Page 190 of Wicked Brutal

“This.” He gestures at the couples.

Penny doesn’t even look up. “Nobody loves you. We know.”

“I am loved by many.”

Xander snorts. “Your mother doesn’t count.”

“My mother counts.”

“She legally has to.”

Iz flips him off.

Kaiden looks at me. “At least Ryan has an excuse.”

“Fuck you.”

Cat twists enough to look across the courtyard. I don’t follow her gaze. Don’t need to. I know where Ally is. I’ve known since she walked outside. She’s sitting with girls from her English class on the other side of the courtyard. Far away from me. Exactly where she’s supposed to be. Exactly where I fucking hate her being.

Cat looks back at me. “How pissed is she?”

I stab a fry into ketchup. “At the moment? Moderately.”

Iz snorts. “Meaning?”

“She isn’t actively planning my murder anymore.”

“Progress,” Penny says.

Cat studies me. “Did you actually talk?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

I glance around us. Nobody close enough. Still, I lower my voice. “She told me I was an asshole.”

Kaiden nods. “Accurate.”

“She told me I was controlling.”

Xander nods. “Also accurate.”

“She told me I don’t listen.”

Penny points a fry at me. “Extremely accurate.”

“Whose fucking side are you people on?”

“Ally’s,” Cat says immediately.

Becca smiles. “Definitely Ally’s.”

Danny looks at me. “Sorry, man.”

“You’re not.”

“Not even a little.” The humor fades a little. I look across the courtyard without moving my head enough to make it obvious. “She said I don’t get to love her so hard that I become another man making decisions for her.”