Chapter 11 #2
“Come on,” I said, grabbing her hand and tugging her toward the door. “Let’s eat.”
By the time Amy and I arrived at the diner, the parking lot was full. Lynx hadn’t arrived, but I knew he would be along shortly. Knowing him, he’d gone over to the Cedar Door to drop Copenhagen off with Calvin for the day. My old man loved that dog, as did anyone who met him.
“Mornin’, Wolfe, Amy.”
Glancing over, I smiled at Reagan, sitting at a table with her loser of a boyfriend, Billy.
I tipped my hat while Amy gave her a warm, “Good morning.”
“What brings you kids into this fine establishment?”
Kids. Right. I hadn’t been a damn kid in a long-ass time.
However, it was amusing coming from a woman who was four years younger than I was. Now that I thought about it, that made Reagan and Amy about the same age.
“Breakfast,” I said, my eyes sliding over to Billy, who was shoveling food into his mouth as though he hadn’t eaten in a year.
“Quit yappin’,” Billy grumbled to Reagan. “I got shit to do.”
Every single time I laid eyes on Billy Watson, I wanted to punch the fucker in the face. I had absolutely no idea what Reagan saw in the guy. He was a two-bit mooch who cheated on Reagan more often than not. Yet for whatever insane fucking reason, she kept him around.
“We’ll talk to y’all later,” I told Reagan as I slid my hand behind Amy’s back and urged her toward our table.
I threw one last disdainful glare at Billy for good measure.
One day somebody was going to steal that girl away, and I hoped like hell I was there to see it.
Clearly the fucker didn’t know a good thing when he had it.
I pulled Amy’s chair out for her. Once she was seated, I took mine.
The bells jingled over the door, and all heads turned toward it as Lynx made his way inside.
The place was relatively packed this morning, so it was interesting to see the way his eyes instantly zoned in on Reagan and Billy.
That good ol’ boy grin disappeared instantly.
“Son of a bitch,” Billy groaned, his voice louder than it should’ve been. “Can’t we fuckin’ go anywhere in this stupid fuckin’ town without your sorry ass showin’ up?”
What the fuck?
I glanced over at Amy, then around the room, wishing like hell someone could fill me in on what was going on. Everyone who knew us looked as surprised as me.
“Watch your goddamn mouth,” Lynx snarled.
Amy chuckled beside me. That was Lynx for you. Cursing while telling someone else not to.
“Fuck off, Caine,” Billy growled.
“Billy, stop,” Reagan said, placing her hand on his arm.
Billy shrugged her off. “Always defendin’ that asshole. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were suckin’ his dick instead of mine.”
The room went deafeningly silent. No chatter, no clank of silverware, no hiss from the griddle in the kitchen. Absolutely nothing except for the warning growl that emanated from Lynx seconds before he reached over and ripped Billy right up out of his chair.
“Lynx, don’t!” Reagan yelled, jumping up and sending her chair over backward.
“Stay here,” I instructed Amy, getting to my feet at the same time two more cowboys in the back stood.
No one took kindly to men treating women the way Billy did.
I held up a hand to halt the two cowboys, letting them know I'd handle it. I shoved the door open harder than necessary, watching as Lynx dragged Billy halfway across the parking lot.
“Lynx, let him go,” Reagan hollered, moving in close.
I got to her in seconds, picking Reagan up off her feet and pulling her back.
“Put me down, you asshole!”
“Chill, darlin’,” I crooned. “He ain’t gonna kill him. Although he probably deserves it.”
“If I ever fuckin’ hear you say some shit like that again,” Lynx hissed, his hand fisted in Billy’s shirt as he held the man in place, “I will beat you so fuckin’ bad your momma won’t recognize you no more.”
The sound of tires on gravel had me looking over. The familiar dark brown truck pulled to a stop right beside Lynx and Billy. Rhys climbed out, shoving his hat on his head. The man was wearing his signature Wranglers and white button-down shirt, badge clipped to his hip, gun holstered there, too.
“Let him go, Lynx.” Rhys’s deep voice rang with a command most men wouldn’t ignore.
I set Reagan on her feet with a soft warning for her to stay put.
Lynx released Billy with a shove that sent the other man sprawling in the dust and rock.
“I wanna press charges!” Billy yelled. “This asshole hit me.”
“Shut the fuck up, Billy,” I warned. “Provoke him a little more and he will fuckin’ hit you. And if he doesn’t, I will.”
To my surprise, Reagan didn’t run over to Billy. Again, I had no fucking clue what she saw in that asshole.
Lynx turned, his hard gaze slamming into Reagan. “He’s a fuckin’ loser, Reagan. You can do a helluva lot better than that.”
