I stared at the guy sitting next to her, knowing his game right away. I’d overheard him when I should’ve been listening to Megs, but couldn’t pry my focus off of the little prick who was trying to move in on my woman.

“Excuse me, Megs.” I moved away from my sister as she was still speaking. I heard her sputtering in confusion and then huff out in annoyance. I made my way over to Calissa, her back toward me but her body language telling me she didn’t want anything to do with the guy currently speaking to her. I felt myself growl out low with the very thought he was trying to get with her.

“Come inside with me and let me get you another drink,” I said, not really wanting to go inside for that reason. I wanted to talk to her, get her alone. I was done with this back and forth with myself. I was done trying to pretend I could ignore how I felt.

She smiled and nodded, standing and walking away from the little asshole. I glared down at him, and we connected gazes for one second before he turned away, clearly uncomfortable. Good. I wanted him to be really fucking uncomfortable.

I stood there for another second, just staring at his profile, seeing his throat work as he swallowed. He knew I was still there, watching him. I wanted him uneasy. Maybe he was an innocent little asshole, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to make my intentions known.

“Tex?”

I turned and looked at Calissa, who stood by the sliding glass door that led into the kitchen.

“Are you coming?”

Did she realize I was having a pissing contest with this dick?

I went inside, letting Calissa go in before me. I shut the screen door behind us and walked into the kitchen, possessiveness slamming into me and making me drunk. She smelled like lemons and vanilla, an intoxicating combination. I pulled two beers out of the fridge, the caps popped off, and handed her one.

For long seconds we just stood there, her on the other side of the island, me focusing only on her. I knew I was going tell her how I felt, what I wanted. I hadn’t thought I would do it tonight at Megs’ place, but seeing that guy hitting on her, thinking he had the right to even talk to her, must’ve been the fire I needed under my ass.

I downed half my beer, working up to how I was going to go about this. I could hear everybody laughing and talking outside, but right here, right now, it was just Calissa and me.

She looked over at me and smiled, and I could see there was this nervousness coming from her. I hated the fact that I was bringing this out in her. I wasn’t trying to be some kind of alpha asshole, but I had to tell her how I felt. I needed her to be mine, tell her that too much time had already passed. What was the point of waiting, prolonging this?

“That guy bothering you?” I thought maybe bringing that up and opening a dialogue might make this go easier. I was wrong. All it did was have me thinking about him trying to get with her. “Or did I interrupt you both making plans?” I gritted my teeth at that very thought, at the very image of her agreeing to go out with him.

No one would have her but me.

She glanced out the sliding glass door, presumably looking at the little prick. I knew she heard the gruffness in my voice, probably thought I was overreacting. But I wasn’t. Not where she was concerned.

I curled my free hand into a tight fist at my side, giving her as much time as she needed to think. But hell, I didn’t know how I would react if she told me she was planning on going out with him. That I couldn’t allow, at least not until I told her everything.

“That guy?” She finally responded and looked back at me. She snorted and shook her head. “I smelled his game a mile away. I’m actually thankful you interjected. Saved me the hassle of telling him to back off because he was coming on too strong.”

I relaxed my hand that had been in a tight fist, my palm aching from where my nails had dug into my flesh. I ran that hand across the back of my head, staring at her the whole time.

“That’s good,” I found myself saying. Her eyes widened marginally but she didn’t respond. “That guy’s an asshole.” I didn’t even know him, but he had been making a move on my woman. That, by default, made him my enemy.

“That’s good?” she finally said after long moments of silence.

I tipped my beer back and finished the rest of it before setting the empty bottle beside me on the counter. I lifted that same hand and ran my palm over my mouth, looking her in the eyes.

“As thankful as I am that you got me away from Brody, can we talk about the fact you were kind of aggressive out there?” She lifted her brows in question. “Like you were throwing off the rage vibes pretty intensely.”

“He shouldn’t have been talking to you,” I said without apology.

“No? And why is that?” She set her beer bottle down, the glass hitting the granite seemed overly loud. It was like we were in a standoff, neither saying anything as we locked gazes. “Is this the same reason you went all caveman at the bar the other night?”

I looked away for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts, trying to figure out how I was going to go about saying this. But I knew that there was no reason to beat around the bush. There was no reason for me not to just come out and say the words that should have been spoken years ago.

I pushed away from the counter and took a step toward her. The island blocked her from me, but we were only a few inches apart. I saw the way she breathed in and out, her eyes wide, glossy, her pupils dilated. She didn’t say anything, but in that moment she didn’t have to. I knew what she was feeling.

In that moment it was the same emotions moving through me, the same needs and intensities that couldn’t stop me from reaching out and brushing a strand of her hair off her shoulder.

A little gasp left her but she didn’t move back.

“I think there’s some things we should talk about.”