Chapter Thirteen

Cormac

My knuckles stung from the punch, and I shook my hand as the silver-haired asshole stumbled up to face me again.

I could sense a commotion around us, but for the moment all I could see was red.

With Pierce temporarily out of the picture, when Owen invited me to join him and his girlfriend, Etta, for drinks and dinner, I readily agreed. I’d been looking for a distraction anyway.

We’d arrived at the restaurant and took up a table near the bar so that Owen and I were just a few steps away from it. What I hadn’t expected was for Olive to be there too. I’d tried to not stare at her when I saw her walking up to the bar and taking a seat. Owen and Etta had continued to talk to me, not noticing my distraction, while I’d tried my best to keep my end of the conversation going.

From the corner of my eyes, I’d noticed the man walk up to the bar and take a seat beside Olive. I’d seen her turn and speak to him. I had to keep my clenched fists under the table so that my friends wouldn’t notice the rage beginning to course through my veins.

I had no authority here. She wasn’t my girlfriend. In fact, it was me who’d pushed her away some hours ago. If anything, the right thing to do would have been to stay out of it and let Olive live her life. That is what I thought I was doing, especially since she didn’t seem to mind the man’s company.

But I couldn’t stop looking in their direction, and I saw him raise his hand and stretch it toward Olive.

I had jumped off my chair and strode over to him just as he caught her wrist. I could tell that Olive didn’t appreciate him touching her. My mind buzzed with rage. I couldn’t stand her being touched by the asshole, especially since she didn’t want to be.

I’d walked right up to him, whipped him around by his shoulder, and then landed my fist on his face. He’d staggered and fallen on his back on the floor, but the blow wasn’t as violent as I thought it was. He had the strength to stand back up again.

I hadn’t even looked up to see what Olive was doing. All I wanted to do was make sure that this guy never came anywhere close to her again.

He was snarling as he faced me now. There were people looking, and some of the staff at the restaurant were rushing toward us. The man lunged at me with a screeching war cry in the air, and he caught me by my stomach and pushed me back.

I crashed against someone’s table—it could have been where Owen and Etta were sitting, because I heard Owen’s voice.

“Cormac! Fuck!” I heard him shout.

I could taste the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth. I’d felt a shard of glass split open my lower lip while the man wrestled me to the ground.

I tried to slide myself free, but this guy was stronger than I’d anticipated. He was pinning me down, but I wrapped my hands around his neck and pressed. It choked him and he released his grip on me, just enough for me to be able to jump up again. I dragged him up by his shirt collar, and he stood up. We were facing off again.

“Outside! Take it outside!” somebody from the staff, presumably the manager, was yelling.

“Outside!” the voice came again.

“Fine!” I yelled back, and I grabbed the guy by his collar again. He didn’t resist when I dragged him out of the door of the restaurant. I could sense some people following us, amongst whom were Owen and Etta, no doubt. They obviously had no idea what was going on.

The man slipped from my grip when we were outside, and we were facing each other again. He’d bunched up his fists and raised them up to his face in defense.

“Come on, big guy, take your punch again,” the guy said, but I noticed that his voice was shaky. He was strong, stronger than I’d anticipated, and strong for his size. I was definitely bigger than him. Now, out in the open, with more space, I had the freedom to take an actual bigger punch. I knew that if I did, this time the guy would be out cold. That’s what he deserved. It’s what he deserved for touching Olive.

“Keep your hands off her, asshole,” I growled, and I stepped toward him. He stepped back and bounced from one foot to another, looking almost comical.

“Keep her off the market, then, asshole,” he snapped back, and I clenched my jaws. I lunged at him. My knuckles met his jaws again, and he wasn’t quick enough to stop the hit. He slipped back again, and a collective gasp rose up in the crowd behind us.

He fell to the ground again, and if I was thinking straight, I would have known that I’d taken it too far. But that image of him reaching out and touching Olive’s hair, him clutching her wrist, kept playing in my head and I couldn’t think of anything else.

I bent down and caught him by the collar again, lifting him up in the air when I felt hands on my arms. Alarmed, I jerked and released the guy to find Pierce trying to hold me back.

“Let him go, Cormac, for fuck’s sake. Break it up!” Pierce was shouting, and for some reason, I hadn’t expected to see him there.

I stepped away from the man’s body on the ground, and a few people crowded around him to help him up.

I was panting, breathing hard. I could feel the blood slowly seeping out from my lip and now beginning to clot.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” I heard Pierce’s voice again, and I whipped around to him. He was standing beside me with his shoulders squared, his eyes bloodshot with rage. He wasn’t happy about the fact that I’d come to his sister’s rescue.

