“I am not!” I yell, indignant enough to lie.
“You can’t even walk straight!” he yells right back. “And if you think I’m going to stand by and watch as some asshole gets you wasted just so he can put his hands all over you—”
Ryan attempts to interject. “Bro, chill! I wasn’t—”
“We’ll settle this later, Snyder.” Archer’s eyes cut to his teammate with a look so full of promise, it makes my heart skip a beat. “Now…evaporate.”
Ryan shoots me an apologetic look before he bolts back toward the party, where it’s safe. I can’t blame him. Archer is in full-on, overbearing asshole mode. I wouldn’t stick around either.
“Thanks a lot!” I glare into Archer’s face, mere inches from my own. “You humiliated me! Are you happy?”
“Happy he’s not touching you when you’re too wasted to consent? Yeah. I am happy.”
“So you can get drunk and have—” I can’t bring myself to saysex. “—and hook up with whoever you want, but I can’t even let a boy kiss me without you beating him into the ground?”
“It’s not the same thing,” he growls. “He was taking—”
“Advantage of me?” I shake my head. “And what exactly were you and Sienna doing tonight? Playing Scrabble? Because she wasn’t sober. In fact, she was snorting lines off the coffee table with the commitment of a housewife in the candle aisle at HomeGoods.” I pause for a loaded beat of silence. “Or did you think I didn’t know that you slept with her?”
Archer actually flinches.
Good.
I’m glad I still have the power to wound him. God knows he’s hurt me enough, tonight. Glaring into his face, I try to read the emotions in his eyes but he shields them from me, staring fixedly over my shoulder. He offers me nothing — no answers, no apologies, no explanations.
I’d hit him again, if he weren’t still holding my hands.
“Right, I forgot! Silly me!” I try to laugh, but my voice cracks pathetically. “The rules don’t apply whenyou’rethe one getting some.”
He expels a frustrated sigh. “I’m not fighting with you about this, Jo.”
“Well you sure as hell had a lot of opinions a few minutes ago!” I shake my head. “You know what? I don’t even care what you have to say. Spare me your sexist, double-standard bullshit.”
His furious gaze snaps to mine. “Then spare me the doe-eyed innocent act. You know as well as I do that these guys are just looking for a warm body. Forgive me if I don’t want my best friend winding up one more meaningless notch in their belts.”
“Ryan isn’t like that!”
“Ryan Snyder is exactly like that. These guys… they’re my teammates, and they’re decent enough to spend an afternoon at the batting cages with. Beyond that, they’re not winning any prizes for chivalry. They’ll fuck anything with a pulse. For all I know, they made a bet out of it — first to nail Valentine gets bragging rights.”
Ouch.
My stomach drops to my feet. I reel back, desperate for some space, only to realize I’m still a captive. His hold on me is stronger than iron — and I’m not just talking about his hands on my wrists.
“So that’s all this was?” I ask flatly.
“Allwhatwas?”
“One friend looking out for another.” I stare at him, too worked up to hold back.
His gaze flickers back and forth across my face, reading me like a book. “What else would it be, Jo?”
“You tell me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“And I don’t know why you can’t just admit it!”
“Admit what?”