“Of course not,” Max snarled back. “Do you think I’m some kind of monster? But maybe she needs some space from us. One of us has always been close by since the attack; we’ve been too scared to let her be on her own. But Stanton is locked away. She’s safe. Maybe if we act as though nothing is wrong then everything will go back to the way it was.”
What the fuck?
Yeah, things had to change. But backing off wasn’t going to help.
“Where did you get that bullshit from? The back of a box of cornflakes?”
Logan drew his gloves off. He’d been mending fences all day. He was hot, he was thirsty, and he was tired as hell. Worries about the ranch and Savannah were keeping him up at night, and his temper was short.
He knew Max was in the same boat. They either slept on the floor beside Savannah, which was uncomfortable as hell, or alone in the bed they used to share with her. Either way, it sucked.
To be so close to her yet not touch her. Would they ever be what they once were?
Logan was damned determined they would.
“Well, what do you want to do? Smother her to death? Keep her locked up in a glass box and just bring her out when you’ve got a hard-on?”
Logan stormed up to Max, his breath heaving in and out of his chest. “You think all I care about is sex? She’s my wife.”
“She’s my wife too. She’s hurting, and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it. So why don’t you come up with something, huh?” Max shoved him back.
Logan snarled. “You don’t want to do that right now.”
“Yeah? What ya gonna do about it?”
“This.” Logan pulled back his arm and let his fist fly.
Colin Richards parked his truck next to Logan’s behemoth of a truck and watched Max and Logan fight.
Logan tackled Max to the ground.
“Ouch,” Trace said from beside him. “I wouldn’t want Logan landing on me.”
“Don’t underestimate Max. He’s tough and he’s a sneaky fighter.”
The men rolled, each getting in some punches.
“Think it’s time to break things up?” Trace asked.
Colin snorted. “I’m not getting in between the two of them when they’re fighting. Tried it once when I was thirfteen, and I ended up with a broken nose for my troubles. Of course, it did stop the fight. But Lila likes my nose how it is.”
Trace rolled his eyes and stepped out of the truck.
“You guys gonna keep it up for much longer?” he yelled out.
They ignored him, and Max, who was on top at this stage, smacked his fist into Logan’s nose. Colin winced. He knew how that felt. Max had given him that broken nose years ago. People always saw Logan as the threat due to his size and his less-than-friendly personality. But Max was fast, and he was strong. Colin didn’t know which branch of the armed forces he’d been in, that was all hush-hush, but no doubt it had been dangerous as hell.
He was just glad both Max and Logan had returned home and bought this place. It had surprised him when they’d started to date Savannah, but as it turned out, she suited them perfectly. She kept Logan from completely retreating into himself and becoming a hermit. And she’d made Max smile again. Not that fake smile he’d had when he’d first come home. But a real smile.
Colin’s own smile faded. He knew that Savannah wasn’t doing well. Lila was really worried about her. She didn’t leave the house, she was a shell of her former self, withdrawn and frightened.
Not that he could blame her.
He climbed out of the truck and came to stand by Trace. His brother sighed. “They’re ignoring me. Looks like I’m going to get my nose smashed in. Think I’ll get any sympathy from Lila?”
Trace, Colin along with their friend, Gavin all shared a wife. Lila was everything to them. The center of their world and Colin thanked God every day that she was in their life.
“Unlikely.” Colin grabbed his arm and raised his voice. “We’ve got beer.”