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“It’s not Stewart,” I say, trying in part to redeem myself in my brother’s eyes by not letting an innocent be accused of my crimes.

“I’m telling you, I’m not making this up. I’ve known her for twenty years. She got laid.” Ethan’s eyes are growing darker the more he talks about it.

“I know. I’m just saying… it’s not Stewart. It’s me.”

All four pairs of eyes turn to me, accusingly.

“You what?” Luke asks.

A muscle ticks in Ethan’s jaw as he stares at me, dumbfounded.

“Look, you were making out with Charlotte in front of everyone at the game on Sunday… Amelia was upset, so I invited her to my apartment.”

“So, the woman the entire pub heard screaming your name was Amelia?” Garrett asks.

I nod. But I keep my eyes locked with Ethan as I answer. “She left very satisfied.”

“Fuck, Blake!” Luke exclaims.

Ethan’s face scrunches, his cheeks turning red. “How dare you?”

In a flash, Ethan sprints forward, pulling his fist back. I step to the side as Garrett and Bryce jump on Ethan. When his fist swings forward, it misses my head by several inches. Garrett wraps his arms around Ethan, pulling him back, so he’s tumbling and defenseless when I counter, punching him just under his right eye.

But I don’t anticipate Luke ramming his weight into me, pressing my back into a locker, his forearm pressed against my throat.

Ethan covers his eye with his hand, and he looks like he wants to punch me back, but Garrett and Bryce pull him out of the room.

“Stay away from my wife, asshole.” He manages to scream before the door slams in his face.

“She’s not—” I start but can’t finish because Luke’s forearm pushes into my throat, cutting off my voice.

“You proud of yourself?” he asks, his face mere inches from mine.

I try to answer but his arm isn’t relaxing, making it difficult to breathe.

I push against him and he lets me go.

“How could you be so cruel?” Luke asks, folding his arms across his chest as he scowls at me.

“Ethan is a hypocrite. Amelia has as much right to move on as he does. He’ll get over it.” I rub my neck and take a deep breath.

“I’m not talking about Ethan.”

I sigh. Luke’s always been protective of Amelia. She was his sister-in-law.

“She needed this.”

He scoffs. “She needed a friend. Remember the pact we made when Wyatt died.”

We all swore that we’d never make a move on Scarlett. That she needed us all to be her friends and not screw with her.

“I didn’t think it needed to be said again for Amelia,” Luke growls.

“It’s different!”

“Why?”

Because Amelia is mine.