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My blood went cold.Mitch?Mitch had done that to me?No.“I asked you to go fishing, asshat.”
“Saved me the trouble. I did the best I could, but damn.” He shuddered as if recalling the worst experience of his life.
“That’s enough,” Easton growled.
“Is that what you call what happened a few years later?” I taunted, trying to get around Easton again. “Because it sure as hell didn’t take much to get you to go back out to that same spot.”
“You wanted it, you just got scared,” he said, voice rising.
“Then why were you the only one who ended up with no clothes on?” I scratched the side of my head, pretending to think hard.
“You took all of mine and left me out in the woods,” he yelled.
“Now, you know that isn’t true. I left you your boots. And it was only a couple miles from your house,” I said, pretending to study my nails.
“I was buck naked,” he shouted and then checked the convenience store nervously.
“If I heard you brag once about how stacked you were, I’d heard it a thousand times. Did you get embarrassed that Sheriff Donovan saw you in all your glory and picked you up for indecent exposure?” I asked innocently. That son of a bitch thought he could cheat on me and I’d forget about it. No way. All it took was a tight dress and a little makeup to seduce him. I still hated him, but I’d gotten my revenge.
Easton’s posture relaxed a fraction, and I was pretty sure I saw the corner of his mouth lift.
“That went on my record.”
“Probably wouldn’t have if you’d controlled your temper.” I shrugged, not sorry. Everything ended up fine. He got his head coaching job at the high school.
“The whole town knew. My parents made me talk to Pastor Adams about sex for a whole afternoon. People still razz me about what happened when I go to the diner for breakfast. Nobody did anything to you, and they won’t let me forget something from when we were kids,” Bryce said. “You got what was finally coming to you. Too bad your niece had to cry, but that’s the only thing you care about.”
“Did I understand you correctly? You used an innocent girl and your son to get revenge for something that happened how many years ago?” Easton’s features hardened.
“Twenty,” I volunteered.
“Do you know how cold it was that day?” Bryce asked.
“Not sure that mattered,” I said. He lunged for me.
Easton grabbed him by the throat and held him against a shelf of potato chips. “You’re a grown man. Act like it.” He shook him before he let go. “If I ever find out you do something like this again, you’llwishyou were back out in that cold.”
I’d heard Easton angry many times, but this fury? For the fact I was wronged? I’d never heard him so enraged before. He was fierce.
Bryce’s gaze landed on me. “What happened to the day you did your own fighting?”
“You better be glad he’s got hold of you because if I handled it the way I wanted to, I’d shoot your dick off.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“I’m the best shot in the county, and I’ve got the ribbons to prove it,” I said. “Stay away from my nieces, and keep that punk kid you’re raising away from them too.” I leaned in until I was only inches away from his face. “You don’t know just how big of a hornet’s nest you almost stirred up.”
Chapter Sixteen
Easton
“Thanks for taking up for her.”
I nearly dropped the three drinks I carried from the convenience store to the truck. Those were words that didn’t come easy for Mulaney.
“That guy is scum.”
“He’s always been a pain in the ass, but this is over the top even for him.” She looked down the road and grimaced. “He did that to her because of me. She’s a good girl, tenderhearted. She deserves so much more than paying for my past.”
