I let out an oof as his arm caught my waist and jerked me back. I sailed through the air before landing with my back to the cushions of the couch, Rowan’s large body hovering over me, pressing into me.

“You’ll read that but you won’t read my book?” His voice held humor, letting me know he wasn’t really upset.

“Well.” I grinned, loving the idea of pushing his buttons. “If you’d write something interesting, maybe I’d read it.”

Rowan’s fingers dug into my sides. I fought against him as hard as I could, in peals of laughter so loud I was sure the neighbors could hear us.

“So, that’s the kind of shit you like?” he asked once he was finished tickling.

I was breathing heavy as I looked into his icy blue eyes. Shrugging nonchalantly, I replied, “Maybe you should consider piercing your…” I trailed off, shooting a knowing look at his crotch. “It could spice things up. You know, make it less vanilla.”

“Oh, I got your vanilla,” he growled, taking the bait perfectly.

I latched my limbs around his body as he pushed up, hefting me off the couch. “Where are we going?”

“Bedroom. I’m about to show you shit you’ve never even imagined. Then we’ll see who’s talking about vanilla.”

I let out a sharp yelp when his palm came down hard on my ass. The moment the sting subsided, all I could think was, Yay, me!

Me: Come over

Navie: Can’t. I have plans.

Me: Then come over after. You can stay the night. We have a weekend full of non-work hours.

Navie: Sorry. I have company this weekend. I can’t come over. See you Monday.

Me: What company? You didn’t tell me you were having company.

My last text was an hour and a half old, and without a response. I started off curious, but after the first fifteen minutes, that curiosity turned into concern. At the forty-five-minute mark, that concern morphed into agitation. At an hour fifteen, I was just straight up pissed. My mind was all over the place, wondering who the hell she was with and why she hadn’t told me. I felt like I was reliving the past with Bree all over again, only this time, the tension in my chest was almost unbearable.

It was over a twenty-minute cab ride to Navie’s place in Murray Hill and by the time I got there, I was ready to kick whoever’s ass was encroaching on my territory. I took the stairs up to her apartment like a raging bull preparing to gore the motherfucker standing in front of me.

I made it to her landing and pounded on her front door, just itching for a fight. And that was exactly what I got. The moment the front door swung open and I was hit with an eyeful of naked chest—naked male chest—my vision went red and I lunged.

“Motherfucker!” I shouted as I barreled into the guy standing in front of me, slamming my shoulder into his stomach with a satisfying grunt. “I’m gonna kill you!” We went down in a heap onto Navie’s entryway floor. I had to hand it to the dude; I might have caught him off guard, but he rallied quickly, twisting around and landing a right hook that had me seeing stars with a shocked, “What the hell?”

While we wrestled around on the floor, each of us landing blows, I vaguely registered the sound of feminine screams. I was pretty sure my lip was split, and my eye was hurting like a son of a bitch, but I wasn’t giving up. The guy pinned me in a headlock as he rose to his feet, and I took the opportunity to land a few well-placed punches to his kidney and ribs. And the bastard still didn’t let go.

“You fuck my girl, I fuck you up!” I voiced in a painful wheeze as he squeezed my neck tighter. At that point, it had become clear I was losing, but I’d be damned if I tapped out before that asshole did.

I was just two seconds away from taking a cheap shot to his nuts when Navie’s voice cut through the rush of blood raging through my ears.

“Carson, Rowan, STOP!”

Carson? Oh, shit!

“Carson?” I coughed, unable to breathe with the guy’s arm threatening to crush my windpipe. I could only speculate, but I was pretty sure my face was turning purple.

“Let him go!” another woman yelled, and the arm around my throat instantly loosened. Gulping down air like a man, well, choking, I tilted my head the best I could while still in a headlock to find Navie and a very pregnant woman standing in the middle of the living room, looking like they were about to murder someone.

“Carson Langford,” the pregnant woman scolded. “I said let him go. Right. Now.”

“This shithead started it,” the guy—apparently named Carson—said as he released me with a less than friendly shove. I stood straight and turned to see that his face hadn’t fared much better than mine. It shouldn’t have sent a spike of male pride through me, considering I’d just jumped Navie’s fucking brother, but what could I do?

“Rowan!” Navie screeched, stomping up to me, the look on her face so furious I had to keep myself from cowering. “What the fuck were you thinking? I cannot believe you!”

“Who the hell is this dickhead?” Carson bit from across the living room where the pregnant lady—his wife Cassidy, I assumed—was examining the cut on his lip.

“Jesus, I’m sorry, man,” I started, running a hand through my hair as my gaze darted back and forth between him and Navie. “You opened the door without a shirt, and I just… I didn’t realize who you were. I just thought… hell, I don’t know what I thought.”

“This guy? Seriously?” Carson asked Navie incredulously, and she turned her glare from me to him.

“For the love of God, will you just please put a damn shirt on!” Looking back at me, she sucked in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as though she were trying to get herself centered. “Rowan—”

“Rowan!” Carson cut in. “Your douchebag boss, Rowan—?”

“Carson!” both Navie and Cassidy yelled at the same time. The sting from knowing how she’d once described me to the people she loved settled in the pit of my stomach like rancid meat as Carson continued his tirade.

“And what the hell’d he mean by my girl? Wait—are you bangin’ your boss?”

“Carson Langford!” Cassidy scolded loudly. Navie began twisting her hands in front of her in discomfort, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. The sudden shift in her demeanor didn’t sit well with me. I wanted these people to know what Navie meant to me, but based on Carson’s reaction, Navie had been quite upfront about her dislike of me at the start of our working relationship.

Well, shit. It looked like I was going to have my work cut out for me. But I’d already managed to sway Navie. It was going to take a little more effort, but I was sure I could get Carson and Cassidy to come around to my side eventually, too.

“Holy fuck!” Carson boomed.

Or maybe not.

“What are you thinking, little bit? And you…” He swung a murderous look in my direction. “I’m gonna kick your ass, little boy.”

“Oh, for the love of—” Navie paused, pinching the bridge of her nose in obvious agitation. “No one is kicking anyone’s ass. And you can’t call him little boy, Carson. For Christ’s sake, he’s taller than you. And older!”

That gave Carson pause before he asked, “How old?”

“Thirty-three,” I answered.

“Thirty-three?” he shouted then pushed against his wife’s hold, speaking in a low, menacing voice. “I’m gonna kill you.”

My body stiffened, preparing for another throw-down as Navie blocked Carson’s path to me. But it was Cassidy who brought the impending fight to a halt. “Everybody stop! So help me God, Carson, if you do not calm the hell down right now, I swear, this morning will be the last time you ever see me naked again!”