Page 44 of Starting Over with You (Beer League Belles #2)
CHAPTER
FORTY-ONE
Dean
My heart is in my throat. I don’t like how frantic Kenni sounded, and I sure as fuck don’t like that her ex is in Thistlebrook.
This place is her safe haven, and I refuse to allow that fucker to taint anything else of hers.
My stomach is in knots as I dial Flint’s number.
While I wanted to speak to both boys to ask for their blessing, this is not the moment.
I need Stratford out of my town.
Flint answers right away, and I can tell he’s worried about his mom. “Dean, Mom call you?”
“She did. Send me his location.”
“He hasn’t moved,” Ash chimes in, surprising me. But then, what if he’s with his brother for a reason? The reason being to give me the chance to tell them about my intentions with their mom. I swallow that back, though. Now is not the time. “I don’t know what he’s doing. He won’t answer the phone.”
My phone dings with Stratford’s location, and I have to make a U-turn to head to the outskirts of town. He’s by the town sign, and I’m unsure how that makes me feel. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”
“If you beat his ass, make sure to hit him four times for me,” Flint mutters, and the edge to his voice reminds me of Kenni’s feisty side.
“At least ten for me,” Ash adds with a laugh, and I can’t help but grin. “A good kick in the nuts too.”
“Got both of you,” I promise. “I’ll call you back.”
“Wait,” Ash says, right before I can click to end the call. “Word is you’re dating my mom.”
“Oh, we’re doing this now?” I ask, and I’m met with silence. “Okay, we are.”
“I have to say, I’m mad you didn’t call me before you moved in on my mom,” Ash tells me, and as badly as I want to laugh, I hold it in.
“In my defense, I did talk to your grandpa.”
Flint snorts. “He fucked up the first time. Now, men have to go through us.”
I scoff. “Oh, my boy, there will be no other men.” Even though I’m pissed as fuck that Stratford is here, my smile is unstoppable. “Let me tell you a story.”
I pull over even though I want to close the distance between Stratford and me.
The need to chase him off is real, but my need for the sons of the woman I love to know how much their mom means to me is greater.
I don’t even recognize my voice; it’s rough from the emotion suffocating me.
I want these boys to know how much I love their mom.
So, I tell them. I explain about the first time I saw Kenni, in a bright-yellow one-piece that had a huge turtle on the front.
We were at the creek for a family day the forest rangers put on, and Sadie had begged to bring Missy, which meant Kenni was there too.
When she couldn’t reach the rope, I convinced her to catch crawdads with me instead.
I tell them about the times she got me arrested, and how I didn’t care how bad it made me look, I wouldn’t have been anywhere else.
I expose myself and admit that I sobbed when she got pregnant with them.
That I begged the Lord to make it untrue, and it’s one of my regrets because of how much I love them now.
They don’t say much. They listen and laugh when I crack a joke about how wild their mom was.
Hell, is. My eyes burn with tears, and I let my head fall back against the headrest as I say, “She was my first kiss, and I hope and pray every night that she’ll be my last.”
I have to check to see if they’ve hung up, because the silence I’m met with is louder than ever. I squeeze my eyes shut and sigh deeply, hoping I didn’t say too much. It isn’t until Ash speaks that I can draw in a breath. “Cool. So, you’re in love with our mom.”
It’s not a question, but I answer just the same. “I have been and always will be.”
I can hear the smile in Flint’s voice. “Good. Make her happy.”
“Done,” I promise, and warmth burns through me, knowing they trust me. “It’s not weird for you two, is it?”
“Nope,” Ash says with a pop of the P. “Skyye is the only one I was thinking of, but she’s all for it.”
I grin. “Yeah, she told me too.”
“If you two hadn’t gotten together, we were going to intervene,” Flint admits and I laugh.
“No shit?”
“Yeah.” I grin widely at the sureness in his voice. “My mom has never smiled the way she does now, and we know it’s you.”
Once more, emotion chokes me. I hadn’t expected this conversation to go so well. “She does the same for me, guys.”
“Duh, Mom is the best,” Ash says. “Now, do me a favor. Get rid of my dad so she doesn’t stress.”
“On it,” I say as I throw my SUV into drive and get back on the road. “Is he still where he was?” After Ash confirms, we say our goodbyes, and I drive toward where Stratford apparently is parked. I see a sleek black Lexus that doesn’t belong in Thistlebrook, Tennessee, and I know it’s him.
Showy bastard.
