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“Wait… Did you bite me?” She gets a new burst of energy and lifts her head off the pillow, her eyes now staring at me with confusion.
“Yeah, I bit ya.” I nod my head back at her, and can’t help smiling. It ain’t the first time she’s asked me that since I did it, and I can’t help concluding that this annoying little firecracker is adorable when she's drunk.
“That was weird.” She drops her head back down and closes her eyes again.
“Night, Savannah.” I laugh, then, unable to resist the urge, I make a few paces back toward her bed, lean over, and place a delicate kiss on her cheek.
“Night, Cole,” she whispers sleepily as I back my way out of my room and watch her snuggle her cheek into my pillow.
The calm sense of comfort that gives me disappears the second I close the door and head back to my truck.
“Where the fuck were you?” I grab Finn by the front of his shirt and slam him up against the wall when I return to the party.
“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” He stares at me blankly.
“Whoa, whoa! Cole, chill the fuck down. What's troublin’ ya?” Noah rushes over to intervene.
“What’s troublin’ me is the scumbag assholes here who gave Savannah pot and let her drink too much.” I stare back at him, just about ready to tear someone's head off their shoulders. Anything could have fuckin’ happened in the state she was in, any fucker here could have taken advantage of her.
“Cole, everyone here's doin’ pot. It’s the reason they come.” Noah laughs at me so I drop Finn and grab him, instead.
I raise my fist but the brave fucker quickly wraps his hand around it before it can impact, surprising me with his strength when he holds it mid-air. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I may wear your family's brand, but I won’t have you comin’ into my home and disrespectin’ me.” He shoves me off him. “Now, Finn’s been with me since he got here, we’ve been upstairs playing Texas Hold ‘em with the other boys.”
“Him.” I catch a glimpse of one of the guys who was watching Savannah dance and suddenly lose all interest in Noah. The guy sees me charging toward him but he looks too terrified to move. “Was it you, did you give her the pot?”
“No, sir.” He shakes his head back at me erratically.
“Then who did? Someone here must have seen somethin’.” I follow his eyes when they glance over the table where Savannah had been dancing, and the two guys sitting on the couch beside it. One of them is tapping out a line on the table while the other one, who had his hand on Savannah’s leg, is watching.
“Them?” I question the kid who looks like he’s about to shit his pants.
“They were the ones talking to her all night.” He shrugs before I head on over. The clueless bastards don’t even see mecoming as I march over and grab the one closest to me by his shoulder, spinning him around so I can punch him.
He slumps off the sofa onto the floor and his friend quickly tries to make a swing for me, which I manage to block before I slam my forehead hard into his and make him stumble backward. I make sure he hits the deck like his friend when I punch him in the guts and fold him in half.
“You see that pretty redhead again, you walk in the other direction. If you touch, talk, or evendareto look at her again, I’ll kill ya,” I tell them both before I curb my anger and walk away.
I’m not supposed to be gettin’ into any trouble right now, but assholes like these and the effect Savannah has on me ain’t makin’ it easy.
“Hey, jerk!” one of them calls out from behind me, and when I spin around to see what the brave fucker wants, I hear Finn shout my name. I catch a glimpse of the shiny, metal blade, the guy has in his hand, coming toward me. Finn somehow launches from the other side of the room in time and crashes him back to the ground, while his idiot buddy quickly picks up the knife that's clattered to the floor and holds it up in front of him defensively.
“You brought a fuckin’knifeto my house?” Noah comes at them, flanked by the other two River Boys, and without any thought of hesitation, he stamps on the face of the fucker Finn’s got his arms wrapped around.
“Don’t come any closer.” The guy holding the knife can’t decide who he should point the thing at. Clearly, he’s never been in a fight before, his eyes are brimming with tears and he looks petrified.
“You brought a fuckin’ knife to my house?” Noah repeats; dragging the kid, whose head he’s been stomping on, up on his feet by the front of his tee.
“Drop the knife before you get fuckin’ hurt,” I warn his friend, who immediately does as he’s told, letting the thing drop from his hand before he backs away.
“You thought you were gonna stab my friend here?” Noah screams at the one he’s holding, while the other guy continues to back himself away from the situation, right into Sawyer’s chest.
“I think you both need a little lesson on house rules.” Noah looks between them both.
“I’m happy to help you make sure that lesson really sinks in.” I pick up the knife from the ground and study the blade this little fucker thought he was gonna poke me with. “Hold him up,” I order, watching as Finn aids Noah and they each hold one of his shoulders against the wall. The kid is breathing frantically as I slowly make my way toward him, pressing the point of the knife into my fingertip to test how sharp it is.
“Real men don’t pull weapons on a man whose back is turned. If you’re gonna use a weapon on a man, ya gotta be prepared to look that man in the eyes when ya do it.” I make the fucker jump when I grip his shirt and slice the blade through the front of it.
“My family has an age-old belief that if a man's worthy, he wears a brand.” I pull down on my shirt so I can show him mine and when he sees it, his eyes widen with fear. Everyone around here knows who the Carsons are and they also know you don’t fuck with ‘em, without consequence.
