My body goes tight like a guitar string as my temper flares. I stand up and the chair scrapes back. Danny puts his hand on my chest, trying to stop me, and says "Jax, easy," but I'm already locked on Alan, who's still leaning on the bar holding his beer.
"What'd you fucking say?" I snarl, rounding behind Mike, who also tries to stop me, but there isn't a man in this bar strong enough to pin me down. I'd fight three off at once on a normal day, but with three drinks in my system and my temper out of control, they may need the SWAT team.
"Relax, man, I didn't mean?—"
I hit him before he finishes the sentence. My fist connects with the side of his jaw and the stool behind him tips over. He grabs the edge of a nearby table on the way down and pulls the pitcher with him.
Glass shatters on the floor, sloshing beer all over him and the floor around him. He scrambles up and catches me on the mouth with a right hand that splits my lip open. I taste blood, which only pisses me off more. This fucker is gonna go down. I grab the front of his shirt and shove him backward into the pool table hard enough to scatter the balls and knock a cue off the wall rack. But Danny gets between us with both hands flat on my chest and Russ grabs Alan by the arm, trying to keep him back. But Alan keeps coming, forcing Mike to step in too, halting everything.
I won't hit my dad's oldest friend, though if he were the one to insult me like that, it might've been a different story.
"Enough," Danny says. "Both of you, enough."
"Out," the bartender shouts at me, and I have about another half dozen men surround me.
I lick the bloody spot on my lip, blinking slowly as I feel the alcohol start kicking in even harder now that I've got adrenaline pumping in my blood.
I turn to Alan and snarl, "You keep your fucking mouth shut, or next time, you'll have a broken nose." Alan rights himself and dabs at some blood on his nose with a few fingers, but he's wise enough to keep his mouth shut as Danny and Russ push me toward the door.
They usher me right to the sidewalk where I stand swaying, pissed off and ready to march right over to Emily's house and tell her how badly she hurt me.
"You go home, Jaxon… And don't drive." Russ pats my pockets down, feeling for the keys, I assume, but they're hanging in the truck where I left them.
"Fuck you," I mumble, but I really don't mean it. I know they're watching out for me, and I know I'm the one who started the shit. Alan is always going to be a mouthy bastard. I've got to learn to control myself.
"Go home, Jax," Danny says, more kindly than Russ, but they both retreat back into the bar, leaving me standing there.
After a few minutes, I turn to start walking toward home when a car pulls up. A small blue coupe with neon under it. It parks about a block away from the pub, but when the driver gets out, I recognize her immediately. It's Leah, the woman who works with Emily at the bakery. I've seen them buddy up to one another. They’re close friends, which makes me want to shy away, but she marches right over to me.
"Jaxon?" She looks at my face and frowns. "What happened to your lip?" Her eyes flick up to the bar and then back to me.
"Nothing," I growl, avoiding eye contact and continuing to walk, but she grabs my arm and hauls me back.
"You're bleeding."
"I'm fine," I snip, pulling my arm from her grasp, and she clicks her tongue.
"You're drunk," she says, "and you were in a fight."
"Little bit, and none of your business, alright?"
I turn to go, wanting to get away from here. The first thought in my mind is that maybe I should just leave town. Dad is always angry with me. Emily doesn't want me around. I'm set to watch my family lose everything. What’s the point in staying here when nothing here connects me to reality anymore?
"Emily told me," she says, and I stop walking and turn back over my shoulder. It makes me clench my jaw and try to focus hard on the two faces I see in front of me morphing in and out in blurred vision.
"Told you what?"
"About Mercy."
"So now she's telling people. Seven years she keeps her mouth shut and now everybody gets to know…" I shake my head and spit on the ground. I'm furious, just downright pissed, and it's gonna come out at the wrong time and get me in trouble. I'll be lucky if Alan doesn't press charges for that.
Leah shifts her purse on her shoulder. "She's not doing this to hurt you, Jaxon."
"Could've fooled me." I want to go but my feet are too heavy to move right now. I stand swaying, feeling hurt and undone.
"I've known Emily since college," Leah says, putting her hands in her jacket pockets. "You don't know what she's been through, Jaxon. She did it all alone and?—"
"That was her choice. Not mine." I glare at her and watch her face soften into remorse and sadness.
