This Cruel Love

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. What was this guy on? Because it certainly wasn’t planet Earth. In what universe was it a crime to dance with your fake boyfriend’s best friend? To laugh at his jokes and be… well, friendly. I said that exact thing to him, and he frowned like I’d spoken a different language. Obviously, I had. I spoke rationally and he spoke crazy.

“Where I come from, a woman doesn’t flaunt herself like that with her boyfriend’s friends. You looked more into him than me.”

“Maybe that’s because I was! You didn’t exactly do anything to make me warm towards you. I’m sorry my acting was so shit, but guess what? I like Cillian. He makes me laugh, and yes, I wanted to dance with him. Being with him makes me feel good about myself and it took my mind off Justin. You? You’re about as warm and cuddly as a porcupine. Dancing with you would be like dragging a bag of cement around. My acting skills don’t stretch that far, I’m afraid.”

He grunted and paced forward a few steps to stand directly in front of me.

“I hate to remind you, sweetheart, but I’m the one who owns your ass. So if you have to stand next to me all fucking night and act like the sun shines out of my ass then you will.”

“Actually, no, I won’t.” I folded my arms over my chest. He was acting like such a caveman. I wasn’t going to give him an inch.

“You agreed to have me as your fake girlfriend, and unfortunately for you, Mr Club-them-over-the-head-and-drag-them-back-to-the-cave, I’m known in this city. People at that party knew me, they know what I’m like. Hell, some of them have known me since I was a baby. They know I’m loyal and won’t stand for shit like you tried pulling tonight. I grew up with an older brother who taught me to stand my ground and stand up for myself when it came to men like you. See, in my world, a woman can dance with who the hell she wants to and it doesn’t mean shit. My mum dances with my dad’s friends all the time-”

“I bet she does,” he mumbled, and I snapped.

“Yes, she does. And you know what? My dad isn’t a neurotic, needy freak. He lets her make her own decisions, because at the end of the night, she goes home with him. She loves him. That’s what normal people do, Jackson. It’s what everyone else in that room does. You don’t like it, don’t be around them. Don’t be around me. But don’t ever tell me what to do, who to talk to, or who I can dance with. The women in your world might enjoy your caveman ways, but I don’t. Anyway, aren’t you missing the point here? I was dancing with your best friend. You know, that guy who’s always got your back. You were the one groping the stranger, not me. Don’t you trust Cillian?”

His eyes glazed over, and he seemed to shut down as I mentioned loyalty and trust.

“I don’t trust anyone. Neither should you.” He took a step closer into my space. “Cillian wasn’t the only guy you danced with though, was he?”

Was that his problem? That I’d danced with Mason flipping Lovall?

“Mason went to high school with my brother. I couldn’t be rude and refuse to dance with him. But trust me when I say, it was no fun for me, I can assure you of that.”

His eyes bored into mine as he bent towards my face to speak. “He is a dangerous man. You need to stay away from him.”

I took a step back, feeling unnerved by his closeness. “He’s a creep and an asshole, but I can handle men like Mason Lovall.”

He narrowed his gaze at me but shook his head.

“You have absolutely no idea about the real world do you? About the monsters that walk amongst us.”

“I’m standing right in front of one. I think I know all I need to.”

He smiled to himself at my response, looked down at his feet and then back up at me with pure terror in his eyes. “Damn right, and don’t ever forget it.”

I crossed my hands over my chest and stood my ground. “Look, I get that you didn’t like me doing the whole dancing with Mason thing, but Cillian? Really? He’s your friend. Why would my dancing with him be so bad?”

“It was disrespectful, Ryley.”

I almost choked at his reply. “And groping another woman in front of your girlfriend wasn’t?”

He pointed in my face as he spoke. “I was teaching you a lesson.”

I grabbed his finger and pushed it down and out of my face. “You’re a shit teacher! Every person in that room was watching you.”

He flexed his fingers as if he was itching to punch something. “Yeah, and now they know I take zero shit from anyone,” he growled.

I’d had enough of his style of crazy. “You need to drop the Neanderthal act and get with the twenty-first century. Maybe start trusting your friends a bit more.”

“I already told you, I trust no one.”

“Not even your friend? Come on!”

“Especially not a friend, and certainly not a woman.”

“Well, it’s a sad little life you’re going to lead if you can’t ever find that trust.”