With that, Lynx turned and walked inside.
I decided to join him.
After all, the show was over. The sheriff was here.
Rhys
I stood in front of my truck, watching as the Caine cousins went inside, leaving Billy Watson’s ass sitting on the ground.
Had I known what I would find when I got here, I would’ve ignored the call and let Lynx take care of Billy.
Never having been one to hate anyone, I fucking hated Billy. Hated him with a passion. I wanted to kill the fucker for the way he treated my sister. The only thing stopping me was the fact that Billy wasn’t worth the prison sentence I would get.
Choosing to ignore Billy, I turned to my sister. “What the hell’s goin’ on, Reagan?”
“Nothin’,” she snapped, not looking at me.
“You better fuckin’ tell him that Lynx hit me, goddammit,” Billy barked. “I’m so fuckin’ tired of you defendin’ his ass.”
“Fuck you,” Reagan hissed, the words so soft I hardly heard her and I was standing right beside her.
“What did you say?” Billy launched to his feet.
Right before my eyes, something inside my sister snapped. Reagan’s back straightened as she watched Billy right his shirt before dusting his jeans off.
“I said fuck you.”
“You’re fuckin’ him, aren’t you?” Billy accused, grabbing his ball cap from the ground. “I always knew you were whorin’ around on me. And you wonder why I get pussy on the side. It’s because of this shit right here.”
Reagan’s face hardened, her brown eyes practically burning with fury. “I’ve never stepped out on you, Billy Watson. But I’m done. I’m so fuckin’ done.”
She spun around on her boot heel and headed over to her truck. When Billy started to follow, I grabbed him by the back of the shirt and yanked him back. “No you don’t.”
Billy jerked out of my grip. “Get your fuckin’ hands off me.”
I straightened as I looked the other man square in the eye. “Look here, you little piece of shit. I’ve tolerated you because, for whatever fuckin’ reason, my sister has put up with your shit. But don’t think I won’t haul your ass in.”
“For what?”
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good reason. I couldn’t arrest the guy for being an asshole. If I could, Billy Watson would’ve been behind bars a long-ass time ago.
“Go home, Billy. And stay the fuck away from my sister.”
Billy’s chest puffed out, a sardonic smile tilting his mouth. “She’ll be back. She always comes back. She can’t live without me.”
Yeah, unfortunately, I figured that was true.
Reagan did always go back to Billy, no matter what the damned fool did or said.
The only reason I didn’t interfere was because, up to this point, Billy had never laid a hand on her.
Then again, he didn’t have to in order to inflict pain.
His verbal assault was just as bad. Which, I figured, was the very reason Lynx had interfered this morning.
God only knew what the little shithead had said.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” I warned. “Or I will sic Lynx on you, you dumb fuck.”
Stepping back, I nodded in the direction of Billy’s piece-of-shit Dodge.
When the parking lot cleared, I turned toward the diner. I noticed Lynx standing at the window, watching me, his beefy arms crossed over his chest. The guy looked pissed, and I couldn’t blame him.
I wasn’t privy to what had ever transpired between Reagan and Lynx, but I had always suspected there was something there. They both made stupid decisions day in and day out, and I had the feeling it was because they were avoiding the real issue at hand. Whatever that might be.
Figuring it would only cause a scene, I decided to bypass going inside. I'd catch up with Wolfe and Amy later.
In the meantime, I was going to head to the office. There was some information I was eager to dive into.
Lynx
I wasn’t prone to regret. However, as I stood at the window and stared out at the little fucker getting into his POS, I regretted that I hadn’t pounded my fist into that shithead’s face.
What the fuck Reagan saw in Billy, I didn’t know. I would never know. Every damn time I thought she was going to walk away from the little shit, she ended up taking his sorry ass back.
And it pissed me off to no end.
There was a cowboy code that I lived by. You didn’t touch another man’s girl. No matter what.
For years I'd wanted to get my hands on Reagan. Unfortunately, she’d been with Billy, which meant she was off-limits. And every damn time I saw the two of them together, I wanted to strangle the fucker.
A man did not treat a woman the way Billy Watson treated Reagan. A woman should be worshipped, loved. Not treated like the dirt beneath his feet.
My eyes strayed to Reagan’s truck as she peeled out of the parking lot.
I was tempted to go after her, to insist that she break up with Billy for good, that she give me a fucking chance to show her just how damn good the two of us would be together.
Hell, that kiss we’d shared all those years ago should’ve been enough to convince her.
But I couldn’t do that.
If Reagan was meant to be mine—and I suspected that was what fate had in store for me—then she would come to me.
Until then, I'd just go on living my life one day at a time.
Waiting.
Always fucking waiting.