Chapter 41 #2
“When pigs fly, boy.”
“Brody told me weeks ago that the sky would fall before you accepted cattle as pets, but don’t think I didn’t notice the extra chunks of apple you slipped her earlier,” Anna teases.
“Is that where all my apples went?” Grandma asks, slipping onto the porch from inside. She pins her husband with a glare, but it’s harmless. “Come to think of it, they’ve been going missing for quite a few days now.”
Anna giggles, turning into my body. She tips her head back, and her eyes shine so bright as they meet mine. “I missed you.”
Her lips are parted in waiting when I kiss her. She feels at ease enough here to let me kiss her in front of my grandparents. I take her cheek in my hand and stroke her jaw just once, needing to feel her soft skin, before pulling back.
“Are you up to grabbing some stuff from your place?” I ask her.
She bunches her brows. “Am I staying here longer than just last night?”
“It would probably be smart to make sure that man is gone before sending you off on your own,” Grandma says. Grandpa grunts his agreement.
“I doubt he’s going to do anything other than be a creep and stand outside for a few hours,” Anna argues.
I press my finger to her mouth. “Stay here with me. Just for a couple’a days. Please?”
Thankfully, that’s all it takes to convince her.
“Fine. Fine! But only until you go back to Nashville.”
“Sure.”
My grandparents snicker, but Anna ignores them and the realization that if I have it my way, she’ll be out of that rental of hers in no time. Even if that’s a downright crazy sentiment to most people.
We make quick work of saying goodbye to my grandparents before she’s back in my truck, and ten minutes later, we’re pulling up in front of her place.
The black sedan parked in my spot along the curb has my hackles rising. Anna sucks in a sharp breath before frantically flinging up the lock on the door and diving into the cold. I’m quick to follow her, my heart stuttering in my chest when the driver’s door opens and a man steps out.
“Stewart?” Anna shrieks, stumbling over her feet on the sidewalk. “What are you doing here?”
The man turns to her, a wide grin spreading his lips.
There’s a giant bouquet of roses in his suit jacket–covered arms. I quicken my steps and reach Anna’s side before she gets too close to him.
She reaches for my hand, taking it in an almost painful grip, and while I love that she’s looking at me for comfort, it pisses me off that she feels the need for it.
“I missed you. It’s time to come home,” he says.
My nostrils flare, blood starting to grow hot beneath my skin.
This guy looks just like I imagined he would.
Conceited and stuck-up. Too proud to fight for her the way she deserves.
He’s not here to do that. It’s months too late for that.
There’s another reason for his appearance, and I’ll sniff it out.
He’s not getting within spitting distance of her. Not again.
I drape my arm around her back and press our sides together, rubbing the top of her arm over and over in a calming gesture. It’s not likely to do anything, but I’m willing to try anything.
“I am home. I’m not going back to Vancouver, and certainly not back to you,” Anna snaps.
He skips right over her words, dragging his judgmental eyes all over her body instead. The slight curl of his lips is enough to have me stepping toward him before Anna tugs me back, shaking her head.
“What are you wearing? You look ridiculous. I’ve let you play country hick long enough, I’d say,” he says, his tone so damn condescending.
The grip I had on my temper slips. “You have a lot of fuckin’ nerve, you know that? Get back in your car before you find yourself with a mouth full of pavement.”
He glowers at me, his left eye twitching.
I’d have laughed at how pathetic I find his attempt at intimidation if I wasn’t so desperate to remove him from Anna’s general vicinity.
I’m confident enough to believe that there’s no way she’ll leave with him, but that doesn’t mean his presence won’t affect her.
“You’ve played house with my fiancée for long enough, Brody Steele.
It’s time she comes back home to her real life.
” He looks at her now, dismissing me. “Let’s go.
From the looks of your attire, there isn’t much for you to grab, so let’s just skip that step.
Your closet at home is still full of your nice things. ”
“Leave, Stewart. I’m not going with you. And I’m not your fiancée. You made certain of that when you stuck your dick in someone else.”
Stewart rolls his jaw, scratching at the hairless length of it. “Annalise. Get in the car. I’ve tired of these games. While I forgave you for the mess you made in our bedroom, my patience is still very thin.”
