Page 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Emory

Gray slowed his motorcycle, pulling in to park alongside a whole row of Harleys, Kawasakis, and who knew what else in front of Ball Breakers.

“You sure you don’t mind stopping?” He tugged off his helmet and pulled out the elastic holding back his hair. “Holden wanted me to check in on Axel. He’s in one of his moods.”

I tugged off my helmet and handed it over. “What kind of mood is that?”

“He gets a little wild sometimes. Makes rash, impulsive choices. Holden isn’t worried about him as much as he’s worried about what he might do.” He combed his fingers through his hair, smoothing and detangling it. “We’ll make it quick. It’s been a long day.”

We’d spent hours at the festival—not to mention a couple more riding on the bike—but I felt more energized than I had in a long time.

Being with Gray all day, hanging out as a couple, holding hands, kissing, and not caring who saw? I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad because I’d seen exactly what I’d been missing all these years. But it was eye-opening.

“I’m not ready for the day to end yet.” I leaned in against him, squeezing his waist and placing a quick kiss against the back of his neck. “I wish every day could be like today.”

He turned his head, grinning over his shoulder. “Me too, golden boy.”

The door opened, spilling out a rowdy bunch all talking and laughing, breaking the moment. Gray climbed off the bike, and I followed him inside.

It didn’t take long to spot his brothers. Bailey was working the pool table—because that had worked out so well last time—and Axel was at the bar, deep in conversation with Deputy Harvey.

Gray and I joined him—Gray not so subtly interrupting. “Buy me a beer, Axel. I spent all day in the sun, and I’m parched.”

Axel turned with a scowl. “Seriously, man? Buy your own fucking beer. I’m trying to get laid.”

At his words, Deputy Harvey grabbed his glass and crossed the room to the pool tables. He leaned against the wall, gaze on the floor, jaw clenched.

“Great,” Axel said. “You know how hard I was working to get that man to pull the nightstick out of his ass?”

Gray lifted his hand to get the bartender’s attention, then held up two fingers. “You need to stop chasing things that are bad for you.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Axel said, smirking.

The bartender pulled two beers, and Gray tossed a twenty on the bar. He slid one of the pint glasses in front of me. I picked it up and took a drink, turning to let my gaze roam the pool hall.

Bailey was playing pool with a group of young guys who looked more like frat boys than the biker types most often seen here. Everyone was smiling, so hopefully, he was in no danger of a fight breaking out.

Gray rubbed my shoulder while he talked to Axel, both of them shit-talking like assholes but with enough affection I could tell they weren’t really mad.

Axel bitched about Gray being a cock blocker, and Gray accused Axel of using his dick as a crutch. They didn’t hold back on each other, and my chest tightened briefly, wondering if Adam and I would have been that way if we’d both had the chance to grow up.

“Holden sent you to babysit me, didn’t he?” Axel complained. “He’s such a control freak he can’t even leave me alone when he’s not here.”

“He doesn’t want you dragging Bailey into any shit.”

“Since when do I do that?” Axel demanded.

Gray lifted his hands, chuckling. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Axel huffed and downed his drink, then swiped Gray’s beer to punish him for checking up on him.

I handed my beer to Gray, letting him have a drink, as I idly people-watched. I noticed the deputy had gained a friend. A slim man who leaned in close, whispering something in his ear, mostly blocked by Dalton’s larger frame.

Dalton nodded and flicked his gaze back toward us. No doubt he was more interested in Axel than me—something was obviously brewing between them—but I didn’t notice because his friend had just taken a step forward, his eyes narrowed on me.

Dallas.

“Shit,” I whispered as Dallas made a beeline straight for us.

Gray’s fingers stilled on the back of my neck, making me suddenly aware he’d been playing with my hair. After a day spent in Granville, touching freely, it hadn’t even occurred to me to keep my distance. It should have, of course. What if it wasn’t Dallas but someone else from town who saw us? My secret would be out in a heartbeat.

Not that Dallas seeing us was good. He looked pissed. And given the way he’d continued to harass me, he hadn’t moved on from the night I’d stupidly gotten into his car.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Gray growled. “I didn’t think this was his scene.”

“Who, Dallas?” Axel said. “He only comes in when he wants to slum it. Guy’s a real piece of work.”

