Page 143 of Daddies' Holiday Toy

I don’t let him finish.

My palm hits his shoulder hard, forcing him back a step, just enough to break the angle he’s standing at.

I shove him again when he comes at me, going low to use my body weight as a counter against his own, shoving him toward the door so we can hopefully take this out onto the street and away from both of our two innocent bystanders.

“Stop it! Please, both of you!” Holly pleads.

The bell over the door chimes again.

All four of us whip our heads around to see who’s walking through the door.

To my surprise, it’s Jack.

He stops short in the doorway for half a beat, taking in the scene: me squared off with Carson, Holly caught between us, Mallory standing with her phone held up to her ear.

Half of his face is swollen, purple around his jaw from Carson punching him, looking even worse in the dim lighting.

It takes him all of five seconds to move again.

“Enough,” his voice booms.

Carson lunges for him, shoving past me, to meet Jack head-on.

Their shoulders collide with a thud that makes me wince out of sympathy.

I grab Carson’s arm, trying to wedge myself between them again and to help Jack shove him toward the door.

But Jack’s already got a fist in his shirt, and the two of them are snarling in each other’s faces.

“Wait, stop!” Holly’s voice is drowned out by the sound of Carson spitting curses at us both, and then he’s slamming his body into Jack’s, both of them flying toward the window next to the door and banging against it.

I move in, grabbing a fist full of Carson’s jacket to yank him away, but Jack’s right there again, swinging.

His fist catches Carson’s jaw with a sickening smack, making the other man stumble back into the counter, knocking against itso hard the thing tips back for a second before slamming back down onto the ground.

“Stop!” I roar, grabbing Jack’s arm and shoving him toward the wall. “Enough!”

But Carson’s not done.

He comes off the counter like a bull, slamming into Jack and taking me down with them.

The three of us hit the floor in a tangle of limbs and fists, the sound of grunts and curses filling the air.

Mallory’s yelling now, but I can’t make out the words over the chaos.

I get a grip on Carson’s shoulder, wrenching him back enough to get my knees under me.

“Knock it off!” I shout.

Jack’s got blood on his lip now, breathing hard, and I know that look—he’s not going to back down without a fight.

“Both of you, outside!” I bark, but before either of them can answer, the bell over the door jangles once again.

This time it’s not a friend.

Two uniformed cops step inside, quickly coming over to rip us all apart.

Carson is wrestled to the ground and pinned there, while I’m pulled up and shoved against the glass window, my arms wretched behind my back.