“You are such a smooth talker, Jesse. You always know the right things to say.”
I shook my head. “It’s not a line. I meant it.”
It was true. That wasn’t something I said just to impress her. Shannon didn’t need to be impressed. She needed to hear what was really in my heart, what I genuinely felt when I looked at her.
She scoffed and looked away. “Of course, you did,” she said sarcastically.
I caught her chin and eased her face back around so that she was looking at me again. I wanted her to look in my eyes and see what I was thinking and feeling.
“Seriously,” I told her, hoping she could see the sincerity. “It doesn’t matter to me where I end up. That isn’t important. As long as in the end, I’m with you.”
Shannon drew in a breath and let it out slowly, a hint of uncertainty crossing her eyes. “And if you’re not with me?”
I shrugged. “Then it isn’t the end.”
It was as simple as that. There was no ambiguity in that to me. There was no question or thought of whether that was true. In my mind, in my heart, if there was ever a moment of my life when Shannon wasn’t by my side, that meant there was more to come. That wasn’t the end. It wasn’t where I was stopping or had settled. Without Shannon, I would always be looking ahead. As much as I meant it, she didn’t look entirely convinced.
“How poetic,” she said.
There was nothing I could say to convince her, but she didn’t want to argue it. She rested her head on my chest and let out a long breath. It sounded happy, like she didn’t care much about what she thought was a poetic statement but was content to be there in my arms. I stroked her back for a few seconds, then put my hand behind my head, looked up at the sky, and smiled. It didn’t matter so much if Shannon believed me right then.
There was plenty of time ahead of us for me to prove it.
Chapter 20
Shannon
Now…
That night couldn’t have lasted long enough for me. I could have spent forever on the dance floor with Jesse, but eventually, everything wound down. The bartenders shouted out for last call from behind the bar, and it was officially the end of the night.
Jesse held my hand as we all spilled out of The Junction and into the parking lot. Sara and a group of the locals that had been hanging out with us during the night followed us as we made our way across the gravel to Jesse’s truck. I recognized it immediately and knew it was actually Clayton’s truck, but Jesse said he’d commandeered it when his brother was being obnoxious. I laughed at the simple, straightforward way he said that. Just that easy. He was obnoxious.
Something about that made Jesse feel more like him again.
We got to the truck and Jesse leaned against it, reaching out to draw me into his arms and hold me up against him with my back to his chest. His arms wrapped around my waist, and he kissed the side of my neck before resting his chin on my shoulder. He felt warm and sweaty, the heat of his skin making the clean, spicy smell of him stronger around me.
Sara went to her car that she’d driven us to the bar in earlier and popped the trunk. I knew exactly what she was doing. Just like always, there was a blue and white cooler inside. She pried the lid off and let it fall to the dark gray carpet. Then she reached into the slushy ice water inside to pull out bottled water.
She started keeping that cooler in there after we watched a particularly horrifying TV show about a family getting stuck in the desert in the middle of the summer and almost dying from heat exposure and dehydration. The big takeaway she got from that was to always have cold water in the car with her.
Not that we spent a whole lot of time traipsing around in the desert, but it became an obsession of hers. She wouldn’t drive if she didn’t have bottles of water. I always told her not to keep the cooler in the trunk but to put it in the backseat of the car, especially during the summertime. The trunk was too hot and would melt all the ice she so carefully put in there.
“If we’re dying of dehydration, I don’t think we’re going to care if there is a lot of ice in the cooler,” she admonished me, for all the world sounding like that made perfect sense.
At least that night, I was grateful for her water habit as she handed out the bottles and we guzzled them down. I had only had one beer and a single shot hours before, so I didn’t need the water to dilute the alcohol in my system. Instead, the first sip accentuated just how parched my throat was. The long night of dancing had left me hot and thirsty, and the water made me feel better. Everybody else gulped the water down as fast as they could, sighing in relief.