Dallas came to a stop in front of us.

“Well, look at the cozy couple,” he drawled. “Careful who you hang out with, Em. You don’t want to be tainted by Forrester trash.”

“What did you say?” Axel said, jumping from his barstool. “Who’s trash?”

“He’s just jealous,” Gray said. “Because Emory doesn’t want him, and he knows it.”

I winced. That was true, but saying it so bluntly wasn’t likely to encourage Dallas to move on.

Dallas let his gaze travel along my body, then looked at Gray with a smirk. “He’s got a sweet ass, but I don’t really go for sloppy seconds.” He flicked a glance at Axel. “Or is it thirds?”

Gray took a fast step forward. “Shut your mouth.”

Dallas looked triumphant. He was getting exactly the reaction he wanted. “You should have seen the way Emory was panting for me in my car. He was begging for it.”

I gasped, horrified. “I was not !”

“He was a real tease, putting up a fight like he did,” he said with a chuckle. “But that’s just part of the fun, isn’t it?”

Gray grabbed Dallas by the collar and spun to shove him against the bar. “I said, shut your fucking mouth! No one talks about Emory like that.”

Damn. I shouldn’t like violence, but Gray standing up for me like that was sexy. Still, I didn’t want him getting in any trouble.

I tugged his arm. “Let’s just go, Gray. He’s not worth it.”

Dallas kept running his mouth because he didn’t know when to quit. “He’ll get tired of slumming it eventually, and then he’ll come crawling to me.”

Gray scoffed. “Yeah, in your pathetic dreams.”

I gave another tug, and Gray released Dallas and turned toward me. “Sorry, golden boy. I shouldn’t have?—”

“Gray!” Axel shouted in warning.

But it was too late. Dallas swung a barstool, catching Gray’s shoulder and sending him to the ground.

Axel snatched the barstool, tugging it away before he could hit Gray again.

“Son of a bitch,” Gray groaned.

I couldn’t check on him, though. Red fury was eating up my vision. Dallas had struck Gray from behind like a coward. He’d tried to assault me. He’d harassed me. And I’d taken it.

But no more.

I lunged forward, swinging. “Don’t you dare hurt Gray!”

My fist connected with his jaw, snapping his head back.

Dallas snarled and rushed toward me. Axel hooked an arm around him from behind and dragged him back, both of them crashing into a table and hitting the ground.

“Hey, cut it out!” Deputy Harvey yelled, charging across the room.

Gray surged to his feet. “Holy shit, are you okay? I can’t believe you did that.”

I shook out my throbbing fist. I hadn’t been in a fight since middle school. “Me either.”

Gray gave me a fast and hard kiss. “It was sexy as hell. But right now, I have to help my brothers.”

In just the short time I’d turned away, things had gone from bad to worse. Deputy Harvey was hauling Bailey off Dallas while Axel got in his face, yelling, and Dallas went in for the sucker punch.

Gray got between them, blocking Dallas and shoving him back. Dallas held on to his arm, and they fell onto the floor together.

Sirens wailed outside. The deputy must have called in backup. The door slammed open, and a deep, booming voice cut across the room.

I grabbed Gray’s arm, tugging him away from Dallas, hoping to mitigate the damage as Sheriff Hale—Dallas’s fucking father—stormed over.

I was closest, so he grabbed my right arm and yanked it behind my back, then reached for my left. “You’re under arrest!”

“What? No!” Gray protested, turning toward us. “Emory didn’t do anyth—fuck!”

He went down hard as the sheriff hit the side of his knee with his nightstick. “Back the fuck up, son, or I’ll break out the Taser.”

Gray raised his hands in front of him, fingers trembling a bit, as the sheriff snapped the cold metal cuffs over my wrists.

Deputy Harvey had found his own cuffs, snapping them onto Axel’s wrists. He moved to Bailey, pulling his arms back.

“No!” Axel cried. “Not him. He’s just a kid.”

Harvey hesitated, but the sheriff shook his head. “It was four on one against my fucking son. He goes to jail. He’s no kid.”

Four on one? Not exactly! I was the only one who’d actually hit Dallas. He’d assaulted Gray with a barstool, and the brothers had merely tried to intervene to protect one another.

