Taylor’s gaze flicks to mine and she sucks in a breath when she sees me. She momentarily stops walking and then turns and faces Reis, cowering away from me. He looks over at me to see what’s thrown her off course and she wraps his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. What the fuck? Reis whispers something near her ear, and she nods, pressing her face into his shoulder. He pats her on the back.  Jealousy spikes through me. And feeling jealous of my little brother with my girl is not an emotion I tolerate well. I ball my hands into fists, trying to get myself under control before I go over there and rip her away from him. I don’t like seeing her in someone else’s arms. I now sort of get why she always felt jealous about me with other girls.

A few seconds later, Taylor releases herself from Reis’ hold and without looking in my direction again, goes to sit with MJ. Reis heads over toward me.

“What the fuck was that?”

“This is hard for her, Colt. She didn’t think you’d be here since we heard you’re not fighting.”

As much as I hated seeing her being comforted by someone else, I hate even more that it’s hard for her to see me. She used to run into my arms. Now she can’t even look my direction. It kills me that Reis knows more about her than I do. “Tell me what’s going on with her.”

“You two are both idiots. She’s convinced you cheated on her with Bria. And you’ve let her slip through your fingers. And into mine,” he adds under his breath.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

He looks me straight in the eye, his tone serious. “You weren’t here. I took care of her.”

“I asked you to make sure she was okay, not to fucking put the moves on her!” I take a step closer, blood pumping through my veins. “Did you touch her?”

Reis swallows and looks down.

“Did. You. Touch. Her. Answer the fucking question.”

He swallows, and still looking at the ground, says, “She wanted me to.”

A wave of nausea courses through me. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“We kissed. Once,” Reis says, unable to look me in the eye.

A hot rage rips through my chest. My own brother, who I trusted with Taylor kissed her. That little fucking snake. “When?” I growl.

“At my dance.” All color has drained from his face.

Now her breaking up with me makes more sense. It was the night of the dance. She wanted to be with Reis. And they’ve been hiding it from me.

I don’t even think, I just react, letting my anger erupt. I shove him. Hard. He stumbles back several steps.

I come at him again and take a swing. Reis doesn’t even try to stop me and I connect hard with his jaw.

People gather around us, but I tune everything out but Reis and the betrayal that floods through me. He blocks my next hit, a left hook, but I land a right uppercut and he loses his balance at the unexpected hit. He stays down, and then I’m on top of him, pounding his face over and over until I realize he’s stopped moving and Taylor is screaming for me to stop.

Taylor

I see something in Colt snap. His control is gone. He takes a swing at Reis, which is so unexpected; he easily connects with his jaw. Reis stumbles back several steps, but once he’s caught his balance, he stands his ground, watching Colt.

My stomach drops to my toes. I grip MJs hand and she squeezes mine back, holding me in place.

Reis grips Colt around the waist trying to drive him toward the ground. Colt won’t go down easily and turns on Reis, pining him underneath him. Once Reis is down, Colt slams several punches straight into Reis’ face.

I watch as Colt slams his fist into Reis’ jaw. The pain shudders through me as though I was the one hit. It slams into me. A primal scream rips through my throat. Tears steam down my face.

I free myself from MJs hold and cut through the crowd, pushing bodies out of my way, heading straight for the center of the ring. All eyes are on me as the noise level in the barn drops to a whisper. Colt stops at the sound of my screaming, his face is a mess of pain, anger, and hurt.

I pull Colt off of Reis, gripping his shoulders and pushing him back. They’ve both stopped struggling and watch me with concern. Reis’ lip is split and bleeding. His eye is swollen and puffy. Colt is out of breath, but doesn’t appear hurt.

I hate myself. I’ve driven them to this moment.  I drop to my knees beside Reis, still crying. Colt gets up and storms away, slamming the door open loudly as he exits the barn.

The party atmosphere dies away and people begin to filter out. I sink to Reis’ side, crying too hard to even talk as I inspect him.

“I’m okay.” He sits up and attempts a smile. “Shh. Don’t cry, Taylor.”

“This is my fault!” I sob into his neck.

He stands and pulls me to my feet. He brings a hand to my face and with just his trembling fingertips, brushes away the tears coating my cheeks. “Go to him.”

He turns to leave without another word, heading out the opposite side of the barn.

I drop my head and let the tears flow. Even though I hate seeing Reis hurt, I realize my pain isn’t entirely for Reis. I feel for Colt too, driven to fight his own brother over my actions. I’d hurt them both. My feelings for Reis in this moment are nothing compared to what I feel for Colt.

A few minutes later, I wipe my face and notice MJ and a few others are still in the barn, but pretty much everyone else is gone. I should feel embarrassed, ashamed, something, but I just feel numb. Alone. Completely alone. I head toward the door, but MJ grabs my hand, preventing me from going out after either Colt or Reis. Her eyes implore mine, filled with worry.

“Don’t Taylor. Don’t you dare go after either one of them. What happened to the strong, independent girl that signed up for college classes and swore off Colt’s bullshit?”

“If you hadn’t noticed – Reis just got his ass kicked because of me. How selfish would that make me to not see if he’s okay?” I shrug out of her grasp, only to stop dead in my tracks. Logan is the darkened corner of the barn, pressed up against a guy I don’t recognize. They’re kissing, quite enthusiastically. Holy crap!

I turn to MJ. “Did you know?” I don’t mean the accusing tone in my voice, it just comes out that way.

“Of course. Anyone with functioning eyeballs could see that he’s been trying to come out. But you’ve been so damned wrapped up with those brother’s, you’ve not noticed anything. Get your head out of your ass, Taylor.” She stomps away, leaving me standing alone in the center of the barn.

I have to check on Reis. He was bloody and battered when the fight ended, but lifted himself up and staggered from the barn. He shouldn’t be alone right now. Besides, I feared Colt’s reaction had something to do with my kiss with Reis.

I find Reis sitting outside up against the side of the barn, his head in his hands. It’s started raining, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care that he’s getting wet.

I kneel beside him and he lifts his head at the intrusion. His features are a mix of pain, worry and regret. I smooth my thumb over the crease in his forehead and he relaxes ever so slightly. His face is a mess. Busted lip, swollen eye, bloody nose, and a big gash in his cheek. “Are you okay?” Damn Colt did a number on him.

“I’ve been better.” He attempts a smile and his busted lip oozes fresh blood.

I swallow down a sob. I can’t help that I’m still crying. Seeing Colt attack Reis like that was intense. And knowing Reis is hurt physically, and Colt is hurt emotionally because of me just sucks.

“Don’t cry, Shrimp.” He catches a tear on my cheek with his thumb. “There’s a reason I didn’t fight back, I probably deserved what happened in there.”

“How can you say that?”

He takes a deep breath. “I told him I kissed you. And he was right to hit me. It’s like guy code,” he explains at my confused expression. “Everything will be fine now, you’ll see.”