Rival

He touched her with his hands but held me with his eyes, and every time he stroked her jaw or ran his finger across her cheek, I could feel the tingle on my skin.

I closed my eyes, then opened them and blinked hard to break the contact.

“So do you still skate?”

I blinked again, registering thunder in the distance. “What did you say?” I asked, looking over at Jax. Just breathe, Fallon.

“The skateboard tattoo on the inside of your wrist.” He gestured. “Is that your half-pipe with the severe incline in the basement?”

My half-pipe? He’d seen it?

“It’s still there?” I asked, incredulous. I couldn’t believe it.

He nodded. “Yeah, next to the piano.”

I dropped my eyes immediately.

That was strange. With all of my other belongings tossed out with the trash, why would they keep a huge half-pipe that took up space? A lot of space. I was about to ask Jax if there were any skateboards around it, hoping against hope that maybe Madoc or one of his friends salvaged those to use for themselves, but he had started up a conversation with some guy across the fire pit.

Tate brushed my arm, and I looked to my right. “So what’s with you and Madoc?” She looked like she was trying to keep her voice low, but Jared’s eyes flashed to mine when he heard her question. “Seems like there’s bad blood between you two,” she added.

I quickly glanced at Jared again, wondering if Madoc ever told him about us, but he wasn’t paying attention.

“We just never hit it off.” I shrugged to Tate, keeping my voice light. “With the way these two behaved around you the last time I was in town,” I joked, gesturing to Jared and Madoc, “I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from.”

She grinned and twisted her head to the side, looking up at her boyfriend. “Yeah, I guess I do.” And then she fixed me with a stern expression. “But I also know there’s two sides to every story. You two should talk.”

“We can barely stand to be in the same room together.”

Madoc was still across the fire, eyes shifting between Tate and me, and there was no mistaking it. He was pissed. Maybe he wondered what we were talking about, or maybe he just didn’t want me here.

Hell, I knew he didn’t want me here—which was why I was here.

Clipped voices to my left caught my attention, and I dragged my gaze away from Madoc.

“I would think that if you don’t have the balls to get on the track yourself, then you can shut up.” The guy next to Madoc was barking at Jax, who still sat next to me.

“And race who?” Jax sneered. “You? Yeah, that’ll get me off. I’ll race when it’s a challenge.”

“I don’t know what the hell you want from me, Jax, but I’m sick of—”

“You want to know what I want?” Jax interrupted, keeping his voice cocky. “I want your girlfriend to wipe off her poseur pink lip gloss and get in my car. That’s what I want.”

I darted my eyes to all of the snorts going off around the fire. Madoc laughed silently, shaking his head, while Jared’s body shook as he buried his laughter in Tate’s neck.

Tate saw my confused look and explained. “That’s Liam,” she whispered. “He’s K.C.’s boyfriend.” She pointed to the beautiful dark-haired girl sitting next to Liam, who stared at her lap, stunned. “He cheated on her last year, but they got back together. Jax hasn’t said anything, but I think he . . .”

Wants her. I finished her thought in my head. Well, if he wants her, then why wasn’t he going after her? Clearly, her winner of a boyfriend had nothing on him.

Liam’s jaw turned hard as his gaze trailed between Jax and his shocked girlfriend, who looked like she wanted to crawl inside of her shell. “Is something going on between you two?” he asked her.

She pursed her lips and swallowed, averting everyone’s eyes. “Of course not,” she said quietly.

Everyone watched as Jax and Liam went at it, and Jared, Tate, and Madoc all either smiled, laughed, or stiffened as Jax cracked jokes or suffered an insult. I realized how much of a unit they all were, and how they all stuck together. Madoc had a smile of pride in his eyes when he looked at Jax like a brother, and he had such an ease with Tate. He had a family in them.

Well, aside from Liam and K.C., anyway. She stayed quiet, clearly embarrassed, but her quick glances at Jax didn’t escape my notice, either. She looked breakable. Kind of like I was once.

But breaking was beautiful. It hurt, and it was an uphill climb back to sanity, but you came back stronger, fiercer, and more solid than you were before.

I waved my hands in front of me and shook my head at Liam, finally having enough of the idiocy. “Whoa,” I interrupted whatever asinine comment he was making. “So you cheated on your girlfriend last year.” I stopped and waved at K.C. “Hi, K.C. I’m Fallon, by the way.” And then I shot my attention back over to Liam. “And you’re worried about her cheating on you? I’d say you got a better girl than you deserve.” Snorts sounded around the fire, and K.C. shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable.

With her eyebrows narrowed, she stood up and hesitated as if she wasn’t sure what move to make without instructions. My eyes dropped to her thumbnail that she kept dragging across the wrist of her other hand.

“I’m heading home.” She grabbed her T-shirt and pulled it over her bikini top. “See you all later.”

She walked down the stone steps to the pool deck, and I saw Jax’s fists tighten when Liam got up and approached him.

He leaned down, hovering over Jax, whose forearms rested on his knees, and he did nothing more than c**k his head, welcoming whatever Liam was bringing.

