Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,97
own. “If you’d move on, Mr. Biles, my friend and I were in the middle of something.”
His brows went up and he barked out a laugh. “Your friend? You’ve forgotten that I’ve looked into your friend here. He’s a bodyguard. It’s likely the whole boyfriend thing was just a sham to begin with.”
He tutted his tongue before moving his gaze back to mine. “Mighty unprofessional of you to be sticking your tongue into a client’s mouth and beating up an old friend of hers. Aren’t relationships frowned upon by you people?”
“We have no comment for you, Nathan,” I said. “Go find your next story elsewhere.”
There was only the slightest movement, but I noticed his hands coming out of his pockets. He took a step toward me, outstretched fingers reaching for where my neck would’ve been if I hadn’t moved out of the way as soon as I saw him coming.
“You’d better speak to me if you know what’s good for you,” he spat. “I can crush your airway easily and I know things about you that you wouldn’t like me sharing with the public.”
I laughed his threat off. “Dude, you’re crazy. You’re nowhere near my airway and you’ve already spun your vitriol.”
He glowered at me, his eyes spitting fire and writing checks I already knew his body and skills couldn’t cash. “You and Rylee think you’re so untouchable, but let me tell you something. You’re not. You’re not above the rest of us. You’re no—”
“Enough,” I said quietly but evidently loudly enough for him to hear me. He shut his trap, still glaring at me through eyes so narrow they were little more than slits. “No one here thinks they’re better than anyone else. You need to back away from us and butt out of Rylee’s life. I have no idea why you’re so obsessed with her, but it won’t end well for you.”
“Are you threatening me?” he asked, taking a step forward. He glanced at Bart before bringing his gaze back to mine. “If you are, you’d best be willing to follow through. I’m not scared of you or your little sidekick here.”
“Little?” Bart echoed incredulously. “Only one of us is little, dude. It’s not me and it’s not Carter. Guess who that leaves?”
“You think you can get me to take that bait?” The laugh that left Nathan’s mouth sounded more than a little unhinged.
The hair on my arms and the back of my neck rose. I exhaled through my nostrils. “I’ve already told you and I’ll say it again. Leave, Biles. We have no comment for you.”
His chest rose and fell on heavy breaths, but he seemed to have realized that Bart wasn’t kidding when he said Nathan was the smallest out of all three of us. The guy had some length to him, but we were taller. He also filled out his fitted suit, which hinted at the fact that he was packing some strength underneath it, but he was nothing compared to us.
I wasn’t even just being cocky about it. Bart and I were objectively bigger, and we were together while Nathan was alone.
His nostrils flared before his eyes narrowed again, pinned to mine like he was issuing a final warning. “Rylee’s MS is going to take her down. She should’ve been honest instead of bullshitting people all these years. Her fans have the right to know. She gave them that right when she stepped into the limelight the first time.”
“Public figures have a right to privacy,” I said, my tone sharp. “If there’s any truth in all the things you’ve been writing, the decent thing to have done would’ve been to let her come out about it in her own time.”
“Her own time?” He scoffed. “She’s too much of a coward pretending to be a star to have come clean with anything in her own time.”
Yeah. Okay. That’s it.
Bart stepped between us just before my fist went up. He arched a brow at me. “As much as I’d love to see you whooping this guy’s ass again, he’s not worth it. He’s leaving.”
He swung around to face Nathan. “Take my advice, Biles. Leave. Now.”
I couldn’t see the look on Bart’s face but Nathan eventually huffed and walked away, muttering about how he didn’t want another chipped tooth. When my boss and best friend turned back to me, he folded his arms over his chest.
“Are you clear on the routes for this evening?” he asked.