***

“I needed to do something,” I growled at Pierce. My fists were still clenched, and I knew I looked like a mess and had caused a scene. I had no idea what had come over me. I wasn’t usually the one to start fights; I was the one breaking them up.

“You need to stay out of it!” Pierce shouted back, and I looked over his shoulder to see Olive standing behind him. Her green eyes were wide with concern. She looked beautiful in a short printed wrap dress. Her blonde bangs fell over her eyes, and she was wearing the same red lipstick as she had in the morning. My gaze traveled down her body, the body I was so close to having completely. Her legs were pale and long, and she was wearing a pair of suede ankle boots and a collection of silver necklaces. I looked away from her because she’d caught me staring.

“That creep was touching her!” I barked back at Pierce and then whipped around from him.

I’d caught Owen and Etta staring as well. They were standing near the door of the restaurant, where some other people were helping the beaten-up guy back indoors. He just needed an ice pack. They were making a whole lot of fuss for no reason. But I didn’t want to answer any questions that I knew Owen and Etta had, so I decided to walk back to my car directly.

“Hey!” I heard Pierce’s voice again. Then his hand was on my shoulder, and I had no choice but to turn to him.

“What the fuck do you want me to say, man? I saw her being assaulted, and I did something about it.” I ran a hand through my hair. I knew I needed to put some distance between Olive and me. She had some kind of strange effect on me that I wasn’t used to.

“She was flirting with a guy at a bar. Since when does that count as assault? And she’s not yours to defend,” Pierce growled through gritted teeth, and I glared at him from under my heavy lids.

“I did what anybody should have done. They weren’t just flirting. He touched her and he grabbed her hand while she was trying to walk away,” I replied, trying to control my voice. I’d done enough damage for one day. I was still reeking of guilt. Pierce had no idea that I’d been with his sister already, and I couldn’t bring myself to keep standing there and talking to him.

“She can take care of herself. She doesn’t need me either. She said so herself. So just back the fuck off, Cormac,” Pierce shouted, and I raised my palms in a show of defense and started backing away from him.

He was not ready to drop it yet though, and he seemed to be following me to my car.

“What were you doing here anyway? Are you following her or something?” he barked, and I clenched my jaws.

“I was here with Owen and Etta. They invited me to dinner and happened to pick this place. I’m not stalking your sister, Pierce. Just get over it,” I replied as we stood facing each other off.

“Pierce, stop it! Just leave him alone!” It was Olive’s voice that pierced through the air, and my best friend looked over his shoulder to find his sister standing close behind him. She was looking at me with wide eyes over her brother’s shoulder, and I looked back at her.

I wanted to kiss her. I felt like I needed to kiss her. Those red plump lips, bold against her peachy pale cheeks. Her thick blonde bangs, her green eyes, those perfect breasts I hadn’t seen yet. I’d tasted her though; a part of me had been inside her, and I could feel shocks screaming down my spine as I watched her. Pierce separated us, standing guard in front of his sister so that I couldn’t get to her.

“I’m sorry, Olive. I thought you needed help,” I spoke in a low guttural voice, and she parted her lips to speak.

“Don’t talk to her! Just stay the fuck away from her. She doesn’t need your help!” Pierce barked, and Olive walked around her brother and looked him square in the eye.

“It’s your help I don’t need. Just give us a minute, Pierce,” she said, and I stared at him, while he looked like he’d been slapped.

I didn’t want to be alone with Olive. Being alone with Olive had consequences that were beyond my control. But I couldn’t deny her now, not in front of her brother.

“Walk away, Pierce. Leave us alone for a second, will you? Go back inside, go back home—I don’t care!” Olive was screaming now, and Pierce looked dumbfounded as he stood there, staring from me to Olive and then back at me again.

He didn’t want to admit to himself that he was outnumbered. He knew that he couldn’t physically drag Olive away from me.

“Pierce!” she shouted at him again, and now he had no other choice.

“Fuck this. I don’t give a shit anymore,” he mumbled, and then I watched as he whipped away from us and walked across the parking lot and beeped his own Mustang open. Olive was watching him too, waiting till he had gotten into his car, before she turned to me.

Our eyes met and I knew that I wanted to drag her into my arms. I wanted to finish what we’d started that afternoon, but Pierce was right. I had no business being around her. Our friendship was ruined already, ruined beyond repair as it appeared. Being with Olive for a second longer would only make it worse, and my head was too wrecked for me to know what to do.