“How are you feeling?” Jesse asked.
“Me? I’m fine. How about you?”
“Not so fine,” he said with a laugh. “I think all those celebratory welcome home rounds are getting to me a bit.”
“Oh, so is that it?” I teased. “All this is because you’re drunk and you’re not going to remember any of it tomorrow?”
He pulled me in again. Only this time, we were face to face. His kiss was sweet and warm, tasting of hoppy beer. Nobody around us cheered this time, but everything inside me did. I would never get enough of those kisses.
“No,” he said. “Not the alcohol. And I can promise you I will remember all of this tomorrow.”
“But not after you drive home?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. And I don’t think any of the rest of you should. I’d feel better if we all got rides home. I’ll call.”
I nodded. I loved how protective he was being and was happy to go along with it for him. He’d always been there to keep me safe, even when I pushed back against him and didn’t want him trying to swoop in and rescue me. It came from a wonderful place, and for that, I appreciated it.
“Thank you,” Sara said. “That’s really sweet.” She gave me another sideways look and waggled her eyebrows at me.
“What are you going to do with the truck?” I asked, ignoring her.
Jesse looked at it. “I guess I’ll just leave it here and come back for it in the morning. I’m sure the manager won’t mind.”
I laughed. “The manager might not, but Clayton is going to kick your ass.”
All around us, cars pulled out of their parking spots and left the lot, leaving only the few cars our group came in. We stood around talking and laughing as we waited for our ride. It had been about fifteen minutes when a lifted black pickup truck pulled into the lot. I knew that wasn’t our rideshare. I immediately recognized the ridiculous vehicle as belonging to Benjamin Hayes, Roy’s older brother.
“Shit,” I hissed, stepping closer to Jesse.
He looked down at me with questions in his eyes, then glanced up. His eyes went dark when he saw the truck. It was close enough now to see Benjamin in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t alone. Sitting in the passenger seat was Roy. Jesse instinctively moved even closer to me and I drew in a breath, bracing myself for the confrontation to come.
The truck stopped ahead of us, shining its headlights directly into our eyes. I cringed and turned into Jesse, hating giving them the satisfaction of the reaction. Benjamin killed the ignition and the lights went dark. I turned back toward the truck just as the driver’s side door opened and Benjamin stepped out. Half a second later, the passenger side door opened and Roy got out of the truck. They approached us in a slow, threatening swagger, their expressions dark. Roy was off duty at that time of night and was not in uniform, but half the locals gathered around us cleared out at the sight of the Deputy Sheriff.
Benjamin stopped about ten feet away from us and hooked his thumbs in his belt, standing with his feet apart and his chest squared toward Jesse. “Hey, hero,” he sneered.
Jesse shifted his weight beside me, his muscles tensing and his shoulders squaring off. I could already sense what was happening and reached out to grab his hand. Squeezing it to get his attention, I looked right at him. “Don’t,” I warned in a low, steady tone. “Jesse, listen to me. He’s trying to provoke you.”
It p
robably didn’t matter. Nothing I said was going to get through to him and stop how Jesse was going to react to the Hayes brothers. It never had.
I couldn’t blame him. Not after everything these two and the rest of their despicable family put Jesse and the Montgomery family through. Just seeing them made me sick to my stomach and it was worse when there were two of them together.
But that didn’t stop me from hoping it could stay calm. Jesse had just gotten back into town and things were different with him now. I didn’t know what was going to happen if things got heated.
Benjamin flashed me a smile, then sucked his teeth, looking me up and down in a way that made my skin crawl. It was uncomfortable enough when Roy looked at me that way. Having both of them doing it was just revolting.
“Shannon Dailey, I’m surprised at you. I thought you were smarter than going back to that Montgomery boy after he abandoned you.” He shook his head and clicked his tongue. “That’s not a good look for you.”
