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Ripley~
Roark had texted me earlier to help him with restocking some wood, and they must have gotten into all kinds of shit last night to fuck with the wood pile. However, everything had been going fine until we’d heard shouting coming from inside the cabin.
When Roark and I had taken off back inside the cabin, we’d been met with the sight of Paul standing next to Junie, Leslie raging in front of them, and Bruce looking like shit but very concerned. It was anger at seeing Paul standing so close to Junie that had me yelling like a fool at the top of my lungs.
Leslie turned at me, then snarled, “Your girlfriend is trying to steal my fiancé back.”
Junie choked out a dark laugh. “You’re just as crazy as your boyfriend,” she bit out. “The last thing that I’d ever do is go back to a cheating asshole.”
“What the hell is going on?” Démon asked as she came out of Bruce’s room, and he quickly wrapped an arm around her.
“Fuck, seriously,” Phineas grumbled, and now we were all gathered in the spacious living room floor. Sheridan was walking out behind Phin, and those two hickeys on his rib cage were nothing compared to what he’d done to mark her as taken.
“Junie was trying to get Paul back,” Leslie repeated, but there was no way that anyone would believe her. Even if Junie and I weren’t starting something special, there’s no way that Junie would go back to Paul after everything that he’d done to her.
“The hell I was,” Junie fired back. “Paul was trying to get me back, Leslie. Whether you want to admit it or not, that’s what’s going on.”
“Seriously,” Sheridan huffed. “Why would she try to get Paul back when she has Ripley?”
I immediately snapped out of my shock, then walked over and grabbed Junie. Not caring about an audience, I asked her, “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, but there was something in her eyes that started bothering me deep in my gut. “No,” she answered. “He just...he grabbed my arm, but-”
I turned away from her before she could even finish her sentence. “You motherfucker,” I growled right before I went for him. Paul jumped back, but he wasn’t quick enough. I had my fist smashing the left side of his face before anyone could stop me. “You fucking touched her!” I roared as I came back with my left, knocking him on his ass.
“Paul!” someone cried, and I was guessing that it was Leslie, but the blood rushing through my ears had me hearing nothing but the sounds of Paul’s skin splitting and his bones crushing under the force of my fists. I didn’t care if he sued me later or not. No way would I ever let another man touch my girl and not kick his fucking ass for it.
“Ripley!”
“Rip, man, c’mon!”
“Oh, God...”
“Paul...oh, God...Paul!”
I couldn’t be sure how long I was on him, but it took Roark, Phineas, and Bruce all to get me off him. “I’ll fucking kill you!” I promised as the guys were dragging me back. “You ever go near my girl again, and I will fucking kill you!”
Leslie threw herself on the floor next to Paul, her sobs silencing everyone in the room. Sheridan and Démon were huddled next to each other near the fireplace, but I didn’t care about them. My eyes flew around the room until they landed on Junie near the kitchen counter. She was wide-eyed and breathing harder than she should be.
I shook the guys off, then went to her, not caring that Paul was bleeding all over the floor. “Baby,” I whispered as I hauled her into my arms.
“Ripley, you got blood on you, man,” Roark said as he tried to pull me back from her. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
While I didn’t care about the blood, Junie might. Turning back, I looked over at Leslie helping Paul to his feet, and it was frightening how much I wanted that motherfucker dead. “Get the fuck out of my house,” I spat viciously. “You have five minutes before I throw you both the fuck out.”
“Look what you did to him!” Leslie cried as Paul did his best to stand upright. “What is wrong with you?!”
“He shouldn’t have put his hands on my girl,” I snapped back.
Bruce made his way over towards Paul and Leslie. “Here, let’s help you guys get going,” he muttered. “I think it’s safe to say that it’s finally time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Leslie spewed at him.
“Oh, c’mon, Leslie,” Sheridan drawled out from where she was still huddled with Démon. “You slept with Junie’s boyfriend while they were still together. Then you have enough nerve to show up here, announce it like a first-time pregnancy, then expect us to be happy for you and even plan your wedding with you. Are you insane?”
Instead of addressing Sheridan, Leslie turned her wrath on Junie, and the truth spilled out like an overturned cement truck. “This is all your fault!” she yelled.
“My fault?” Junie took a step towards her, but I grabbed her arm and held her back. We both didn’t need to get arrested and/or sued.
“Yes, your fault,” Leslie repeated. “Everyone loves Junie. Everyone always sides with Junie.” Her face was red with jealous rage, and it had everyone taken aback a bit. All these years, it’d been believed that Leslie was Junie’s friend, but that’s not what we were seeing now. “As if it’s not enough that Roark protects you like a goddamn guard dog, Bruce is always singing your praises, and Paul goes and falls in love with you, giving you the perfect relationship. Then, as soon as Ripley comes into the picture, he immediately falls in love with you, too.”
“Are you insane?” Junie shrieked. “Roark is my best friend. Of course, he’s going to protect me when needed. Bruce is a good guy and sings everyone’s praises, not just mine. And my relationship with Paul was far from perfect if he was out fucking you. And Ripley? Ripley didn’t fall in love with me at first sight, Leslie, so quit being dramatic.”
“Oh, please,” she scoffed. “When I hit on him a couple of years ago, he didn’t turn me down because I’m not hot.”
Wow.
“You truly are insane,” Démon remarked, shocked realization lacing every word. “And jealous like one of those reality housewives.”
I stepped up behind Junie, then placed my bloody hands on her shoulders. “Get out,” I repeated. “I don’t care what’s going on in that crazy brain of yours, Leslie. I just want the both of you out of my house. Now.”
“C’mon,” Bruce muttered. “Let’s get you guys out of here before shit really gets ugly.”
I wasn’t sure how much uglier things could get, but as long as he got those two fuckers out of my house, I wasn’t going to question it.
Once they were back in their room, I turned Junie around to face me. “Are you okay?”
She opened her mouth to say something, but it looked like she quickly changed her mind. “You should probably get your hands cleaned up. It might not be all his blood.”
The unaffected way that she delivered her statement gave me cause for concern. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Junie shot Roark a look, and when I turned to look at my brother, his face was a dead giveaway that there was something more going on than that shit with Paul and Leslie. They were having some sort of silent conversation with their eyes, and I had never resented my brother’s friendship with Junie the way that I did at this moment.
“What’s going on?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest, not caring about Paul’s blood.
Junie’s brown eyes flew back my way, her teeth gnawing at her bottom lip. After a bit, she finally said, “We need to talk.”
“Okay,” I replied carefully. “About what?”
She jerked her head towards Roark. “Better to get this all done in one fell swoop,” she muttered cryptically. Roark just shook his head, but he was already in step to follow behind her.
Like a chump, I followed my brother and Junie back up to our bedroom, leaving Phineas, Bruce, Sheridan, and Démon on their own to deal with the Paul/Leslie aftermath.
Once we were in the room, I shut the door, looked between my brother and Junie, then asked, “So, what’s going on?”
Roark shrugged. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m here for the big reveal, same as you.”
I looked at Junie. “Well?”
“I know about the baby, Ripley,” she announced, and I had no idea what the fuck she meant.
What fucking baby?
