“Fuck no!” Rory says firmly from the bar where she’s been watching the whole thing. “Not in this bar, you won’t. You got what was coming, and if you’re going to proceed with that, I’ll come out there and punch you in the face myself.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to give myself a minute to breathe because this is quickly escalating to something I don’t want to deal with. Rory never involves herself in bar fights, but if she’s so publicly voicing her desire to join in, something nasty must have happened, and it’s not just a bar fight as someone reported.
“So what? No one is allowed to have an opinion around here? Or does the local law protect only the locals?” He suddenly turns toward Josie and points his free hand at her. “You shouldn’t even be here, looking like you’re just asking to be fucked.” He waves his hand at Josie and cackles while my right eye starts twitching and my hands ball into fists. “I mean, why else would a chick come to a bar in a fuckin’ hoe dress?”
I’m a second away from throwing my badge away and adding another broken bone to this asshole. I watch as Josie’s face puffs, her cheeks redden as I try to understand if she’s angry, stressed, or scared. And the fucker better pray it’s not the latter.
“It’s below the knees, you idiot!” Josie bellows from her place where Jake makes a move toward us, but she sinks her nails into his forearm, instantly stopping him. My other eye starts twitching.
“Take this trash out of my bar, Sheriff Benson.” Rory crosses her arms over her chest. “Jake is not to blame this time. This man,” she nods at the guy with the broken nose, “got real handsy while Josie was sitting at the bar having a margarita that I make specially for her, when he,” another nod at the guy, “demandedattention. Josie refused—politely, may I add—but the man didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer and got real handsy.” She raises a brow, and I feel my heart speeding up.
I place my hand on the man’s shoulder and squeeze. He lets out a squeak, and I squeeze harder.
“So Jake had to step up,” Rory continues. “That’s my statement as a witness. Now, take him out, please.”
My muscles turn rigid as Ihelphim rise to his feet while still holding his shoulders. He makes a move to get rid of me, but I drag him outside. And right to the side of the building, away from curious eyes.
When no one can see us, I take my badge off my uniform and push it into my back pocket. Then I grab the front of the man’s jacket and push him into the wall.
“What the fuck?” He sounds surprised.
“Listen here.” I lift him higher so he’s on the same level as my eyes.
“You can’t do this.” He smiles smugly, showing his bloody teeth. “You’re a fucking cop.”
I let out a dark laugh. “I’m off duty, and I’m talking to you asa concerned citizen.”
“You call this talking?” He snorts. “I knew you hillbillies were all the same.”
“Yeah, we’re all the same. We respect women in our town.” Pushing him deeper into the wall, I lean closer. “You touched my woman,” I hiss into his face. “And you have two choices. First, you go back to whatever place you crawled out from and never come to my town again. And the second option is that I break the arm that touched my woman, and then you crawl back to whatever place you came from.”
He cackles into my face without an ounce of fear.Good.I want a worthy opponent now. Ineedit. Or I’ll take it out on Jake because the fucker seemed way too comfortable with Josie.
“What are you going to do? Beat me with your badge?” Another hyena cackle.
I feel my face stretch into an evil smile. Letting go of his shirt, I quickly shift my hand over his throat, and he bares his bloody teeth.
“I see how it is.”
“Give. Me. A reason.” I put more force into my grip on his neck, feeling his pulse beating under my skin.
He brings his hands up in the air in surrender. Fuck. I hoped for another outcome. I let go of his throat and take two steps backward. He starts rubbing his neck, still smiling. “I heard you all are a bunch of mellow fuckers with you leading the pussies. They don’t know you at all, huh.” Laughing to himself, he walks past me toward the street. “You can have your whore. Ashley was right, she’s not worth it.”
I go to follow him but then stop myself, thinking about Josie still sitting in the bar. Watching him go, I make a mental note to check who that fucker is and add another fuckup to Ashley’s list.
Walking back to the bar, I slowly move my gaze from person to person, accusing every one of them for not stepping up. Only Jake did. This doesn’t happen here—women are free to do what they want, and they should all feel secure to do so. But the wave of new people somehow has made it impossible, and I’ll start fixing it.
Josie is still sitting by Jake, but she lets go of the ice and his hand—thank fuck. I walk to Rory first. She’s wiping a glass with a towel.
“Was the story true?” I ask in a grim voice.
She nods. “Every word.” Then she watches me for a few moments before the corners of her lips fall down. “Not in this bar, Ken. Not after—” She swallows and turns around so I can’t see her eyes.
“I know, Rory.”
Not my story to tell, but there’s a reason why Rory keeps her bar a safe place. Jake is my next stop. Slowly walking toward him, I find his eyes and hold his angry stare all the way until I reach them. This is probably the first time I recall him being uncomfortable. My eyes move from him to Josie and back to him. He probably notices my dark interest because he swallows and shifts his body slightly away from her.
I hold his eyes with a silent warning for a few long moments before I turn to her.
