The party is chaos. The fire blazes too high, bottles crash in the sand, and the fight breaks out so fast I don’t even see who throws the first punch. People scream and shove, and before I know it, I’m caught in the surge, someone slamming into me so hard I stumble into the fray.

My stomach drops — I’m about to be swallowed by it.

Then a hand grips my wrist like iron.

“Move,” Rafe growls, his voice cutting through the noise.

Before I can blink, he’s dragging me out, yanking me so hard my feet barely keep up. We don’t stop until the bonfire is nothing but a glow behind us, waves crashing hard in the dark. He spins on me, eyes blazing.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” His voice is sharp, furious, like he’s about to split open. “You could’ve been crushed in there!”

Anger rises hot in my throat. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare yell at me like you care.”

His jaw tightens, his chest rising and falling like he just fought the ocean itself. “I don’t care.”

The words sting, but I laugh, bitter and wild. “Right. You don’t care. That’s why you threw yourself into a fight to drag me out. That’s why you always do.” I step closer, my voice shaking but defiant. “If you don’t care, then why are you always there, Rafe?”

He takes a step into me, so close the heat of his body smothers the night air. His eyes are dark, sharp, dangerous. “Because you’re Sarah’s friend,” he spits. “That’s it. Don’t make it into something it’s not.”

I shove at his chest, frustration burning through me. “Bullshit! If it was just about Sarah, you’d let me go! You’d stay out of it!” My voice breaks, but I don’t stop. “So why can’t you?”

His nostrils flare, his hands flex like he’s fighting the urge to grab me all over again. “You don’t get it,” he snaps. “You don’t know what I am. You don’t know what this is.”

“Then tell me!” I shout, my voice raw. “Tell me why you keep saving me when all you do is push me away. Tell me why you can’t stay the hell out of my life!”

His jaw tightens, chest heaving. Then, cold and sharp:

“You’re annoying. You think you matter to me? You don’t. You never did.”

I feel my chest tighten, tears stinging my eyes. My lips quiver, but I manage to whisper, “You’re impossible…”

He glares at me one last time, voice low and dangerous: “Fine. That’s how it is. Take it or leave it.”

Then he turns and storms into the dark, leaving me standing in the sand, hurt, furious, and almost crying.