s shirt. “If you ever touch my fiancée I will end you.”

“As if I’d want anything a Hunter touched.” He punched the side of my ribcage.

I winced and fell to the side. I could see Matt running over to us out of the corner of my eye. Rob jumped on his back to try and stall him. But it just made the two of them fall over.

“All of you, stop!” Penny screamed.

But I already had the taste of blood in my mouth. And I’d always loved fighting. Knocking someone out was the ultimate feeling of control.

I wasn’t even sure who was winning. But all my swings landed. And I barely felt any pain.

Matt put his hand on the front of my throat. “Brooklyn loved you more?” His voice cracked.

What?I’d never said that.

There were tears in his eyes. And it wasn’t from the cut on his cheek or his black eye. He tightened his fingers on my throat, like he actually wanted to kill me.

I felt bad about what happened back in high school. It haunted me. But I was a better man now. I’d worked hard to be better for Penny. And it didn’t matter how bad I felt about my past. I wasn’t going to let it ruin my future. And I didn’t deserve to die for what I’d done when I was a teenager.

I lifted my knee, slamming it into Matt’s junk.

Matt groaned and fell to the side.

I scrambled to my feet. I thought about what he’d just said. And what Mason had said. Something about his parents loving Rob more? What the fuck were they both talking about?

Penny stepped in front of me. Like she could protect me from the next blow. “Robert Hunter!” she yelled. “Stop it!”

A car’s tires screeched. I turned to see Ian open the door from the inside.

I grabbed the back of Rob’s shirt and pulled him to the car. We all climbed in.

Matt was just sitting on the sidewalk with his face in his hands. But Mason was still standing.

“You sick fucks!” Mason threw an envelope like the one he’d sent us at the windshield of the car. “You invited us here just to bring up Thanksgiving again? Go back to Delaware! No one wants you here!”

“I wonder what they were so upset about,” Rob said as he wiped the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand.

Our car sped off.

I stared at Matt as our car passed him. There was a polaroid on the ground beside him in the street.

And I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. If Mason had an invitation… And Matt had a polaroid…

Fuck.I didn’t think Mason had invited us out for drinks. Someone had set us up. Someone who knew enough about us to crawl under our skin. Someone who knew about the pudding prank. And there was only one person who remembered that night better than anyone.Isabella.

Chapter 37

Friday

“What the fuck?” Ian said as he sped down the street.

I didn’t even know what to say.

“I know, right?” Rob said. “The Caldwells are a bunch of pussies. I think we should circle back and kick their asses a second time.”

Penny shook her head and looked up at me. I was starting to get used to her looking at me with disappointment. Why did I keep fucking up so bad?

“I asked you to stop,” she said. “Both of you,” she added and gave Rob a death stare. “Why does no one ever listen to me?”

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