Anger rushed up inside me and heat rushed across my cheeks and up the back of my neck. I hated that he would have the nerve to speak to me at all, but to say something about Jesse and me was disgusting. He wanted to upset me, maybe even to intimidate me. But he didn’t scare me and there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction of standing down.
I looked him directly in the eye. “Get bent, Benjamin,” I said through gritted teeth.
The Hayes brothers snickered, seemingly amused by my response. They tilted their heads toward each other and muttered under their breath. The tension was building up around us. I could feel it in the air. It felt like electricity sparking around us, ready to combust.
It felt a little harder to breath and when I glanced over at Sara, her eyes were flickering around, trying to keep up with everything happening at the same time. I understood the compulsion. In a situation like this, there was the distinct possibility the two men in front of us weren’t the only ones here. There could be others just out of sight, ready to jump in when the time was right. It was important to stay vigilant.
Benjamin and Roy walked up closer to us, looking square at Jesse as if they were trying to see him better. The friends with us, along with the few locals who had stayed even after seeing Roy, pulled in around us. None of them said anything, but they were offering their silent show of support. Lines were being drawn, sides established. If this got nasty, they had Jesse’s back.
He could sense them, but he didn’t acknowledge them. His focus was zeroed in on the brothers in front of him. It was like they were all he could see.
“You’re not the same kid who left all those years ago, are you?” Benjamin teased. “You were a scrawny weakling of a thing when you pulled up stakes and ran.” He looked him up and down. “But you’re a little fuller now.”
“And uglier.” Roy smirked.
Jesse released my hand and gently guided me off to the side. I didn’t want to be away from him but let Sara draw me in closer to her. I watched Jesse lean back against Clayton’s truck again, his legs stretched out casually in front of him with his boots stacked and his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at Benjamin and Roy, the slightest hint of a smile on his face.
“And you assholes are still playing the same old game.” He shook his head and let out a breath. “Aren’t you two bored of making a mockery of yourselves in public?”
Sara snorted, turning her face away and biting her lip to keep herself from laughing outright. Benjamin didn’t like that. His eyes darkened and the cringe-inducing jackass smile on his face faded into a scathing scowl.
“What did you say?” he growled.
The other men stepped up closer to Jesse again to offer their support, but he held up a hand and shook his head.
“It’s all right, fellas,” he said. “I appreciate you having my back, but I can handle these two.” He flashed the Hayes brothers a smile and nodded his head back as if gesturing for them to head back to their truck. “Get out of here before you hurt yourselves.”
That didn’t go over well, but I knew Jesse didn’t actually expect them to just back off and retreat. Not in front of all these people. Benjamin and Roy exchanged a look and I immediately knew where it was going.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered to Sara.
I stepped away from her and reached into my pocket to pull out my phone. Before I could get the emergency number all the way dialed into the phone, Roy rushed at Jesse and he pushed away from the truck, meeting the other man in a vicious clash.
Chapter 21
Jesse
Roy swung first, but I caught him in his armpit with my elbow. It was sheer damned luck, but it made him crumple to the ground, holding his arm.
Thankfully, Benjamin was a bit slower on the draw, and by the time he reached me, I had turned toward him. He barreled toward me, tackling me into the bed of the truck, and I pounded my fists into his sides and back. I felt the glancing shots he was making hitting me in my back as well, and I lifted my knee hard into his chin as soon as I had room to move.
Benjamin stumbled back and I scrambled to my feet. Roy was up again, and without thinking, I dove onto him from the truck bed. I weighed a bit more than he did, and he didn’t seem to expect me flying at him like I was coming off the top rope, so when I landed, we hit the ground hard, mostly on top of him.
I rolled off and squared up on Benjamin, who had shaken off the dizziness. He swung before I was fully on my feet and hit me in the shoulder. I rushed forward to smash into him and he stumbled back, creating a little space. Now I had Benjamin on one side of me and Roy on the other, and both were on their feet.
