over to the window. I recognized the truck as Isaac’s and wondered if he’d decided to bring back someone for the night but wanted to use one of the cabins instead of taking her into his room at the main house.
I didn’t blame him. I couldn’t imagine trying to have sex with someone knowing that my parents were right down the hall.
Then I realized who was with him, and my stomach clenched. When Nyx kissed him, I started to turn away because I didn’t want to see that, not even when I was as mad at her as I was. Except more movement kept me watching.
Isaac wasn’t kissing her back, and it looked like she was pissed about it.
She wasn’t staggering, but I didn’t doubt that she’d been drinking. It didn’t take much for me to put together that Isaac had found her at the bar he’d mentioned going to, and he’d brought her back here because she was drunk. Not because he planned to sleep with her.
I could hear her yelling, though not the words, and I was out the door before I realized what I was doing. I trusted Isaac not to take advantage of Nyx and not to hurt her, but I still felt a wave of protectiveness wash over me, and I kept walking.
Halfway to her, I remembered that I was just in a pair of boxers, but I wasn’t about to go back to put on clothes and shoes. Who knew what would happen in that short amount of time?
“Fuck you, Isaac. You and the horse you rode in on.”
Under other circumstances, I would’ve found that funny, but I could see her spiraling, and protecting her from herself took priority. I stepped between her and Isaac, my hands up with palms out in case she decided to throw a punch. Considering how we’d left things, physical violence wasn’t completely out of the question.
“What the fuck do you want?” Nyx put her hands on her hips and glared at me.
“I can take it from here, Isaac.” I didn’t look away from the raging woman, even though I was talking to the man behind me.
Nyx scowled. “I don’t need to be taken care of, asshole.”
Clearly, alcohol hadn’t made her forget that we were pissed at each other.
“Let me get you inside, Nyx,” Isaac said. “You shouldn’t be wandering around out here when it’s dark.”
“I’m not a child, Isaac. Fuck off.”
Isaac sighed, and I was tempted to roll my eyes.
“Go ahead back to the house, Isaac.” I turned just enough to show him the seriousness on my face. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.”
She was muttering things under her breath that I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear, but I ignored her for the moment because Isaac stepped closer. “I can handle her.” His voice was low. “You don’t need to play superhero, Bradyn.”
I liked Isaac. I really did. He was a good guy, and he treated his parents well. Any man or woman would be lucky to have him.
Except Nyx.
She was here under false pretenses and had lied to his parents. That was the reason why. It had nothing to do with the fact that I still wanted her despite all that.
“I’m not playing hero,” I said. “Just trust me on this. It’ll be better if I deal with drunk Nyx.”
“All right, I’ll go.” He paused, his finger coming close to my face. “If you take advantage of her, I’ll cut your balls off and use them as Halloween decorations.”
“Thanks for that imagery,” I said dryly.
A moment later, the gravel crunched as Isaac walked back to his car. I waited until he drove away to speak to Nyx. The fact that she was still standing there, glowering at me, was yet more proof that she’d had too much to drink. If she’d been sober, she would’ve been either slamming the door in my face or cussing me out.
“Tomorrow morning, you’re going to feel pretty stupid for yelling at Isaac the way you did.” I shoved all ten fingers through my hair. “He’ll forgive you for it. The Huxleys are good people that way.”
“I wouldn’t have said any of it if he had just kissed me back.” Her tone was petulant.
“I think, tomorrow, you’ll be glad he didn’t.” My voice was tight. “You should really go sleep it off. Alone.”
She made a sound that I, belatedly, recognized as some sort of laugh. Not the real laugh I’d heard before. This one was filled with a