Thrive (Addicted, #4)(74)

“People suck!” I scream.

Connor reaches for a tabloid before Rose adds it to the others in the trash bag. He doesn’t even flip it open, not that he could. The soaked pages cling together.

“I don’t fucking care about the rumors.” Ryke extends his arms. “How many times do I have to say that?”

“I’m not a cheater! I don’t even like being an alleged cheater,” I say, my heart racing. It’ll fly out of my chest any minute now. It’s not fair to me or to Lo. He doesn’t deserve to be with “the girl who can’t close her legs.”

I point a finger at the magazines. “And I hate being called a nympho!”

“What do you want to do about it, Lil?” Lo asks, his lips near my ear. “Throw a tantrum in front of the cameras. Done. They’ve got your reaction on film.”

I go utterly still. That’s not what I wanted.

Connor clears his throat. “Or you could light this on fire.” He tosses the magazine into Rose’s trash bag. “It might be cathartic.”

My shoulders lift at the thought.

Rose gives Connor a disapproving look. “Don’t encourage her.” She drops the bag and keeps her lighter-fluid soaked hands away from her clothes. I didn’t mean for her to clean up my mess. I would have done it. Guilt bears down on me, and before I can apologize, a voice rings out from the living room.

“Are you fucking serious?!” Julian yells.

Daisy’s boyfriend has her up against the wall, his nose in her face, and his hands on either side of her head. He’s pinning her. My heart does fly out of my chest, but it’s not even because of the tabloids. Daisy…

“Do you know the hell that I went through for you?!”

Oh my god.

“HEY!” Ryke shouts. Before I can blink, he’s running, his whole demeanor changing to a furious, dark Ryke Meadows in a split second. Brett sprints beside him, keeping his camera angled to the living room in case of a fight. I try to take a step forward, but Lo won’t release me, not even for this.

“I have to help,” I whisper.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Connor follows Ryke with a hurried, determined stride. Rose is in a rush to wash her hands, and I think if it wasn’t lighter fluid, she’d say fuck it and go help Daisy on instinct.

“What’s going on?” I ask Rose.

She squirts a huge glob of soap onto her palm and talks rapidly, “We were in the middle of breaking up with Julian for Daisy.” Her eyes flicker back to the scene. “Fuck.”

“Come again?” Lo snaps.

“Yeah, what?” I ask, my pulse speeding. I flinch as Julian slams his fist into the wall beside Daisy’s head. Fear bubbles in my chest. With Connor and Ryke helping, I know she’ll be okay.

Rose’s alarmed gaze stays fixed on the fight while she scrubs harder, faster. “Daisy wanted to dump him, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I thought that if Connor and I did it for her and embarrassed her a little bit, she’d have enough sense to do it herself next time.” She adds coldly, “If I’d known you were going to have a mini-meltdown during the middle of it, I would have rescheduled.”

Ouch. “I’m sorry.”

“It could have gone bad regardless.”

At least she called my meltdown mini.

We watch Ryke grab Julian by the shoulder. He throws a well-deserved punch into Julian’s jaw, the force knocking him back a couple steps. Then Julian regains his balance and careens into Ryke, attempting to pummel him to the floor. But Connor grips Ryke’s shoulder, keeping him upright.

Rose turns off the faucet in haste, just as Ryke slams his fist into Julian’s face again.

Daisy stands petrified by the wall, and I wish I could run over to her and bring her to safety—far, far away from her ex-boyfriend.

Rose is by my side. “Get her out of there,” she says under her breath. I don’t think she’s talking to me though.

Julian cusses and stops to touch his swollen eye. His chest rises and falls heavily. I wish Ryke would knee him in the nuts.

Julian sets his sights on Daisy, his face hardened in anger. Both Rose and I start forward on instinct, and Lo reaches out, clutching our arms. I think Rose would curse him out if she wasn’t so hypnotized by the ongoing fight.

“You’re just going to fucking stand there?!” Julian yells at our sister.

“What do you want from me?” Daisy questions.

“For you to give me back months of my life that I wasted with you, you stupid cunt.”

Whoa. Everything moves so fast. Connor holds Ryke by the shoulders while he shouts a series of expletives, some I’ve never heard before. And then Lo releases Rose and me, only so he can step in to help too.

But I want him in the fight just as much as he wants me in it.

I climb onto his back so he’ll stay put.

“Go fuck someone who actually likes you, Julius!” Lo yells. “Oh wait, that leaves no one on this planet. Better go find someone who can take you to Mars, you motherfucker!”

I award him extra points for creativity.

Without Lo restraining Rose from attack, she disappears into the kitchen, retrieving a can of pepper spray in a drawer. Oh yes. She charges the living room like a warrior queen, directing the can right at Julian’s bruised face.