20. Jude
20
jude
“ Y ou’re a goner, bro,” Christian commented, nudging his shoulder with mine as I watched Romy smile and laugh while she danced.
Her long, wavy hair swayed as she and Lina joined the crowd in a line dance. Her creamy skin was glowing tonight, that yellow dress swishing midthigh. A peek of that phoenix flashing every time she turned was driving me wild.
“Yeah.” I didn’t say much more. It’s a fact. It’s been a fact since we were teenagers. The truth—she was my endgame.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her smile is radiant, her eyes glitter when she laughs. She’s gorgeous inside and out, and it’s like a sucker punch to the gut.
“Have you told her about your fight yet?” Christian asked.
I took another sip of my beer and straightened out in my seat, resting my elbows on the table. The question made me uneasy because I was nervous to tell her. “Not yet.”
“I saw the press release. You’re going to have to tell her.”
“I know. I’m just waiting for the right moment, but with this shit with her sister, I haven’t wanted to add anything else to what she has going on.”
I couldn’t resist glancing back at Romy and Lina to make sure they were having a good time. She was magnetic. Both of them were, really. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one who saw it. Reed had turned in his barstool, pretending to be interested in the band but repeatedly flitting his eyes to Lina.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Christian asked.
I scanned the room, landing on another high-top table diagonal from ours. Two guys in cowboy hats had their fists around the necks of their beer bottles while staring at the girls. An unsettling feeling filled my gut.
One of them, sandy-colored hair falling across his forehead beneath his hat, had his eyes narrowed on Romy.
“She’ll leave,” I said absently. “Hey, who’s that?” I nodded toward the other table.
In all my years facing opponents in the cage, I could tell when someone was unhinged. This man gripped his beer hard enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it shattered. His friend beside him was trying to speak to him, but he ignored him, his jaw ticking while his eyes zeroed in on Romy.
I didn’t fucking like it.
“Shit,” Christian said. “That’s Junior Matheus, Jesse’s brother.”
Jesse’s brother? Oh, fuck. I needed to get Romy out of here. First Jesse’s mom, now his brother.
As soon as Junior pushed himself away from the table and started charging toward Romy, I was out of my seat.
Fuck that!
Three long strides in my six-foot-three frame, and I was stepping in between Junior and Romy before he could even reach her. I pushed her behind me.
His face scrunched in a crimson fury, his eyes flaming at Romy behind my shoulder. He didn’t even register that I was in front of him, he was in such a rage. Most likely drunk, too, he could only see one thing. He stepped forward, intent on getting to Romy. But I wasn’t about to let that happen. He’d have to go through me first.
“Your sister’s a fucking, murderous cunt!” he roared. “Just you wait! I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure she rots in that fucking jail cell for what she did to my brother.”
Romy’s hand went to my back, and I could feel her pulse through her palm.
There was no way this guy was going to intimidate my girl.
“You better back the fuck up,” I told him, hoping he’d swing his attention to me.
But he didn’t. He raised his arm, pointing at her shielded behind me, inches away from my face. I felt my blood boil at his audacity to invade my space.
“Don’t believe a word that comes out of that bitch’s mouth. Hazel’s bat-shit crazy,” he ground out, his words slicing through the din of the bar.
“Get out of here, Junior!” Lina called from behind us.
Junior ignored her, his anger still directed toward Romy.
“Get your hand out of my face,” I demanded. I itched to push it out of my air space.
He still ignored me, even though I towered over him.
Junior’s focus was solely on Romy, and I was two seconds from laying this guy out.
“All you Millers are fucking crazy!” Junior yelled. “You should all be locked up.”
This guy needed to get out of my face, or it wasn’t going to end well for him.
“Back. Up.” I punctuated each word, my voice raising, while I pushed him back a step.
That finally caused his attention to swing toward me. “Don’t touch me.”
“Don’t talk to my fucking girl like that.” I was just about to erupt.
“I’ll talk to her any way I want!” Junior hollered.
This fucking guy was asking for it. I was seething.
“You need to leave, or I’ll take you out myself. Now. ” I balled my fists, my knuckles cracking. My muscles tightened and twitched. I was so close to unleashing on this asshole.
“Leave it to a Larsen to protect the sister of a murderous cunt,” he spat.
What the fuck was that supposed to mean?
My ears roared, drowning out the silence of the bar and every thought but the need to end this guy.
I could feel my blood boiling in my veins, my muscles contracting, my jaw tightening, as I drew my arm back.
Like any other practiced movement, I let out a whoosh of breath from my lungs as my arm flew forward, landing right where I needed to end this.
Right on the button. My fist connected with his jaw. I could feel it click beneath my knuckles.
I watched in pure satisfaction as Junior locked up, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed like a damn tree.
I didn’t even hear the thud as he hit the bar floor, only the gasps all around me as if someone was sucking the air right out of the Rooster.
It sure as hell felt like air was being sucked out of me.
“Jude!” Romy yelled, grabbing my arm, tugging me away. Bringing me back to the present.
The bar erupted. Commotion ensued, people rushing toward us. One of the male bartenders hopped the bar to intervene.
“We gotta go, bro.” Christian rushed to our side, pulling on my other arm.
Romy? All I thought was Romy .
She was gripping my arm, looking up at me with a furrowed brow, concern in her pretty eyes. I drew her to my side, tucking her beneath my arm, leaning in to bury a kiss in her hair.
Coconuts.
Somehow, the smell centered me.
“Are you all right, honey?” I asked into her tropical-scented hair.
She nodded against my lips, but I could tell how her body tensed against mine. She was far from okay.
The volume of the bar amplified as the crowd rushed toward us and Junior, who was still laid out on the floor.
Reed hustled over, pushing back some of the crowd to lead us through to the exit.
We were just stepping outside when Christian gasped. “Shit, there were people with their phones out.”
Fuck!
“Fuck!” I yelled into the night.
This was going to be all over the news by morning. How could I have fucked up so badly? I never once unleashed like that unless it was in the cage.
Alex was going to kill me.
“I need to make a call.” Not having a hat to fiddle with, I pushed a hand through my hair.
“What’s wrong?” Romy asked at my side.
This was not how I wanted to tell her.
My eyes flicked to her, my anger quickly replaced with fear.
“What is it?” she asked again, her eyes bouncing back and forth between mine.
I swallowed. “I just broke a rule in my contract.”
Her brows pinched, her lips turned down in a frown. “But aren’t you retiring?”
My eyes shuddered. Resigned.
Breathe in. Count to ten. Breathe out.
I opened my eyes again to peer into hers. “I accepted a fight in August.”
Romy said nothing, only took a step back. The color drained from her face.
“Romy—” I needed to explain more, but I didn’t know what to say.
She pushed past me, a hand covering her mouth as she ran to the side of the bar. Lina rushed after her, grabbing her hair, while Romy vomited in the bushes.