I made it outside the Bison and then turned around to face him. If things ended up getting physical, I didn’t want to wreck my favorite bar. I respected the place too much for that. Mike, on the other hand, I didn’t respect at all.
He stalked toward me, his feet crunching on the gravel and his face was an ugly shade of purple. “What did you say to me?”
“Which part? The part where I said you weren’t a man or the part where I called you a lying little bitch?” I shouldn’t have been taunting him when he was clearly itching for a fight, but I couldn’t help myself. I’d been in a bad mood all night, and I wasn’t going to take any shit from this ape.
Besides, I didn’t expect things to escalate any further. This kind of guy was all talk. He’d get up in my face, make a big show of what a tough guy he was, and then he’d walk away, pretending he won. It was the quiet ones you had to worry about — the ones who never said a word before knocking you out with one punch. Mike was anything but quiet.
Other patrons were spilling out the front of the Bison, hoping to see some action. I wondered if any of them would intervene if Mike went after me. Probably not. The regulars had seen me fight before. They knew I could handle myself, and they all knew who my father was.
Had been, rather. No time to dwell on that now.
Mike lunged at me, arms swinging wildly. I sidestepped out of his way easily and fell into a fighting stance. I felt that familiar surge of adrenaline rush through my veins like rocket fuel. It had been a long time since I’d felt this way. It scared me how right it felt, like coming home.
The crowd kept their distance. Mike threw a wide, meaty punch. I ducked beneath it and swore under my breath. That one had been close. I could avoid his ham-fisted attacks for a while, but eventually, he would get lucky and connect. Then, there was no telling what I’d have to do to him.
Better to take control of the situation while I still could. I swung my leg around and caught him behind the knee, sending him crashing to the gravel with a pained snarl.
“Cut the shit, man,” I growled. “Just get out of here and don’t come back to until you’re ready to pay up, do you hear me?”
He heard me. His eyes burned with anger as he struggled to his feet. Blue and red lights flashed around us. I squinted against them, blinded. Mike chose that moment to come after me again, but the local sheriff stepped between us and halted his advance.
“Easy, Mike,” the man said, leading him away. “Let’s get you back home to your wife. Time for you to sleep it off.”
The onlookers cheered, but the sound if it didn’t thrill me the way it had when I’d been on the bull. Instead, I felt physically sick. I turned and stalked off in the opposite direction, heading home for the night.
For all that John insisted that I’d changed over the past few years, I couldn’t really believe it — not when I was still drinking and fighting like this. I felt disgusted with myself. But all the same, I knew I’d never change. I didn’t think it wa
s possible to change anymore.
I kicked at a rock, sending it skittering off across the road. It did nothing to soothe the pent-up anger and frustration inside me. I wondered if maybe John was right, maybe I was better when I was smoking weed. I scrubbed a hand over my face and went up to bed, hoping I could pass out for a couple hours and forget about everything, seeing that nothing was soothing the tiger pacing around in my chest.
I knew one thing that would: Vanessa.
Chapter Six
Vanessa
I felt like I’d spent the whole day thinking back over the dinner with Trethan, analyzing every detail of it. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached over and grabbed my phone, quickly calling Julie, needing an outlet.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asked when she picked up the phone.
I sighed heavily. “It’s Trethan.”
“Uh oh, what happened?”
“He came over here for dinner last night. Dad invited him.”
“Oh wow, okay,” she said, sounding interested. “So, what happened?”
I shook my head, even though I knew she couldn’t see it on the other end of the line. “It was so awkward, Julie. You can’t even imagine how awkward it was.” I paused. “Why didn’t anyone tell me that his dad had died?”
“You didn’t know about that?” she asked, sounding surprised. “I would have thought your dad would have told you, or maybe even Trethan himself. Sorry, I would have said something. I just thought you already knew.”
“I had no idea,” I said. “And, I totally put my foot in my mouth at dinner. I asked if he was still living with his dad. Where is he living, anyway? Is he still at that old house?”
“Oh no,” she said. “He bought an apartment over on Fifth not long after he started working for your dad. He’s been trying to sell his dad’s place for months now, but you know how White Bluff is. It’ll probably sell soon, now that it’s summer though.”
“Oh,” I said lamely.