Hard eyes stared at me. I drank it, forced it down, then almost jumped from the stool when I felt it coming back up, but I got it under control.
“She needs some eggs and bacon,” Killian said softly.
“Already on it,” Liam shouted back.
I winced.
He dropped my key on the bar then walked away. Disappearing into the back. Abrupt, almost rude, but I couldn’t stop the grin because I was growing on him.
Two days after our debut, Natalie and I were having lunch at one of the outdoor cafes.
“He brought me home. He even tucked me in,” she said, dropping her chin in her hand and sighing.
Killian hadn’t been that gentle, but I kind of liked his style. No nonsense. Thinking about him applying the same style in bed made me chuckle.
Natalie’s eyes turned to me. I didn’t share but asked, “Have you talked to him?”
She looked crestfallen. “No.”
I didn’t offer advice because the men for me lately were just about sex. Those butterflies she was feeling, the uncertainty, the interest…I’d had that once but only once.
Her attention shifted to behind me, anger moved across her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked but looked and answered my own question. The man was big and muscled, the dog was too thin, his head down in submission, and his legs shook in fear. Every move the man made, the dog flinched. There were a few triggers that brought an irrational anger in me, and a bully was one of them because they reminded me of Brock, what he endured and how it fucked up his life.
I sat and watched the terrified dog, who didn’t run off, because the monster was his master, and the man who was getting off on the power. I didn’t think of the consequences, acted purely on rage, when I jumped from my chair and walked toward them. “Hey,” I shouted.
He glanced over. Cruelty just poured off him.
“Leave him alone.”
As if to prove his power, he ordered the dog to sit in a voice that had him peeing himself.
“You feel manly breaking his spirit,” I taunted. “Makes you a big man, does it?”
“Shut your fucking mouth.”
“You gonna hit me?”
He curled his fist.
“Better me than him. Do it.”
“You bitch.”
“You’re beating on a broken dog, but I’m the bitch.”
“You won’t shut your mouth, I’ll shut it for you.”
He raised his hand, but I didn’t move. I was riding completely on rage, all that I’d buried deep burst out. I was being irrational and reckless, but I didn’t give a fuck. There was a part of me that acknowledged I was taunting him because I felt something, a blinding rage, but it was a feeling as opposed to the numbness I’d been in for far too long.
His fist never connected because he was yanked back so hard that he dropped to his knees. Killian stood over him. For someone who didn’t show emotion, he was fucking pissed.
Someone else appeared, a kid in a uniform, cuffs in his hands.
“You got nothing to hold me on. I didn’t touch that cunt.”
Slowly, as the rage subsided, I came to appreciate the situation. His soulless eyes glaring at me caused a chill.
“Animal endangerment and abuse to start,” Killian said.
That had my eyes flying to Killian where I saw the silver star pinned to his shirt. He was the sheriff? Natalie forgot to mention that. Explained why he brought me home the other night.
“Lock him up, Johnny.”
“You got it, Boss.”
Those angry eyes turned on me. “You, with me.”
I glanced behind me to see if there was someone else that was directed at, but no, he was talking to me.
Natalie was at my side, offering support. Killian’s hard eyes turned to her. “Get him to the vet.”
She glanced at me. I nodded, before she hurried to the dog. One of the bystanders helped her.
Killian waited for me to take the two steps to join him, and when I did, he led me to the station, to the back. The door slammed shut, but he didn’t turn to me immediately. Every muscle in his body was tense. I braced because a storm was coming.
When he finally turned around, that emotionless mask was back in place. “That was the fucking stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.”
That was fair, still I’d have stepped in again.
“You got a death wish?”
I did once.
His expression shifted, like I’d said that out loud. His mouth opened then closed. “I’ll watch him. You watch your back.”
That registered. The man seemed the type to hold a grudge. Probably wise to add an alarm system. “Graham and his crew will be at my place for the foreseeable future, but I’ll watch my back.”
He nodded.
He stepped from the door, held it open. I just reached it when he asked, “You ever talk about it?”
“Yeah, but some wounds don’t heal.”
I walked out, saw the man in the cage and the look he was giving me, and reached for my phone. I was across the street when I glanced back and saw Killian. He was watching me. I didn’t really know him, but he cared about this town, its people, and I was one of those people. He looked so much like the sheriff I imagined that first day, leaning against the porch rail, a throwback to the Wild West. I couldn’t stop myself from taking a picture, a few actually. He really was a sight. My attention shifted when a fancy car pulled up. It caught my attention because of the license plate…three-dollar signs. What a douche. Killian’s attention moved from me to whoever was driving. His expression never changed, but the stiff set of his shoulders suggested whoever it was, he wasn’t a big fan. I could have watched him all day, but knowing him, he’d ticket me for loitering. Now that I wasn’t riding on rage, confronting that animal had been really stupid. Killian was right. I needed to watch my back. I swallowed down the unease and went to check on Natalie and the