If I waited for one of them to make a move, I’d be on defense, and that was a recipe for getting licked, so instead, I shot forward and hit Benjamin in the nose with my fist before he had a chance to block it. Blood spurted out and he went down to one knee. I spun around and saw a blur before Roy tackled into me and shoved me into the back of a parked sedan. His fists were flying and a few of them connected really well on the side of my head. I reached out to grab a hold of him when another fist hit me square in the stomach. I crumpled over, wheezing, and tried to push my way away from them.
But I was stuck. Roy pushed me back against the car and Benjamin swung for the fences, landing a shot on my face as a receipt for the one I gave him. I felt blood come out of my nose like a faucet had been turned on, and a rage built up inside me as if I had flipped a switch. Roy was smashing his fist into my ribs, but I barely felt them. I was too damn mad to feel anything.
I reached out and grabbed his arms, happening to catch them as they swung at my body, and slammed my forehead into his face. He let out a little squawk and stumbled away and I turned toward Benjamin. His teeth were gritted, and blood streamed between them as he reared back for another punch to my gut.
I dodged it. His fist went into the taillight of the car and I used the distraction to lay in a couple shots to his head. He went down on one knee again and I laid my knee into his ribs for good measure.
Roy was on his feet but looked woozy just a few steps away. I ran toward him and kicked him in the center of his chest. He went down easily and I leapt on top of him, driving my elbow into his jaw.
“You son of a bitch,” I yelled as I hit him for the second time. “Just leave us alone!”
As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I slammed my fist into his jaw and a searing shock of pain went through my ribs. I rolled away to the ground beside Roy, who was lying next to me, and we were both staring at the sky. My ribs were cracked. I knew it. I should have figured Benjamin would wear steel-toed boots. Those boys never fought clean.
Shannon’s voice suddenly cut through the fury and pain. It was a voice filled with its own fury. She was screaming the word “stop” over and over again, and for the moment, Benjamin didn’t immediately go after me while I was prone. I struggled to get back to my feet and spat a large wad of blood onto the gravel under my knees. Before I could get one of my feet under me, Roy lunged forward and p
ushed me back over. He was getting to his feet, and I was still stuck on the ground, pain forcing my vision to double.
I saw two Shannons get between me and Roy, and then two Saras jumping between them as well. I blinked hard, and when my eyes opened, my vision was back to one version of everyone, but it instantly went red.
Benjamin and Roy pushed the girls, hard.
I followed Shannon as she fell, like it was slow motion, and she landed hard on her back in the gravel. It was as if everything inside my chest was suddenly squeezed. My eyes opened wider, and I took a deep inhale of breath. War taught me that adrenaline was your best friend in battle.
But I didn’t want a battle. I wanted a massacre.
I jumped to my feet, ignoring the signals from my ribs that literally everything hurt. I’d deal with that later. I got to Benjamin first and hit him hard in the cheek with my right fist. I felt something crack under the blow but couldn’t tell if it was my hand or his face. I frankly didn’t care.
He went down and I turned toward Roy. Hands were reaching out to grab my shirt and I yanked away from them, sending him stumbling toward the side. I lifted my knee into his stomach and heard the air rush out in one pitiful sound. That would take a few seconds to get up from.
Turning back to Benjamin, I saw he was leaning against the broken taillight. His fist was a mess of blood and plastic, and I grabbed him by the back of his neck and slammed his head into the hood. I raised my boot to smash it into his head and he moved at the last second, leaving me to put a dent into the hood and to bounce for balance. Benjamin tried a takedown of my leg and I slammed my boot heel-first into the back of his neck a few times. Eventually, he let go and tried to crawl away, but I slammed my boot down on his bloody hand. He cried out in pain and I reared back to kick him in the ribs. I was only wearing simple cowboy boots, nothing with a steel-toe, but I knew for sure I was stronger than he was. He got his receipt from me and rolled away, moaning.
His Reckless Heart (The Montgomery Boys Book 1) Page 12
