Chapter 1 #2
“Because Ashford Creek seems to be a small town of single dads,” Bodhi put in as he sank into the back of the booth. My brother glared as he said it, and I could have kicked myself for even mentioning it.
Only Bodhi was the one who had spoken, so I wasn’t going to elaborate.
After all, Bodhi might’ve never been a single dad, but he had been a father.
I wasn’t sure if Bodhi even considered himself one anymore, not since the worst had happened.
I wasn’t about to ask him, though. He wouldn’t have answered anyway.
“I thought Finnian and Sterling were coming.” Changing the subject seemed to be the best route, and I leaned forward.
“The twins are out doing their thing,” Rune said as he took a seat next to me, shoving me further into the booth.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It’s Finnian’s night with the kids, and Sterling’s working. He needs to be working tonight, considering he owns that fancy-ass restaurant and is a damn good cook,” Rune answered.
I nodded, wondering why they hadn’t texted me.
Then I remembered that my siblings were all in their twenties and thirties, and they didn’t have to tell me where they were at all times.
Of course, as those thoughts slid through my mind, my sister Teagan walked into Summit Grill, lifted her chin in hello, and then went off to the corner with a couple of her friends.
“I see Teagan’s here,” Callum said.
Rune followed my gaze and narrowed his eyes as he counted the crew. He liked to keep an eye on the people in his circle, for sure. “Is it nice to have most of your chicks under one roof?”
I rolled my eyes. “If you ever say that around Teagan, make sure I’m there. Because I really want to be there when she tears your balls off.”
“Your sister scares me,” Rune said with a mock shudder.
“We’ve taught her well then,” Bodhi put in and then went back to his normal glare.
I rolled my eyes and sat back as everybody talked about their weeks. We didn’t have a lot of time these days to get together like this. When we did, we usually ended up at my brewery or Summit Grill because Rune and I barely took nights off.
The fact that our friends could even take time off from their busy lives to hang out with us was a testament to planning and pure exhaustion. Let alone the support systems that let the single dads in the group have a night out.
Pulling Bodhi down from the mountains and into town was like pulling teeth, and I had a feeling the only reason that my brother was even here was that he needed to sell a few of his pieces at the shop Teagan worked at.
And rather than going back up to his cabin and ignoring the rest of the world like he was prone to do, he decided to kill two birds with one stone and hang out with us.
That meant he would have a respite from us kicking his ass at his cabin and just pulling him down into civilization sometime soon.
“Wait, they’re having prom?” Rune asked, and I leaned forward, finally listening to Callum and Thatcher’s conversation.
“Yes. Junior prom. Which makes no sense to me because my children are still infants,” Thatcher said as he growled into his beer.
I snorted. “Your twins are fifteen. I don’t think they’re infants,” I said with a laugh.
Thatcher flipped me off. “Fuck you.”
“I only have one fifteen-year-old, and they’re already talking about this prom as if it’s the be-all-end-all. Thank God the thirteen-year-old isn’t old enough to be invited.” Kellan took a sip of his beer, his shoulders finally relaxing.
“How are we old enough to have kids in their teens?” Rune asked with a sigh. “Weren’t we just dealing with prom at Ashford High?”
“We’re old. Crotchety old men.” Of course, as soon as I said the word, the door opened, and the true reason I was a crotchety old man walked through the doorway.
She’d pulled her honey-blonde hair back from her face in a crown braid but let the rest of her hair flow down her back.
She had on this lacy, flowy top and tight jeans with holes at the knees.
She wore these platform wedge heels and a tiny little crossbody bag that separated her breasts in just the right way.
I was going to hell for whatever thoughts happened to cross my mind when it came to Felicity Carter, but I had known that for more than deemed right.
After all, my best friend’s little sister was now in her early twenties and all woman.
And I knew exactly what she tasted like.
I quickly drained my beer, adjusted myself in my jeans, and stomped towards the bar.
“You’re not going to get anything for us!” Rune called out before the rest of the table laughed, and I ignored them.
The bartender handed me another drink, and I gestured towards the rest of the table. “Another round for them. I’ll carry them back over with me.”
“No worries, I got you,” one of Rune’s people said with a grin.
“We don’t mind walking to go help out the boss. Keeps him on our good side.”
I snorted. “I didn’t know Rune had a good side.”
“Amen,” they said, and I shook my head, gulping more of my beer.
Felicity and a couple of people I didn’t recognize moved over to where Teagan was, and the girls laughed, the noise of the whole room intensifying with the frequency of their voices.
A couple of tourists moved in on them and pulled Felicity and one of her friends out onto the dance floor. I fisted my hand at my side, taking another drink. I didn’t need to do anything. She wasn’t my sister. Wasn’t my woman. And she was far too young for me.
But as the asshole grabbed her hips and moved her so he was practically grinding on her, my feet were moving before I thought better of it. Felicity laughed and shoved the guy back.
He held up both hands, grinned innocently, and went to dance with someone else. I didn’t even realize I was standing next to her, worrying, until she looked up at me.
“Callum. Something I can do for you?”
“You’re going to let some boy paw you like that?” I growled.
Her eyes widened, even after her cheeks pinked. “Maybe. You have a problem with that?”
“You know damn well that I do,” I whispered, keeping my voice low so no one would overhear.
She tried to look over my shoulder, but she was so small that she couldn’t even do so on her tiptoes. She was too small, too delicate. I’d break her, and we both knew it. The fact that my hands ached to reach out and grab her hips, to pull her closer to me, nearly broke me.
But this was Rune and Atlas’ little sister. Off-limits didn’t even begin to cover it.
She was more than a decade younger than me, and it didn’t matter that we hadn’t known each other as kids. All that mattered was that she couldn’t be mine.
