Chapter 21

Marie’s POV

Luke gets between them so fast I barely see him move — one hand flat on Tristan's chest, the other on Dean's, physically wedging himself into the space neither of them was going to give up on their own.

"Okay. Okay! Chill, guys, come on." He pauses, examining them. "Both of you, walk it off. Seriously."

For a second neither of them moves. Then Tristan steps back first, hands up, something dark still working behind his eyes even as his mouth curves back into something almost like a smile.

"Sure," he says. "Whatever you want, birthday boy."

He turns toward me before I've fully processed that the moment's over, and his hand roughly closes around my wrist, pulling me half a step closer to him in front of everyone.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Tristan—"

Dean's hand lands on his shoulder and hauls him back before I finish the se