His hand snaked around the side of my dress so that he could pull me closer toward him. The movement jerked my body so that my drink sloshed over the rim of the cup onto the floor.

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"Josh, seriously, cut it out," I demanded, putting my empty hand up to his chest to try and push him away from me.

"Kinsley, relax. Let's have some fun." He started to tug at the base of my dress and the guys stirred around us. Aggression filled the air and I knew they were itching to get involved.

"No, Josh. Enough." I pushed him away again, harder this time, and his brown eyes clouded over in hate. In a matter of seconds his entire demeanor changed.

"You're such a fucking ice queen, Kinsley," he spat, finally releasing me with a shove. My drink spilled out over the front of my dress, but I couldn’t break my eye contact with Josh. "I never loved you, bitch. I just wanted to get in your pants—"

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Liam’s fist connected with Josh's jaw midsentence, and I gasped and stumbled back. Liam was standing directly in front of me, blocking me from Josh.

"Don't you ever fucking talk to her again.

Do you hear me?" Liam grabbed Josh's shirt and pulled him close again. Their sharp features clashed against one another. Josh’s boyish handsomeness was muted next to Liam’s sheer dominance.

Josh struggled out of Liam’s hold and then lunged forward and punched Liam in the side. It was a weak hit, he was too drunk to get a good shot in, but it was enough to get the entire group of men involved. They sprung into action and the entire scene was a blur of punches and groans. I watched in shocked horror as Liam landed a solid punch 536/890

to Josh’s face right before the guys pried them off one another.

"Don't kid yourself, Wilder,” Josh said as his dilated eyes connected with mine. There was so much hate sitting behind them. “She won't love you either. She's incapable of love.

She's fucking cold-hearted."

Josh’s words were like sharp, poisoned arrows. He was clearly speaking thoughts that had been swirling in his head for weeks.

"Maybe she didn't love you because you were too busy fucking girls behind her back, asshole. Don't ever fucking touch her again or so help me—"

Penn's voice broke in. "Guys. Enough.

This is a party, not an underground fight club. Josh, get out of here and go clean yourself up."

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Cole stepped forward and grabbed Josh by the back of the neck. "I'll take him home.

Let's go, rookie." Cole pushed Josh forward and he stumbled a bit, trying to stay standing. He was shitfaced, no one would have argued that fact, but that was still no excuse for the things he’d said.

“That kid needs to learn some respect,"

Oliver mumbled gruffly as he let go of Liam and stepped away.

Liam was still riled up; he shook his arms out and exhaled sharply as he watched Josh head toward the front door. I could feel the energy burning off of him and I was stuck between wanting to move closer and wanting to run away. Everything had happened so fast and the only thing my brain could process was the fact that Liam had 538/890

stood up for me. He'd put himself between me and Josh, his teammate.

He slowly spun around to face me. He surveyed my expression and then dragged his eyes down my body to assess the damage.

His shoulders dropped and his hands un-clenched. His brows unfurled ever so slightly and he swallowed down the last of his anger.

I wanted to reach out and touch him, to feel the residual warmth on his skin and feel where Josh had mistakenly attempted to fight back. Was Liam injured?

I stepped forward a microstep just as Becca propped herself in front of me and blocked my view of him with her golden hair and concerned eyes.

"Kinsley, are you okay? Did Josh hurt you?" she asked, pulling my arms away from 539/890

my sides so she could inspect them. My body was fine; it was my nerves and pride that were frayed.

I shook my head as if realizing for the first time that I was still standing in the middle of a party. Every single person in the room had heard Josh shouting about me being an ice queen. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, and suddenly I wanted to be anywhere but there.

“Becca, can we get out of here?” Before I knew it, she was pulling me away from the living room.

"This is one of Penn's guest rooms,"

Becca said as she pushed open one of the doors down the hall. It was decorated spar-ingly, but the bed looked comfortable and 540/890

there was a photo of the Los Angeles skyline framed on one wall.

"Thanks. I just needed some air for a second." I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my hands up and down my arms.

Becca sat next to me, angled so that she could inspect my body for any remnants of Josh's grabby hands. "I can't believe he said that stuff. But he was drunk, Kinsley, he didn't mean any of it."

I held up my hand to stop her. "It doesn't matter. Josh sucks ass. He was fun to have around as a friend, but he's a truly terrible boyfriend."

"And a lousy drunk," Becca added.

I nodded and sighed. "Do I look like crap? Should we just cut our losses and leave?"

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Becca's face fell. She pushed a few strands of her golden hair behind her ear and furrowed her brows. "Not yet. Seriously, Josh is gone and no one else will bother you."

"I know, but everyone heard that fight.

There were so many people out there."

She set her mouth in a thin line and her hazel eyes locked onto me. "You shouldn't feel embarrassed because Josh is an asshole.

No one will judge you. Besides, they’re probably too busy talking about how cute me and Penn are. The Liam, Josh, and Kinsley love triangle is so 20 minutes ago.” I couldn’t help but laugh. I hoped she was right, but I still frowned thinking about having to resurface in a few minutes. For someone who hates having their personal life 542/890

in the public eye, that was about as bad as it could get. One hundred strangers looking on as my ex-boyfriend verbally assaulted me and then having two men grapple over me.

The latter sounded semi-romantic, but it actually made my skin crawl. I felt like I was on display and I could just hear everyone buzzing about the fight for the rest of the party.

I groaned and pushed off the bed to in-vestigate the damage. My bright blue eyes stared back at me in the bathroom mirror as I tried to piece myself back together. It could have been worse, I told myself. Liam was relatively unscathed and Josh was the same ol’

jerk. Nothing new to report there.

Becca came to stand next to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

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"I'm glad I curled your hair. It still looks really good," she complimented, trying to turn my mind toward something else.

I smiled at her in the mirror. "Let's go ruin it in the pool. No one was outside earlier, and that way we can stay at the party but avoid having to listen to the gossip."

Becca grinned and then spun around to grab two towels from a rack behind her.

"Let's do it!"

We linked arms and left the guest room.

People could talk all they wanted, but I wasn't going to let them ruin my night. When we headed back into the living room, I was surprised to find the party was starting to dwindle. There were still a few people there, milling about, but the bartender was 544/890

breaking down his setup and the music wasn't streaming through the speakers anymore.

"Isn't it kinda early still?" I asked Becca as we passed through the living room. I didn't see Liam anywhere, but I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck thinking about the fact that he was still in the house somewhere.