It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

“My biggest fan.” I nudge my head toward the back door, so Ryle starts
walking in that direction.
The kitchen begins to buzz again, everyone ignoring Ryle’s intrusion.
Everyone but Darin. “You need me to do something?”
I shake my head. “I’ll be fine.”
Ryle pushes open the back door so hard, it slams against the outside wall.
What a piece of work. I head in that direction, but as soon as I open the
back door and walk onto the back steps, Ryle comes at me from the left. He
knocks me off the steps, and then, when I try to stand up, he punches me.
It’s a good punch, too. I’ll give him that.
Fuck.
I wipe my mouth and stand up, thankful he’s at least giving me room to do
that. It’s not really a fair advantage when one person is on the ground when
the punching begins. But Ryle doesn’t seem like the type to play fair.
He’s about to hit me again, but I back up and he ends up tripping. He
pushes off the ground, and when he’s back on his feet, he stares at me,
fuming. He doesn’t seem to be in attack mode in the moment.
“You done?” I ask him.
He doesn’t respond, but I don’t think he’ll lunge for me again. Ryle
straightens his shirt and smirks. “I liked it better when you fought back last
time.”
I struggle not to roll my eyes. “I have no desire to fight you.”
He pops his neck and starts to pace. He has so much anger in him, I can’t
imagine what this must be like for Lily when she has to witness it. He’s
breathing heavily, his hands on his hips, his eyes piercing me like knives. I
don’t just see anger in his expression. I see a hell of a lot of pain.
I sometimes try to put myself in Ryle’s shoes, but as much as I struggle to
stand in them, they don’t fit. They never will, because there isn’t a single
human in history with a past misfortunate enough to excuse beating the
person you’re supposed to protect.
“Just say whatever it is you came here to say.”
Ryle wipes blood away from his knuckles with his shirt, and I notice his
hand is swollen. It looks like he was punching things before he showed up
and hit me. I’m glad I know Lily is okay, or he wouldn’t be walking away in
the same condition he showed up in.
“You think I don’t know the lawyer was your idea?” he says.