“I’m sorry,” Gray said as we got herded out to the sheriff’s cars. “This is my fault for baiting him. I was just so pissed over how he treated you.”

“No, you didn’t sta?—”

Gray was yanked away, putting a sudden end to the conversation.

All of us were in cuffs—except Dallas. He followed us outside, smirking.

“Enjoy jail, assholes. Don’t worry, Emory. Your daddy will bail you out in no time. These losers, though? They’ll be stuck for a while.”

“Fuck you!” Gray lunged toward him, even though he was cuffed, and Dallas skittered back like the true coward he was.

The deputy yanked Gray back by his wrists, slamming him against the side of the car. “Settle down!”

Dallas laughed, and I glared at him so hard that if looks could kill, I’d have straight-up murdered the creep right where he stood. “Never talk to me again. Never look at me. Never text me or call me. Do you understand?”

I was so angry I was shaking. I turned to the sheriff. “Tell your son to leave me the fuck alone, or I’ll go to the court for a protection order. He’ll be banned from the bank.”

The sheriff clucked. “I don’t know what happened to start this bar brawl, son, but you best calm down. You’re a good man who got caught up in a mess. I’m sure we can work something out. These foster brats have always been trouble. You’d do better to keep your distance from them.”

“They didn’t start it,” I insisted as he shoved my head down, pushing me into the car. “Dallas has been harassing me for weeks!”

The sheriff slammed the door on my words, and a minute later, Bailey fell into the other side of the back seat with me, so Gray and Axel must have gone into the deputy’s car.

“Are you okay?” I asked him, knowing Gray would be worried.

Bailey looked stunned. “I’ve never been arrested before.”

“Me either.” I forced a smile. “Look at us, checking off items on the bucket list.”

“Your shirt is torn,” Bailey said, leaning in. “Did you get hurt?”

Huh. I hadn’t noticed during the fight, but there was a faint throbbing over my collarbone. I must have taken an elbow to the chest or something.

“I’ll be okay. Whatever it was, it was worth it.”

The sheriff climbed into the car and started it up. He turned, giving us a hard look. “I don’t want any trouble from you two. Keep your mouth shut, do what you’re told, and we’ll get you processed into jail for the night.”

“For the night?” Bailey asked in a small voice.

I spoke up. “He gets a phone call, right? This kid wasn’t really even fighting. He was just trying to break things up.”

The sheriff turned up the radio, ignoring me, and twangy country music filled the cab of the car as he drove us toward town and the jail cell waiting for us.

Beside me, Bailey glared out the dark window, though I doubted he could see anything.

“I’m not a kid,” he said.

“I was just trying to get him to take it easy on you,” I murmured.

Bailey shot me a look. “Maybe you should worry about yourself. I’m tough. Just as tough as my brothers.”

His brows drew together, and he looked like such a little boy posturing in the attempt to be as brave and strong as his big brothers that my heart clenched.

I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but somewhere between falling into bed with Gray, joking around with his brothers, and making smiley-face, chocolate chip pancakes, I’d gotten attached to the whole dang family.

A protective urge rose inside me, and I knocked my knee against Bailey’s.

“Maybe you should look out for me, then. As a favor to Gray.”

He swallowed hard. “Yeah. Maybe I will.”

I smiled faintly, amazed that even in the midst of this clusterfuck, there was a sense of rightness. I didn’t want to be in the back of a sheriff’s car in cuffs. I sure as heck didn’t want to spend the night in a jail cell. But if I had to be there, I was glad I was with a bunch of loyal guys who would have my back, just as I would make sure to have theirs.

I didn’t care what Dallas said. When my father bailed me out, I wouldn’t leave Gray, Axel, and Bailey behind. If Holden hadn’t already bonded them out, I’d do it myself.

Because I loved them all.

My heart wrenched.

Fuck .

I loved Gray, didn’t I?

If I could feel so strongly about his family, then I was a lost cause when it came to him.

Talk about a sucker punch. I struggled to breathe through the emotion swamping me.

The way Gray stood up for me made me want to be brave. Made me want to grab onto him, and fuck the consequences.

Maybe it was just the adrenaline, and once it crashed, I’d go back to cringing away from disappointing people. But right now, in this smelly patrol car, I promised myself that I wouldn’t give up Gray if there was any other way.