Jake is standing in the doorway. He frowns as he looks around, as though he’s just stepped on something foul. I recognise that expression; he’s here to cause trouble. This on its own could be an issue, yet what makes matters worse is that Clay has intercepted him. Oh shit, indeed.
I can’t hear what either of them are saying. I need to get closer. Or, it could be that the loud pounding of my heart in my ears is stopping me from understanding them. Either way, I need to stop this before things get messy.
Jake sees me coming and his face lights up with a malevolent smile. “Ah, Holly, just the person I’m here to see.”
“Jake,” I answer through gritted teeth as I force a smile, very aware of everyone watching. “Let’s take this outside, shall we.”
As I move forward, Clay shifts half a step and effectively blocks my exit. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he murmurs,turning his head to speak to me but keeping his eyes locked on my ex at all times. He knows exactly who is the threat in this situation.
“You seem to have picked up a bodyguard since I left.” Jake raises a brow and assesses Clay from head to toe. “I didn’t realise that you were unable to make your own choices any more.”
“You would know all about taking away her choices.” Elliot speaks up, slowly walking over as though he has all the time in the world. My gut clenches with anxiety. The atmosphere around me right now is electric and it won’t take much for everything to go up in flames.
Jake snorts as he spots Elliot. “I wondered when we would see you.”
Whatever he came here to say to me, he chose today on purpose. Somehow, he found out about the opening day and knew he could cause the most trouble if he was to show up today.
“Jake.” His name is an order, and thankfully it works as he turns his attention back to me. “This isn’t the time for this. The gym opens today and it’s me you have a problem with, not them.” Voice smooth and even, I don’t let him see the nausea that is rising in my gut. I take a deep breath, placing my hand on Clay’s shoulder to reassure him I’m okay and step forward so I’m facing Jake completely. He needs to see me as someone who can stand up for herself, otherwise he will repeatedly try to involve the guys in our feud. With as much authority as I can muster, I cross my arms over my chest. “You should leave.”
“I think you should listen to her.” Bear speaks for the first time since my ex entered the building, standing slightly to the side of me with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks like his namesake, his body massive compared to Jake. A slight thrill goes through me at seeing him like this.
Of course, Jake is not one to be outdone, and he looks between the three of them, ending on where my affectionatehand still rests on Clay’s shoulder. I watch his expression shift as he comes to a realisation, his brows raising high and then quickly changing into outright outrage. He knows there’s more between all of us than he first thought. While he might be showing horrified shock on the outside, I see the glee in his eyes; he loves that he has something against us he can use.
“Fucking hell,” he exclaims loudly, running his hands through his hair. “You’re fucking all three of them.” Scandalised, he looks around the gym and makes eye contact with many of the customers, trying to get them on side. None of them seem to react, though, and any fears I was harbouring about the town discovering my little harem seem to have been for nought.
Jake isn’t getting the reaction he wanted, and I’m not surprised when he pins me with a look of anger. “I didn’t realise you were such awhore.” The words are full of venom, spat at me like a weapon. “It seems I left at exactly the right time. Who knows what I might have caught from you otherwise?”
Okay, that one hurts. Until I met the guys, the only person I had ever been with was Jake. He slept with multiple women while we were together, and I’m sure there have been many since we broke up, so to throw that in my face is insulting. There are low murmurs as the townsfolk put two and two together and realise it’s quite possible that I am seeing all three brothers. Of course, they aren’t biologically related, so we aren’t doing anything wrong, but I don’t know how a small, sleepy town like Hinton Grove will cope with that fact. I’m waiting for the slurs, for the accusations and for the word ‘whore’ to start being brandished around.
Before anyone can really react, Clay finally loses his temper. Flinging himself forward, he grabs Jake by the lapels of his jacket. “How fucking dare you call her that?”
I’m expecting fists to start flying. I know how protective Clay is of me. Even Elliot has moved forward as though to grab hisbrother, but he hangs back slightly, ready to jump in to. Glancing to one side, I see Bear watching on, eyes narrowed and arms still crossed over his chest. This could end really badly. Today is their first day of business, and knocking out a potential customer on day one in front of many witnesses would be an awful start to their venture.
“Holly is one of the kindest and most loyal people I have ever met.” Clay starts to walk forward, using his grip on Jake’s clothing to push him back and out of the door. With my heart in my throat, I see that he’s not actually touching him at all. “You left your life behind here. You left Holly here. You don’t belong here any longer, and I think you should leave.”
I follow them outside, completely amazed at Clay’s attitude, and I realise that he’s right. Jake doesn’t have the right to storm back into my life, or the town, and expect everything to be the way it was before. While I can’t stop him from coming here, I can change the way I react to him.
There’s a shuffle behind me and I glance over my shoulder to see Elliot and Bear directly behind me, with Ashley bringing up the rear. Townsfolk are gathering to see what’s going on, their need for gossip once again fuelling them.
“He’s right,” I reply. “There isn’t a place for you here. You should go.” In this moment, with me facing off against the ex who destroyed me, with the support of my best friend and my boyfriends behind me, I have never felt more sure of myself.
Jake stumbles back as Clay lets him go, swiftly trying to right himself so he can face us down. He hates to look weak, so this must be really denting his ego, something that makes me feel smug inside. Anger quickly colours his face and his hands ball into fists. I hate to think how this might have ended if the guys weren’t here.
“You have no authority to ban me from Hinton Grove. I can come and go as I please.”
Slowly, I nod in agreement. I wish it wasn’t so, but he’s right: I can’t stop him from coming here. I’m not quite done with him yet, though. “I’m not banning you. I’m simply saying you are no longer welcome here.”
Laughing, Jake presses a hand against his abdomen as though this is the funniest thing he’s ever heard. This goes on as he drags it out, and finally he straightens and gestures around us. “You speak for the town, do you?”
“She’s right.”
All heads turned towards the female voice to our right. It’s Sue, one of my bakers, and Hayleigh stands at her side, nodding her agreement.
“You always were a little shit. Lauding around the town like you owned it. You never cared about the rest of us here, so I don’t know why you would expect us to accept you now.”
Jake seems silenced by Sue’s speech, never for one moment believing that the town wouldn’t support him on this. To be honest, I’m surprised too. Not because I don’t have a close relationship with Sue or my other bakers, but because while everyone likes to hear the gossip, no one wants to be it. For them to step in and back me up is doing strange things to me.
Outraged, Jake makes a strange noise and jerks an accusatory finger my way. “She’s a slut. Why are you protecting her? She’s sleeping with three guys!” he exclaims, wildly gesturing to the guys behind me. He’s losing all composure now, clearly not thinking this was how everything was going to end.