“How am I ever supposed to get past something like that,” Ryan snarled. “Tell me how she’s supposed to get past that. Do you know that just last night before dinner I magnanimously told her that I forgave her? That I wanted us to forget the past and move forward and that I forgave her for cheating on me.”

He broke off and laughed a dry, harsh laugh.

“Yeah, from the start I’ve been all about being the bigger person and wanting to start over when all along I treated her so unforgivably. She came to me for help, for protection, because I was the one person she counted on, and I turned my back on her.”

Ryan turned away as his composure slipped. Tears burned his eyes. Angry, furious tears. He wanted to ram his fist into the wall. He wanted to roar with rage.

His friends flanked him, each slipping a hand over his shoulder.

“I don’t know what to say,” Devon said quietly. “I know you love her.”

“Yeah, I did, do, always have. I loved her and yet I did this to her. How is she ever going to be able to trust me again?”

“Someone needs to beat the hell out of that little bastard,” Cam growled.

Ryan slowly raised his head, his face set in stone. “He’ll never ever come close to her again. I’m going to kill him.”

“Damn,” Devon muttered. “Look, I know you’re pissed and you have every right to be, but don’t do anything stupid. He deserves to have his ass kicked, but don’t do anything to land yourself in jail. Kelly needs you. You can’t help her if you’re behind bars.”

“I can’t let him get away with it,” Ryan said. “He touched her. He violated her. He hurt her.”

“I’m going with you,” Cam said tersely.

Ryan shook his head.

“You don’t get a choice. It’s either I go with you or I’m calling the police. The difference is, I’ll let you beat the crap out of him. But I won’t let you kill him. The police aren’t going to let you touch him. So what’ll it be?”

Ryan’s lip curled into a snarl.

Devon sighed. “You should see yourself, man. It’s a good thing Kelly is sleeping. Whatever it is you need to do, you need to get it done so that when she wakes up you can be the support she needs. You’ll just scare her to death if she sees you like this.”

“Devon can stay with Kelly,” Cam volunteered. “I’ll go with you to confront Jarrod. Then you can get your ass back here where you belong and put this whole thing behind you.”