Page 66 of Sweet Girl
Van’s arm drops from my waist, leaving me feeling like I’m drifting without a life preserver in choppy waters. Self-protective instincts have me crossing my arms around my chest, shielding me from the verbal blows that are sure to be dealt.
He steps forward a fraction of an inch, creating a barrier between me and my brother. I do not want this to get ugly or draw any more attention than it already has. I hate drama, especially at parties, where the alcohol just adds fuel to the fire. From the looks of it, Cade’s a little more than buzzed, too, which means he’s not thinking clearly.
“Cade, maybe we can go inside and talk about this in private. Don’t make a scene and embarrass Ky like this. She doesn’t deserve it. If you’re mad, be mad at me, bro.”
Cade scoffs angrily. “I’m fucking livid, is what I am. How dare you take advantage of my little sister. If you wanted a rebound, you could’ve found a hundred other girls willing to sit on your dick. Not my baby sister.”
God, the way he makes it sound, you’d think I was a twelve-year-old. Geez. Give me a little credit, would ya?
I think Van recognizes the anger seething through Cade at the moment and does his best to extricate me from the situation. He turns toward me and begins to usher me back through the open doorway, pushing past the crowd blocking our way. But Cade wants to hash this out now, so he does what many drunken, angsty young men do. He throws a punch.
Well, maybe he didn’t mean for it to turn into a punch, but it looks like an intentional swing. Cade leans in, grabbing hold of Van’s shirt collar, as Van tries to get loose from his grip. Cade’s hand flies up and hits Van in the face.
And then all hell breaks loose. Someone in the crowd yells, “Fight!” The crowd shifts and tightens around us. Lance and Carver come stumbling out onto the patio, along with Kady and Ainsley, who are both slack-jawed at what they are witnessing.
Ainsley screams at Cade to stop. Van stumbles back slightly, but then rights himself, but not soon enough as Cade careens into him with full body impact, tackling him as his arms curl around him. They both end up on the ground, Van shouting and trying to shove Cade off of him. Cade is off the rails and is scaring all of us a bit. He’s never been one to start a fight or act belligerently toward anyone – especially not one of his own friends.
I’m just about to bend down to help remove Cade from on top of Van when Kady pushes in front of me and jerks me back a few feet. Carver and Lance have grabbed hold of Cade’s arms and are prying him off of Van, who looks stunned. And really pissed.
The guys are still scuffling a bit trying to calm Cade down, with Ainsley fuming at Cade, her hands on her hips and her scary stare ready to shoot fireballs at my dumb-ass brother.
“Will someone please tell me what happened?” Ainsley asks, looking between the three of us. She knows I’m the reason the fight started.
Van stands up, immediately moving to me, planting his hands on my shoulders and pulling me tight against his chest.
“Are you okay? I’m so sorry this happened, Ky...” he whispers. My sweet, lovable guy is apologizing tomeover a situation that my own family member caused.
“Stop, Van. It’s not your fault.” I create some distance so I can look him in the eye. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” My eyes dart around his face and my hands gently probe around his torso to see if he’s been injured anywhere. He shakes his head and reaches for my wrists.
“I’m fine. No biggie. But I think we should go inside and let him cool down a bit before we talk to him. Is that okay?” His eyes are full of worry and regret. It makes my heart ache.
“Yeah, that’s cool. Go upstairs to my room and I’ll let Ainsley know. I’ll be right up.”
He walks away, glancing back at me reluctantly. I know he’s worried about leaving me out here alone. Cade would never do anything to hurt me like that. He’s just angry that I didn’t confide in him about Van. It’s all my fault for keeping it a secret, even though Van was of the opinion that we should tell him.
Stepping up alongside Ainsley, I place my hand at her elbow to grab her attention. She turns to see it’s me and we move off to the side of the patio, away from the chaos. Kady decides to join us.
“What is up with your brother?” Ainsley asks me, hoping to find out the answers. “I’ve never seen him this crazy upset. I just can’t believe him. He and I are going to have a serious talk when this thing blows over.”
I bow my head, chewing my lip in guilt. “It’s my fault. I should’ve told him about me and Van so he didn’t find out this way. But I didn’t want him to interfere with things. It just started to get serious recently. Nothing happened before...” I give Kady a side-long glance. “Well, it’s new.”
Ainsley smiles knowingly. “I’m happy for you, Kylah. I’m sorry your stupid-ass brother ruined it by being adickhead,” she yells out toward him. “Listen, I’ll work to get him straight and we’ll talk later if you want. Otherwise, I’ll just tell him to let it go and let you be happy.” She places a soft, gentling touch on my arm, squeezing me lovingly before dropping her hand.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m going to go find Van. I’d hate myself if this ruins Van and Cade’s friendship. I never wanted to do that.”
Kady chimes in. “Fuck that. It was all Cade and his arrogant, over-protective arrogance. What a douchewad.” She slams the last gulp of her champagne, wiping off her mouth with emphasis. That reminds me that I haven’t even had a sip of mine yet.
I bring the cup to my lips and swallow – the first taste washing down, the effervescence tickling my throat. Fortified with a little liquid courage, I set the empty cup down on the patio table and turn to go find Van.
I just pray that this stupid drama won’t ruin the rest of our New Years’ Eve celebration.
