Plié (Lost Birds Book 2)

Part 20 Fight.

"In coming." Theo muttered from where he was leaning on the counter. Cameron straightened, set his cup down next to Theo, and stepped closer to me.

"Hey, Story." Todd said.

Everything in my body suddenly tensed. I knew logically that Todd would be at this party. He was the one that invited me after all but for some reason I hadn't expected to actually see him here. Cam's arms snaked around my middle and he pulled my back flush against his front.

"Dude. It's Tori." Cam said resting his chin on the top of my head.

"It's a nickname bro." Todd said eyeing Cameron carefully. He didn't look intimidated or uncomfortable in the least. He did however appear to be annoyed.

"Tori is her nickname. Story is just disrespectful." Cam said and kissed the top of my head.

"So you're the boyfriend?" Todd asked.

"Something like that." The smirk in Cameron's voice combined with the feeling of having him pressed so close made a series of butterflies erupt in my stomach.

"You know she's fucking that other dude, Tao, right?" Todd smirked back. He was baiting Cam, or at least he thought he was until Cameron laughed.

"And?" Cam said.

My brow furrowed along with Todd's as we took in Cam's words. Maybe the alcohol had gone straight to his brain. Maybe we shouldn't be letting him talk. My eyes shot toward Theo. His glowing green eyes were watching us and there was a hint of something in his expression that made me want to shiver. It had intrigue and humor written all over it. A very faint smirk of approval touched his lips and my breath caught. It was more than humor. It was mischief.

"What the hell?" Todd asked. "Why do you let someone else fuck your girl?"

"Not that it's any of your business..." Cam trailed off waiting for Todd to supply his name.

"T." Todd said glaring.

"T, but in today's society we're not all closed minded and barbaric enough to demand ownership of our partners." Cam said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Todd demanded.

"It means that she can do whatever she wants and what she doesn't want is you so you need to back the hell off and leave her alone." Cam said.

My mouth popped open at Cam's blunt words. I'd never heard him take such a threatening tone with someone before. It was an insane contrast to the gentle way he was holding me around my waist.

Apparently, the threat caught Todd of guard as well. His face flashed with surprise, anger, and then something else. Maybe jelousy? It was hard to distinguish through the pleasant haze the alcohol had provided. Almost as quickly as the emotions flashed across his face they seemed to vanish and he masked it all with a cold laugh.

"Dude, I don't know what she's been telling you but I can promise you she wanted it." Todd said.

Cam shifted. I knew what he was going to do the second I saw him take a step toward Todd. Theo shifted also and fortunately for all of us he was faster than Cam. He placed him self between the two of them and my shoulders relaxed. 

"You need to back off." Theo's commanded. The gaze he leveled at Todd reminded me so much of Aydan that my spine straightened and my alcohol induced brain fog dissipated slightly. Todd shifted standing at his full height as he glared at Theo.

"Maybe you should tell him that." Todd said. "It's not my fault his girls a whore."

I heard the sharp inhale of breath. Everything slowed to a crawl. Theo tilted his head just slightly. His jaw clinched. If I had blinked I would have missed the fist that zipped through the air and caught Todd in the chin. Todd dropped. He hit the floor in a crumpled heap and the entire kitchen went silent. No body moved. It was like they were all holding their breath with me. I didn't know what to do. The tense way that Theo and Cameron stood said that even though Todd was down this wasn't over.