Page 108 of Yours, Finally

"Fuck off!" Jake circumvented me, going chest to chest with Andrew. "Leave us the fuck alone."

Andrew attempted to push Jake aside, but it had no effect.

"Don't touch me!" Jake gave Andrew a short push back.

Andrew's shoe caught on something and he fell. I gasped behind Jake.

Andrew got up fast— even though my eyes tracked it in slow motion. He lifted an arm— not quite a punch, but Jake didn't seem to care. He blocked it and deflected Andrew's arm aside. Jake's other hand balled into a fist, and alarms blared in my brain.

"No! Jake!" I wrapped my hands around his forearm. "He's not worth it!"

"Go ahead, give me a reason to sue you to hell," Andrew snarled.

"We're leaving!" I pulled from Jake.

"Don't you ever talk to Vi again." Jake remained a rock statue, unmovable, his tone to Andrew ominous.

"So this is the kind of guy you like?" Andrew stared at me, then at Jake again, disgust on his face. "We were never going to work out, then."

This time, neither Jake or I spoke back.

"She's yours, I guess." Andrew took a step back, his eyes on the man next to me. "Until she finds a reason to dump you in a week, of course."

My ex finally left us, walking away unhurriedly, shoulders low. Jake and I stayed in place, watching him go.

Andrew disappeared around a corner, and I took the first deep breath I could manage since he'd shown up.

I clenched my hands around Jake's thick forearm. If I let go right away, my fingers would tremble too much.

Jake's eyes whipped to my hands on his forearm. "Fuck."

"I know! That was awful!"

"I almost punched him."

"I saw." I let go of him and flexed my fingers; when that didn't work to stop the tremors, I shook my hands in the air. "Not worth the paperwork, to be honest."

He must have seen the announcement of the luncheon somewhere; it was public, after all. After the events of the previous fifteen minutes, I doubted I had to worry about Andrew trying to find me where I couldn't hide anymore.

But maybe I would still send a letter from my lawyers, just in case.

"That's not the point," Jake said. "Don't minimize it."

Panic threaded through his words. I gazed at him, eyes narrowing.

"He was lashing out," I said at last. A toe into the water, the ripples testing what lurked underneath. "He couldn't stand the fact he was never going to be the one I chose, and his attempts made him look a fool. That's all."

"Doesn't give me an excuse to use my size— or to use violence. I shoved him. I almost punched him."

"Jake…" I shook my head and pulled from his arm again.

He didn't look at me. His eyes were on the ground, the sun shining beautifully on his hair. His chest worked hard, and a different type of warning rang in my head.

"Jake— are you okay?"

Chapter 32

Jake