Finders Keepers

And that’s when things started getting ugly.

Fi

“Look who’s the tough guy now.” Fi

“Josie, no!” I yelled, trying to push her out of the way, but Fi

The punch hit her across the cheek, sending her flying back into me. I caught her before she fell to the ground. Even though she hadn’t cried out in pain and she looked more pissed than hurt, I felt murderous rage flood my veins. If a gun pointed at Fi

“Josie, baby, are you okay?” I ran my hand down the side of her face he’d hit. It was already swelling.

She nodded, her eyes finding mine. “Now that baby was a term of endearment.” She managed a small smile and tried getting up.

“What the hell, Fi

“She got in the way.” Fi

The thread I’d been hanging onto had snapped when Fi

“From that little bitch slap? Yeah, I barely felt it.” She lifted her hand to her cheek, glaring at Fi

I would do a hell of a lot more than glare at him as soon as I made sure she was okay. “Please stay here. Let me handle this.”

She shook her head. “Sorry, Garth. If I liked hanging out on the sidelines, I would have been a cheerleader.”

“Fuck the cheerleaders—”

“You certainly did back in high school.”

I was fighting two battles: one with my fists with the Masons and one with my words with Josie. “I’m not asking you to stay here because I want to keep you on the sidelines forever. I’m begging you to stay here so I can keep you safe.” How was that not clear? Five moderately to severely drunk guys were looking to turn me—and anyone else who got in the way—into their human punching bag.

“We’re waiting, Black. But we’re not going to wait much longer.”

Josie’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Why don’t you go buy a fruity drink and make out with a guy like we all know you want to, Fi

A few of the Mason boys’ mouths dropped open, Fi

Lifting his finger, Fi

Yep. That was it. My rage containment threshold. Letting out a grunt of outrage, I drove my shoulder into Fi

“Are we finally going to fight?” Fi

With the reminder he’d laid his hands on Josie, a whole new level of rage bubbled to the surface. Phase two of Garth Black losing his shit. “No, I’m going to fight.” I cracked him in the other cheek. “You’re going to lay there and take it.” Before I could get in a third punch, Fi

The guy had her by a hundred pounds, and she was coming at him with nothing more than sheer determination and gusto. If I wasn’t so terrified of what would happen next, I would have been bursting with pride. Right before she got to Fi

“Jesus Christ, Colt. Hold her back and keep her out of this,” I said.

Josie flashed me a glare like I’d betrayed her. If betraying her meant keeping her from getting any more hurt, that was what I would do. When Josie made another run at Fi

Okay, Josie was safe. Time to kick some ass.

As Fi

The two of us rolled across the gravel, each landing hits as we struggled to gain the upper hand. Fi

Fi

Josie’s screams of protest quickly changed to pleas to stop. She hollered her lungs out begging them to stop, threatening to call the cops, promising she would kick all of their asses. Then her shouts turned to sobs as their kicks and hits only picked up speed. I was close to passing out, no longer able to feel what parts of my body were and weren’t working when her weeps turned to choking whimpers. That right there—hearing Josie falling apart and being unable to fix it—was the most painful blow I’d been dealt that night. I’d no sooner convinced myself of that and then Fi

His first swing hit me in the lower back, his second a bit higher. By the time he’d moved on to his third and fourth, I was passing out. His brothers yelled at him to stop. Their hits and kicks had stopped as soon as Fi