Lucky in Love (Southern Bride 4)

He let out a humorless laugh. “You realize you’re threatening me bodily harm, don’t you?”

With a shrug, I replied, “I have a good lawyer if I need one. And I have a lot of money to pay for legal help if needed.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You know that’s the only reason she’s with you. Money.”

My jaw clenched. “She would have been with me a long time ago if you hadn’t fed her a bunch of lies.”

He scoffed. “You could have had any girl in school, yet you had your eyes on her. It’s not my fault you were too afraid of Ryan to make a move.”

I glared at him.

“We both know you would have had sex with her and then moved on. I beat you to it. And Saryn being Saryn thought she owed something to me. You know, the guy who took her virginity and all.”

Ryan moved across the room.

“Ryan,” I called out. “Don’t.”

He stopped and flexed his hands into fists as he said, “You little prick. You never deserved her. You lied to get her to even go out with you.”

Tim shrugged and then looked back at me. “The only good thing that came out of my stupid marriage to her was that I had something you wanted.”

Heat flared over my skin. “What is your fucking deal with me?”

He growled. “Oh, please, like you don’t know.”

“Dude, I honestly don’t. The only thing I know for sure is it’s taking every ounce of energy I have not to beat the living shit out of you.”

Tim gave me a look that was filled with nothing but hatred. “Don’t act like you don’t know what we are to each other. You got everything, and I was forgotten like yesterday’s leftovers.”

I gave him a questioning look.

“You got the family, the fancy house, the ranch to run that both you and your brother fucking walked away from. You’re the town football hero, the guy who every girl in high school wanted to be with. And then you had to catch her eye. The one and only girl who actually was kind to me and talked to me. No, you couldn’t stand that, could you? So you plotted to take her away from me.”

Ryan and I exchanged a quick look. What in the hell was this guy talking about?

“I heard you that day. You and Nolan were talking in the study room in the library.”

I stilled, the memory of that very day coming back at me in flash. It was the day I told Nolan how much I liked Saryn. How I was going to ask her out. I was a senior and she was a junior and I worried about leaving for college without telling her how I felt about her. Nolan had told me I needed to tell her how I felt first, then deal with Ryan.

Tim laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. I was in the study room next to yours, and I heard every single word the two of you said. How you had always liked Saryn but never wanted to tell Ryan. How you fell hard for her your sophomore year. How you were worried that Ryan would be upset, but that you couldn’t stop thinking about her. There was no fucking way I was going to let that happen. I left the library and waited for Saryn after school that day. I told her how you were bragging about how you were going to ask her out and then sleep with her. That you wanted to be the one to punch the hole in her V-card. Needless to say, she was pissed, upset, hurt. I was there for her, though. Don’t worry, I took care of her.”

I had to force myself to stay calm. That night I had gone over to Ryan and Saryn’s house with the intent of asking her out. She answered the door and I will never forget the look she gave me. My mind drifted back to the moment.

The door opened and Saryn stood there. At first, she smiled when she saw me, then the smile slowly faded.

“Ryan isn’t here, I’m not sure where he is.”

I grinned. “I didn’t come to see Ryan. I was hoping to talk to you.”

Her entire body went rigid. “Why?”

I felt my heart pound rapidly in my chest, and before I could answer, she spoke again.

“Unless it’s something important, do you think we can talk tomorrow, maybe? I’m actually getting ready to go out on a date.”

“A date?” I asked, confused.

Her smile looked forced. “Yeah, I’m going out with Tim.”

“Tim?”

“Ackerman. Tim Ackerman.”

“So does that mean…I mean…I was going to see if you might want to go out, but…”

My voice trailed off and something I couldn’t read passed over her face. It looked like a mix of regret and anger. She straightened her shoulders and swallowed hard. Neither of us said a word. I wanted to tell her all the reasons she shouldn’t go out with a dirtbag like Tim Ackerman.