“Callum. Stop looking at me like that. I’m fine. I’m not drinking. And you need to stop worrying about me.”
“I’m always going to worry about you. You’re a little Carter.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Really? That’s what you’re going with.
Why don’t you go hang out with my brother and all your friends and think about being old men or whatever the hell you keep thinking that you are?
I’m going to go back with my friends and enjoy myself.
That’s what you told me to do all those years ago, right?
Enjoy myself? Alone? It’s what I’m good at, after all. ”
“Atlas is going to be here next week.” I changed the subject quickly.
I did not want to think about what happened two years ago.
The way she had felt under me, the way her heart had beat so rapidly against my chest. I didn’t want to think about her curves, the feel of her breasts against my chest. I didn’t want to think about the fact that I’d nearly bent her over, spread her legs, and tasted that liquid honey between them.
No, I wasn’t going to think about that.
From the way that her eyes narrowed, I had a feeling she knew exactly where my mind had drifted.
“I do know he’ll be here. I miss my brother, so it’ll be nice to have him home for a little bit, even though I know he has to go right back on the road. He’s my big brother, just like Rune is. You aren’t, Callum. Stop acting like it.”
“We both know that I don’t treat you like my little sister.”
She threw her head back and laughed, making her breasts jiggle. Fuck. “Oh, shove off, Callum. You have no idea what you even want.”
Well, she was right about that.
“Boy, what the hell are you doing with that little girl?” a familiar voice slurred, and Felicity’s face paled. Without thinking, I shoved her behind me and glared at the old man.
“What are you doing here?” I asked my father.
His bloodshot eyes tried to blink rapidly, but instead, he just stared at me, wavering on his feet. “If you want that cat to scratch your itch, I’d look another direction. Young pussy ain’t what it once was.”
I didn’t even realize I was moving until my hand was around my old man’s throat, shoving him against the wall.
“You talk about her again, and I’ll kill you.”
“Just like you think I killed your ma?” Matthew Ashford growled, his voice barely above a whisper.
Though the entire bar had gone silent, with the way that we were positioned, nobody had heard our conversation yet.
Only Felicity had heard the cruel words my father had spoken.
Frankly, I was grateful for that. My father was already the town drunk.
I needed to ensure that his words wouldn’t paint Felicity in any light that could harm her.
When a small hand pressed against my back, I froze. “Callum. It’s okay.”
I didn’t turn to her, afraid if I did, my father would see too much. “Go back to your table. I’ve got this.”
“Callum.”
“Felicity. For once, just do what I fucking say.”
Her hand dropped, and I hated myself, but I needed her away from him.
Needed her away from me. Because as I looked down at the hand around my father’s throat, I didn’t see my own.
No, I saw his. I saw the hands that had beaten me within an inch of my life when I was a kid.
The hands that had wrapped around my sister’s throat.
The hands that had shoved my mother out of the car one too many times.
The hands that had never been stopped because nobody had been brave enough to stop him.
“Callum, head back. Let me handle this.” Then Rune was there, and I forced myself to stand back, letting my best friend take care of him.
“You’re not always going to have your friends around you, boy,” Dad slurred once again.
“You’re a weak, old man. Go hide and do what you’re best at,” I snapped.
“Well, don’t do what you’re best at because we both know that will end well.
” Dad pointedly looked over in Felicity’s direction, but I didn’t follow his gaze.
Instead, I stood there, hands fisted as Rune and Thatcher dragged my father out of the bar.
Somebody started the music again, and eventually, the crowd went back to normal. After all, this was nothing new.
The town drunk and embarrassment. The sons of Ashford had decided to make a scene. Shocking.
“Callum?”
I turned to see my sister standing there, Teagan’s eyes full of sorrow. “He’s gone. He’s not going to hurt you.”
“I’m not worried about that. Dad doesn’t matter, and we both know it. Are you okay?”
I reached out and pulled my sister towards me, needing that touch.
I was the eldest of us all. The oldest brother of seven siblings.
The twins were the youngest, with Finnian and Sterling coming in late and as a surprise.
Mal and Bodhi had been the older twins, and when Mal died, our family had shattered once again, leaving behind Bodhi, a twin without his other half.
But below me in age had been the girls. Teagan and Briar. Briar had found a way out of town, with a family and a life out on the road as a songwriter with one of the biggest bands in the world. She had finally found a way to health and happiness.
But Teagan was the one I was closest to. Even more so than Bodhi. Because we’d been in the family of horrors for the longest. And while I’d been the one to protect my family from my father’s hands and words, Teagan had been the one to nurture the rest.
I rubbed my cheek on the top of her hair and let out a breath. “Sorry for making a scene.”
She patted my back quickly before taking a step away. She never truly liked being touched. “You didn’t make the scene. Dad did as always. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Nothing new to talk about. Go hang out with your friends. I’m going for a walk.”
“Don’t find him and try to fuck him up or anything,” she said dryly.
I snorted. “Dad’s the type who would try to sue me for something like that. Not that he has money for a lawyer.”
“But he has a big mouth and a bigger attitude. Just let him drink himself into an early grave.”
“Not early enough.” And with that, she gave me a sad smile and walked away.
I just waved at the others at my booth, knowing I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone any longer. My friends would understand. When my gaze shot past Felicity, I met her stare and did the one thing I was good at.
I walked away.
Because I was not going to stand there and turn into the man who destroyed everything. I wasn’t going to be the man who had tried to raise me.
Though, as I looked down at my hands, I figured maybe I was already on that path.
After all, violence had been the first thing to hit me. The first thing to come to my mind when my father had said those words. That’s why I would push Felicity away. Not because she was too young. Not because she was my best friend’s little sister.
No. Because I knew if I wasn’t careful, I would become my father. And Felicity would be the one to pay the price.