“Leave. I’m not going with you. And it’s not our bedroom anymore. Last time I checked, you hadn’t even bothered to try and convince me to come home before right this moment. I’m not sure why you’re here now, but that’s your problem, not mine,” she says, standing firm, chin held high.
I’m so fucking proud of her.
“I was giving you time to get over your hurt feelings. Instead, I learn that you’ve been living it up in this no-good town with this wannabe cowboy on social media.
You’ve made quite the mess back home. I’ve had to convince all of our friends that you were simply acting out and not actually involved with him ,” he sneers.
Anna laughs a loud, bitter laugh. “ I’ve made a mess? You’re insane. The only reason you’re here is because you’re upset I’ve moved on and you’ve seen it in the media. I can assure you that there’s nothing wannabe about my cowboy. Not a damn fucking thing.”
My heart thumps wildly. Her public claiming makes my cock throb, the time and place not seeming to matter.
Stewart leans a hand against the door of the SUV and lets the roses in the other fall to rest against his thigh. “Your cowboy? Give me a break, Annalise. I brought your ring. It’s in the car. Come put it back on. I don’t appreciate you walking around without it.”
“You’d have to force it on me,” she states.
His face grows blank, his mind seeming to buffer for a few moments before rage flares in his eyes. I tuck Anna behind me just enough I don’t worry he’ll grab her.
“Come here and I’ll do just that, then. You’ll never get the fucking thing off again.”
I don’t let Anna hold me back this time.
My strides are huge, eating the distance between us and that fucking no-good sack of shit until I’m right in his face.
He smells like money. Money and arrogance.
The worst combination but the most common with guys like this. He’d get along with Garrison, I’m sure.
Air shoot from my nostrils as I attempt to rein in my anger, but the grin he flashes is a big red flag waving in my face. I’m not a fighter. I’ve thrown one punch in my life, and it sucked. But I’m teetering on the ledge, my hands in fists at my sides.
“Touch her and you’ll lose the ability to use your hands again,” I threaten, my tone cold as death.
“Try it. I’ve never needed to use my hands much with that one.
She’s more than willing to put in the work in the bedroom.
I’ve never met a woman who loves to ride dick the way she does.
” He laughs cruelly, dropping his voice to just above a whisper.
I pray she can’t hear his next words. “Maybe it makes sense after all. You found a cowboy to ride. Even if she had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find you.”
Footsteps pound on the pavement behind me as I throw my second-ever punch. This time, it doesn’t suck. It hits its mark just right. Blood spurts from Stewart’s nose as I step back and shake out my hand, sharp pain zipping up my arm.
He’s immediately grabbing his face, eyes full of bewilderment. “You’re so screwed.”
“Maybe. But at least I don’t have a broken nose.” I shove him out of my way and open the driver’s door of the SUV before shoving him inside. His head hits the frame on the way, but it does nothing to settle me. “Get the fuck out of here. Now.”
“You’ll be hearing from my lawyers, Brody Steele.” He glances past me, and I know without turning that he’s looking at Anna. The flowers fall to the road. “Last chance. I won’t be wasting my time with coming here again for you. Not even you’re worth this effort.”
“Leave and don’t come back,” she demands.
He doesn’t spare either of us another second of his precious time before he’s speeding off down the road and, hopefully, out of Cherry Peak for good. Anna softly takes my hand and sighs.
“You didn’t have to do that, Brody. He genuinely wasn’t worth it. He was just jealous that I haven’t been sitting here pining after him this entire time we’ve been apart.”
“Oh, it was worth it, alright. I’ve wanted to do that for weeks now.”
The corner of her mouth twitches. “He might not get any lawyers involved in this, but he won’t roll over and do nothing.”
I pull her in close and kiss the soft skin of her forehead. “He’s welcome to take a shot at me, sweetheart. Nothin’ will make me regret punchin’ him.”
Not even the call I get from Garrison the next morning, informing me that a representative from Swift Edge is on their way to Cherry Peak for an emergency meeting.
I’d do it all over again if I could.