Bets And Black Eyes
PAIGE
Screams sounded from below the back deck, eliciting panic to rise in me again like bile. It was a constant roller coaster of making it through one interaction only to prepare for another. I was going to be sick by the end of this day.
We stood and listened for a second. I couldn’t make out whose voice was whose, but it didn’t truly matter. I laced my fingers into Cash’s and guided us to the stairs.
We were ripping the Band-Aid off.
The rec room was where I spent the majority of my childhood.
It encompassed the rest of the bottom floor opposite of the garage.
There was a fully stocked bar that my oldest brother built when he was a teenager, a pool table, and the largest sectional couch I’d ever seen.
We hosted parties here, spent movie nights here, and just made endless memories in the space.
It was my safe place.
Until right now.
When we got down to the bottom level, I saw Lottie in a standoff with Axle as if she wasn’t almost a foot shorter than him. The girl was small, but she was terrifying when she got mad.
“Hear them out,” Lottie demanded as she crossed her arms, her tone lethal.
“Why should I?” Axle seethed.
“Because you owe your sister the benefit of the doubt.”
We didn’t even make it to the bottom of the stairs before Walker spotted us. He was moving so fast I thought he might walk right through the glass door.
“Motherfucker” was all he mumbled before he landed a punch right to Cash’s jaw.
I screamed as Walker’s hit took him to the ground. Cash didn’t fight back as Walker wound another fist.
“Walker!” I screamed.
“Knock this shit off!” Lottie yelled from next to me.
Reid and Axle quickly wrapped their arms around Walker and pried him off a bloody Cash.
“Jesse,” I whispered as I fell to my knees next to him, pushing his hair off his face.
He had a cut on his cheek that was definitely going to bruise, but the rest of his face seemed to be okay.
He winced as my fingers dusted over the cut on his puffy cheek.
“Get away from him, Paige.” Walker tried to lunge for Cash again, but my brothers held him back.
I stood up and stomped over to my oldest brother.
Walker Prescott was a broad man who usually communicated in a series of grunts that portrayed his emotions. Walker was not our dad’s biological son, and growing up as the black sheep of the Brooks family hardened him in a way I’d never understand.
My mother got pregnant with her high school sweetheart who ended up leaving before Walker was even born. It had been the talk of the town for years. My parents met when Walker was a year old, and my dad was really the only father he had ever known.
He faced a lot of scrutiny from my grandparents over the years, and for a long time we had to constantly remind him that he belonged here with his family.
He had tattoos from his neck to his knuckles, and one look from him had frightened many young ranch hands to the point where they peed their pants—literally. He was an intimidating man, but he didn’t scare me.
I marched right up to him and poked him square in the chest. “Stop acting like a fucking behemoth.”
“Get out of my way, Paige,” he seethed.
“No.” I crossed my arms. “That’s my husband you’re about to beat the shit out of.”
“He’s a traitor,” Walker spat.
I expected Walker to be pissed. Of everyone involved, he was going to feel the most betrayed. Cash was his best friend—the person he put in charge of my safety. He was the one person Walker was supposed to trust, and turned out to be the person who got me in the most trouble.
I understood where he was coming from, but it was still my life. I was a big girl. I didn’t need anyone to protect me from the big bad wolf. I made my own choices—my own mistakes—and it was no one’s fault but mine.
What Walker didn’t understand yet was that Cash was now my priority. Regardless of our history, we were in this together, and I was going to protect him.
“Touch him again and I will not only never speak to you again, but I will sick Mom on your ass so fast you’ll be stuck on dinner duty for the entire summer.”
My mother was a lovely woman—most of the time—but she was eccentric for sure. There was never an excuse too loose to have a party. She hosted every family dinner like an event and we all loathed helping her. It meant hours of prep and being her slave for most of the day.
Walker’s chest was heaving and his gaze was locked on Cash, but he nodded and shoved my brothers away.
“This isn’t over.” He pointed at Cash before stalking off, leaving us in a tense silence.
Reid laughed, breaking the tension. “Anyone think we would make a great reality show? Like, instead of Southern Charm, we could be Montana Madness.”
We all turned to him and stared for a moment before bursting into laughter. I shook my head and punched him in the arm.
“You’re an idiot.”
Reid grabbed my hand in his fist and wrapped me in a hug, lifting my feet off the ground.
“I can’t believe you’re married, P. I was supposed to be your flower boy.”
“I would pay to see that.” Lottie laughed.
“You might want to put your money where your mouth is,” I mumbled under my breath.
Lottie furrowed her brow, but shrugged and turned to my brothers.
“Pay up.” She held out her palm as Axle and Reid rolled their eyes and pulled out their wallets.
“Seriously?” I scoffed.
“Don’t act brand new.” Lottie laughed, counting the bills my brothers slapped in her palm. “I bet Walker wouldn’t even let Cash get a word in before punching him.”
You could say that my siblings and I had a gambling problem, but hey, bets always made things more fun.
There was nothing that was safe from a Brooks family bet.
Sometimes we bet money, and sometimes we bet our pride.
Everyone was usually a good sport about it.
Growing up, we always knew that if you snitched on a punishment, then you weren’t going to be included anymore.
We all cared more about missing out then we did the temporary embarrassment of whatever we had to do.
“So glad you won,” Cash groaned from below me.
I jumped and ran over to him—momentarily forgetting he was still on the ground.
“Come on, you big oaf. Let’s go put some ice on that pretty face of yours.” I held out a hand and helped Cash to his feet.
“Do you have tequila? I could use a drink,” he mumbled.
“Tequila does seem to be our drink,” I snorted out.
“Just how I like it.” Cash leaned over and kissed the top of my head before we started across the property to my little barn apartment.