I pull up behind the Lexus with Wisconsin tags and put the SUV in park.
My heart kicks up in speed, but I ignore it to get out.
I need to make sure my girl is safe. I truly don’t think Stratford would hurt her, but that doesn’t mean I want him near her.
He’s emotionally abused her enough, and I won’t allow him to hurt her ever again.
I’m almost to the window of the Lexus when the door opens, and Stratford slowly gets out.
He’s in chinos with a light gray shirt. He looks older than I remember, wrinkles marring his face along his cheeks, his eyes, and mouth.
I take pride in knowing that my hair isn’t receding like his.
I want to punch him in the face for cheating on her, but I want to pummel him for making Kenni think she doesn’t have the perfect pussy.
Instead, I cross my arms over my chest. Stratford looks me up and down, then says, “Dean.”
“Stratford,” I say back, and the passenger door opens. Stratford cuts his gaze to the itty-bitty blonde who gets out. She can’t be more than five feet, and while she’s pretty, she’s not at the level Kenni is. Where Kenni is dark and gorgeous, this chick is light and plain.
“Jackie, get back in the car.”
“Who’s this?” she asks and then cuts her brown eyes to me. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“I’m Kenni’s man,” I answer her, but my eyes are on Stratford’s. I can see the anger burning in his gaze as I go on. “And you are doing something wrong. You’re not welcome here.”
Stratford chuckles. “You don’t own Thistlebrook.”
“No, but you don’t belong here, and you need to go.”
“We will. After I talk to Kenleigh.”
“Not happening,” I say simply. “You can talk to her lawyer.”
Stratford rolls his eyes. “I always knew you had a thing for her.”
“Always,” I answer with a grin. “And now she’s mine.”
“Yeah, enjoy my leftovers.”
I don’t even think; I just react. I grab his shirt, slamming him into the Lexus as the girl cries out.
I’m a few inches taller with more muscle, so it’s easy to hold him as he struggles against me.
With my face right in his, I growl, “Not your leftovers. No, I get the best of her, and I’ll erase all the pain you’ve caused, by loving her the right way. ”
Stratford’s eyes are wide and he sputters, but I don’t allow him to talk.
“Get the fuck out of my town. Your boys already gave me the go-ahead to kick your ass, and while I would love to do just that, you don’t deserve my time.
” I jerk him forward as I glare deep into his eyes.
“You deserve to watch me be what you couldn’t be.
A damn good husband and a father to the family you made, but I’ll love. ”
His eyes darken and he tries to push me off, but I’m a wall. “Make her wait.”
“Never,” I promise. “I am going to marry her the moment the ink dries on your divorce papers and not a second later.”
His eyes darken, and I hate men like him. The ones who cheat but then get mad when the person they cheated on moves on. Well, he can fuck right off. Kenni is mine.
“I’m calling the cops!”
I don’t even look at Jackie, my eyes trained on Stratford. “Go ahead. Kenni’s dad is the sheriff, and my brother-in-law is the deputy.”
Stratford sputters a curse as he says, “We’ll leave.”
“Now.”
“Now,” he agrees, and I push him back against his car.
I want to hit him as many times as the boys asked me to, but I won’t give him any more attention than he’s already had. He knows the truth. My words are a weapon that left their mark, and I’ll reap the benefits of what he tried to ruin.
Neither of us says a word. His eyes are dark with anger, and I stand like I have no cares in the world. I do, but I can’t let him know that. I stare in his direction as I wait for him to get into his car, but before he can, my radio sounds.
“Dean, you need to go home.”
My brows pull together as I tear my gaze away from Stratford to grab my radio. I click the button. “What?”
“Go home, Dean. There has been a shooting. ”
My stomach plummets, and I hear a buzzing in my ears.
Did Matt shoot someone? Probably Nyle for being a little bitch, but that can’t be true.
Nyle doesn’t bother Matt like he does me.
But no one really bothers Matt. He’s married to Sadie, for fuck’s sake.
I feel an ache in my chest and I know I need to get out of here, but when I look up, I see something flash in Stratford’s eyes.
Excitement.
Pure fury takes over. My body vibrates with rage, and I don’t hold back; I slam my fist into his face. Not once, not even three times, but eight until he falls to the ground moaning. I hit the radio and give them my location. “Send Jackson to arrest this motherfucker.”
I try to give her his plate number in case he runs, but the distress in her voice stops me.
“Dean,” the dispatcher insists. “Kenni was shot.”