Page 18 of The Other Half

“Whoa. Jake. Come on, man. What the fuck? This isn’t you.”

“He had it coming,” I growled.

“I know he did. And I feel for you, I do. But you can’t just launch across the bar and kick his ass every time you see him. He’s a douche, but he’s allowed to live.”

“It was the first time I saw him. He had it coming.” How we’d made it this many months in a small town without running into each other was a wonder, but from what I’d heard he’d been avoiding me like the plague. Which was probably a good thing since I still wanted to kick his ass months later. If I’d seen him right after it happened, I’d probably have killed him.

“Okay. You saw him. You kicked his ass. Now it’s time to move on, man. I’m worried about you. We’re all worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” The adrenaline subsided, and my hand throbbed from the punches.

“You’re not fine. I mean, you’ve always been a broody son of a bitch, but you’re downright depressed. And I get it. I do. But it’s time to get on with your life, Jake. And you both live here. You’re going to run into him. You can’t beat the shit out of him every time you see him or I’m going to be bailing you out of jail. Okay?”

He was right, and I knew it, but I just stared back at the bar that housed Matt inside.

“Okay?” he asked again.

“Okay,” I finally answered.

“No more kicking the shit out of Matt. No more moping. Deal.”

It had felt good to punch that asshole, but it didn’t erase all the pain he’d caused. Deflating like a balloon, I felt the remaining rage seep out of my system now and even though I never wanted to see him again, I knew I could control the urge to pound his face in the next time I did.

“Fine.”

“Good. Want to go to the Coyote Roadhouse? Cool off?”

“No. I just want to be alone,” I answered and started off down the street.

“You going home?”

“Nope.” I headed toward the docks to sit on my boat and calm down.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Cassie

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“What the hell was that?” I asked Jo while we stared at the door they’d dragged him through.

“That was Jake Alton.”

Jake. So that’s his name.

“That guy screwed his fiancée.” She pointed to the guy with the brown hair and brown eyes leaning on Captain Bailey.

“Shut up,” I breathed.

“Yep. This spring. And that guy, Matt, the one who screwed his fiancée, was his best friend since they were in diapers. They were like brothers.”

I looked again at him while he wiped a drip of blood from his nose. He would have been handsome if it weren’t for the blood splattered across his already bruising face. Even though the two weren’t brothers, they easily could have been mistaken for them. “Holy shit. That’s awful.”

“Yeah, it’s really messed up. Matt’s been hiding from him since it happened, and it’s kind of an unspoken rule that this is Jake’s bar, so he avoided it. Apparently, he thought it was safe to see Jake. It seems he thought wrong.”

Very wrong, I thought remembering the way he’d launched across the room and the sound of his fist colliding with that guy’s face.

“Where’s the girl?” I asked, the thought of Jake with another woman not sitting well with me.