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“Are they? I haven’t heard anything about that. They barely mention you when talking about Sarah’s and my engagement.”
“They’re talking about me when you ain’t looking. I know they are. And I’m a laughingstock of the entire town. It’s your fault!”
He’s delusional. Whatever he’s got going on, he’s lashing out. And that lashing out is threatening the woman I love.
I take my steps slowly and steadily. I don’t want to provoke him into making any sudden, harsh moves. “Listen, we can talk this out. Man to man. If you want to have a fight about it, we can. But let’s do it on even ground. We don’t need to bring a girl into this.”
“You know I have a bad back!” he snaps back. “It’s not a fair fight!”
Always an excuse.
“I’m sorry for however you’re feeling,” Lily hoarsely says, a desperate attempt at sympathy to penetrate his impossibly thick skull.
I grit my teeth. “Come on, Max. You’re better than this.”
“How do you know how good I am?” he says, looking at me.
Then the little firecracker I’m falling in love with strikes. One good kick, right to the shins, and Max staggers back.
I rush him and take him down with a tackle, and the three of us are rolling down the muddying hill. Lily thankfully takes the opportunity to get out of dodge, but Max doesn’t give up so easily. He claws for her, and I go for a punch on his fat cheek, but it doesn’t affect him much. He shoves me off him toward the edge of the cliff, and I feel my leg dangle off the side, but the adrenaline is pumping. Fists are flying, and I’m striking at him again and again. He tries to fight back, but he’s either not landing hits or I’m simply not feeling it on the high of the moment.
“Help!” I hear Lily scream out into the night. I pay it no mind, my hatred for this man flaring up hotter and hotter. The ground is becoming muddier as the rain turns into a downpour. Lightning strikes and thunder clashes in the sky, but God himself would struggle to stop me from keeping this man from hurting the woman I love.
“What’s going on up there?” I hear a voice in the distance call out. “Boss? Something the matter?”
“Perry’s causing shit on our ranch again! Get him!” another one calls out, once he catches sight of the situation.
Max has some semblance of sense, and hearing that more people are coming, scrambles away from me. I try to keep him down, wanting him to face more of the Desert Sky Ranch’s brand of justice, but with all the mud and water, the man is too slippery. He’s hustling away from me faster than I’ve ever seen him move before.
The wranglers give chase to him, and I pick myself up and look at Lily, who is a bit roughened up but doesn’t seem too harmed.
“Are you okay?” I ask, wanting to be sure.
“Yes. A little shook up, but I’ll be fine.” She’s breathing heavy, and coughing hard, likely glad to be breathing at all after what Max tried to do to her.
The lightning flashes in the distance again.
“Shit! The horses got out!” one of my guys shouts.
Of all the times...
Lily runs to help, always wanting to assist someone first. I hold her back. The wranglers stop giving chase to Max and go to collect the horses.
“The commotion of the shouting and brawling, combined with the storm, riled them up too much,” I say, making my best guess on how this situation got out of hand.
A stampede of horses run by us as the water pours down. So much chaos all around us, but I have Lily in my arms. Everything is fine. Well, everything will be fine. As long as I have her, the little annoyances of life seem to not matter so much.
“Come on. Let’s go home, and get out of these wet clothes.”
Lily nods. “There’s nothing I’d like more right now than getting naked with you, Jack.”
We chuckle, leaving the mess to my wranglers. Max is gone. He’s the sheriff’s problem now.
Despite all the horny talk, we calm ourselves down inside, stripping down and cleaning ourselves up from all the mud and grass we’ve accumulated through the day. Lily notices all the cuts I have on my back and comes at me with a first-aid kit.
“I didn’t expect him to react like that,” I say, as she puts a small bandage on one of my cuts. “Max is an asshole, but it’s a big step to go from kind of annoying to outright murderous.”
“It’s not your fault,” she says, massaging my back. “You can’t control how someone else acts. I’m just glad you were there before he did something terrible.”