“Leave him alone, Liam.” K.C.’s deep command surprised me, and I peered around her boyfriend to see a fire in her eyes that wasn’t there before.

Liam ignored her and threatened Jax under his breath. “She’s mine.”

“Only until I start trying,” Jax shot back.

And we all did a piss-poor job hiding our smiles as Liam marched off the patio, following K.C.

One thing I knew right then and there. I might hate Madoc, but I loved his friends.

CHAPTER 7

MADOC

I was going to throttle her.

Not the girl at my feet whose neck I imagined was Fallon’s as I tried not to strangle it but Fallon herself.

The chick walked around my party as if this was her house, and she had friends here. She and Tate were acting like they were besties already, and Jax was smiling and chatting her up. Next thing I knew Jared was going to be talking shop about her motorbike or some shit.

What was her game? Why come home willingly after so long when she practically ran from here two years ago? She was only going to be here a week. What was she doing?

“Who is that?”

Taylor, the girl sitting between my legs, had turned around and was questioning me. She looked over at Fallon and then back at me, and I realized that I’d been staring.

Not good.

I flashed a smile, trying to appear cocky. “Someone who likes to watch, I guess.”

Fallon had been staring, too. We’d been locked in for who knew how long, and I was hoping no one had noticed.

I did a quick sideways glance around the fire. Jared was whispering in Tate’s ear, while she nuzzled into him, and everyone else was deep in conversation.

“Get lost, honey.” My date, Taylor, snickered in Fallon’s direction.

“You’re in the middle of a party, honey.” Fallon mimicked Taylor’s fake sweetness. “Get a room.”

Taylor made a move to get up, but I put my hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her back down.

Taylor wasn’t a wallflower. She acted catty, but she had the guts to back it up, too.

“It’s okay.” The rumble of a laugh began in my throat, but my tone rang true. “Fallon likes to cause trouble. Don’t let her draw you in.”

Fallon’s green eyes burned across the fire, and I waited for a reaction I thought for sure would come. She always spat something back.

“You should watch who you invite to your parties, Madoc.” Taylor leaned her back into the seat of the chair, relaxing again.

“I didn’t invite her,” I replied. “I feel sorry for her, though. She doesn’t have many friends.”

Taylor laughed. “Yeah, her clothes will only get her enemies.”

“Madoc, what the hell—” Tate started but got cut off.

“It’s okay, Tate.” Fallon sat up straight and pushed her glasses to the top of her head. The audience around the fire pit had grown as quiet as a graveyard.

Fallon continued. “We learned in school that bullies abuse others because they feel bad about themselves. They’re hurting.” She brought up her knees and locked her arms around them, her tone light and taunting. “We shouldn’t be mad. We should pity them. Madoc has never had to make a real decision in his entire life, which means he’s never had anything real. This house, the cars, the money. It’s all an illusion. It’s like parading a victory when you missed the war.” She took a breath and whispered slowly. “Madoc has no idea who he is.”

Something gripped my heart, and it felt like it was spreading across my chest and down my arms. I let the fake amusement in my eyes seep out toward her, but I didn’t feel the humor.

Fallon had always been so stubborn. Always. She spouted off and said shit that she didn’t think about all in an effort to look tough.

But now it was different. More calculated. She’d thought about me. Assessed me. And anticipated my reactions.

“You’re right, Fallon.” I looked down at the beer in my hand, swirling the brown liquid in the cup. Letting out a condescending sigh, I took out my phone, gesturing. “But I also know that if I call my parents right now, they’ll both answer. My mom would fly here on a moment’s notice if I needed her, and my dad isn’t hiding from wiretaps or indictments. I also have friends I wouldn’t trade for any of this shit.” I waved my hand, referring to the estate. “And I do have something else going for me.”

I grinned as big as my face would allow and popped up, draining my beer. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone, knowing they were all watching anyway.

Don’t do it.

Tossing my cup to the side, I ran down the stone steps to the lower-level deck and circled the pool to where the music was playing near the patio doors to the house. “I can sing.” The sky flashed with lightning as I got ready.

Clicking to one of my workout playlists, I opened an Offspring song—perfect for this occasion—and grabbed a water bottle to use as a microphone.

The lyrics started before the music, and I was ready. With a couple of small changes, of course. Offspring’s “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” gave me only a second to catch my breath, because the lyrics started before the music.

“My dad’s got a wife!” I belted, standing up on the edge of the Jacuzzi. “Man, he hates that bitch!” Everyone spun around to face me.

I gripped the water bottle and when the drums started, I bobbed my head in rhythm to the beat, letting the crowd feed off my attitude.

My attitude. It’s what I fed off of as well. It’s what made people like me.

I continued the song, smiling as the crowd started singing and laughing, too. Beers sloshed as people held up their cups, dancing and hollering their approval.

A hand wrapped around my wrist, yanking me off the ledge.

“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Jared asked.

I couldn’t keep my amusement in check. Everyone was dancing and belting out the lyrics, clearly drunker than I was.

I snorted. “Wait.” I held up a hand. “You’re going to give me tips on how to treat a woman? Wait while I take notes.”