by Peyton Banks
“I’m here proving a point to my sister,” Junior stated.
“Yeah, what the fuck is that?” Wade asked. He swayed and struggled to keep from toppling over. His gaze wandered back to Joy, who was standing with her sister. Her eyes were wide, and tears were streaming down her face.
He hated seeing her crying.
It ripped a bigger hole in what was left of his heart.
“Junior, let it go,” Joy pleaded. She shook herself free from Lexi’s hold and moved to Junior. “I told you I’m okay. Please, let’s just leave.”
Junior didn’t take his eyes from Wade’s. The people who had been sitting at the bar around Wade and Carson had cleared out.
“It would seem I’m coming back just in time for the real party,” Parker drawled. He came to stand next to Wade, the spot Stephanie had vacated.
She and her friend had finally gotten the hint and scrambled away.
Parker casually leaned against the bar. Pushing his hat back, he eyed the men in front of them. “Is there a problem?”
Wade chuckled.
“I wouldn’t want to ruin your date with your fiancée, big brother. Why don’t you go back to Maddy.”
Parker snorted. “And leave you two to have all the fun with these three fucknuts? Get the fuck out of here.”
“Yeah, there’s a problem,” Junior barked. “Looks like your brother doesn’t waste any time in between women.”
“Junior, that’s none of your business!” Joy shouted.
“Joy, you may want to move,” Lexi hissed. She snatched Joy by the arm and dragged her out of the way.
Wade stood to his full height and rubbed his hand along his jaw. “Not that it’s any of your business, but your sister broke it off with me—”
Wade’s head snapped back from the force of Junior’s left hook. Wade crashed into the bar.
All hell broke loose.
Parker dove after the redheaded guy. His brother may walk with a limp, but that didn’t have any effect on him when it came to brawling.
Wade grinned and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. It came away covered in his blood.
He glanced up at Junior.
Maybe this was what he needed. He had needed something to expel his feelings, and Junior was a prime candidate.
He pushed off the bar and swung his fist at Junior.
Screams went up in the air as the brawl ensued. Carson landed a solid two-piece on the dark-haired guy.
He’d lost sight of Parker, but from the ruckus sounding to his left, his brother was handling business. He didn’t dare take his focus off of Junior.
The only thing Wade could hope for was that Joy was able to get to safety.
Wade stumbled, barely missing the fist going for his face, but the other connected with his side. The air escaped him. The fucker’s hit felt like a damn brick slamming into his face.
Wade shoved his elbow and landed it against Junior’s nose. He felt the satisfactory crunch of bone. He followed it with his own left, landing it on Junior’s jaw. Wade allowed his anger and fury to consume him.
It was as if his body was overtaken by the beast inside of him who had wanted to attack the world for taking Joy from him.
Junior was no different. They were about the same size and weight, and well-matched.
The feud between the two families was bound to explode eventually. It had only just graced the surface the other day.
At present, Wade was the right one for Junior.
Joy not being with him was the fault of the Whitakers and whatever the hell they were feeding her. He was sure it was Junior telling her some crazed bullshit that got her doubting him and everything they had between them.
Everything had been fine with them until her family had found out about them.
He didn’t know what they had told her, but at the moment, Junior was going to pay.
Junior let loose a roar and rushed Wade, catching him by the waist.
“Shit,” Wade muttered. The son of a bitch was as strong as an ox.
Junior slammed Wade onto a table. It splintered and crashed to the floor.
Wade paused, his back tensing from the pain radiating through him. A groan escaped him. Dirt and dust floated through the air above him.
Ringing filled his ears.
He shook it off and rolled to his side. Thick copper liquid filled his mouth. He spat it out on the floor, seeing the dark redness of his blood.
Now, he was beyond pissed.
Ignoring the throbbing of his knuckles and the scream of his back muscles, he pushed himself from the floor and turned back to Junior with his fists raised in a defensive stance.
This was nowhere near over.
“You should have stayed down, Brooks,” Junior ranted.
Wade took some satisfaction in Junior’s swollen, bloodied and bruised face.
“Not a fucking chance,” Wade retaliated. He was a Brooks, and they didn’t give up. They fought until there was no more to give.
Then they gave more.
Sirens sounded. Blue and red lights slashed through the night sky.
“Freeze!” Shouting around them grew louder. “Hands in the air!”
Wade froze. He slowly raised his hands as he was ordered. Something warm trailed down his face.
The room spun.
Wade blinked in an attempt to clear his vision.
Rough hands grabbed him and forced his arms behind him.
“You are under arrest,” a voice growled.
The sheriff’s department had flooded the bar with guns trained on them.
Cool metal cuffs surrounded Wade’s wrists and snapped shut. They were tight, and dug into his skin.
Wade ignored the words the deputy was saying. He didn’t fucking care. His gaze roamed the area in search of Joy. He needed to know she was unharmed.
But he didn’t see her.
The cops dragged him toward the exit of the makeshift bar. They practically had to carry him through the thick crowd that milled around. There was a dull roar in his head.
His gaze landed on the patrol cars.
Well, shit.
This hadn’t been in the plan for tonight.
24
The seats in the sheriff’s department were hard, while the atmosphere was cold and unwelcoming. Not that Joy expected it to be plush with expensive furniture, but they could have at least offered decent coffee.
The cup sitting on the table next to her was a step above a questionable dark sludge.
“Dad, we’re okay. Junior, Mark, and Sean got arrested tonight.” Lexi paused and glanced at her with her phone to her ear.
Joy blew out a deep breath, knowing it was better if her sister spoke with her parents. Lexi had a way with them, making her the voice of reason.
She leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. She couldn’t believe Junior had instigated another fight with Wade and his brothers. Junior was like a stubborn bull. Once he saw red, he was going to charge at the target.
Wade.
Just seeing Junior and Wade coming to blows made her sick. This was much worse than their scrap at the ranch. Tonight, they’d been truly trying to hurt each other.
“Yeah, we have enough to post for Mark and Sean too,” Lexi announced.
Lexi and Joy had gotten lucky. One of the deputies had allowed them to get the keys to Junior’s truck. Had he not done that, Lexi and Joy would have been stuck out at the fairgrounds.
That was one thing about living out in a small town. There was no ridesharing such as Uber. They would have had to call their father and have him drive the forty-five-minute trip to pick them up.
“Joy’s right here.” Lexi glanced at her.
Joy shook her head. She didn’t want to speak with her parents at this time.
“I’m sure they will reimburse us, Dad. I’m not worried about that.” Lexi paused and tilted her head to the side. She pulled her phone away from her head and glanced down at it. “The signal in here is horrible,” she
muttered. She placed her phone back to her ear. “What did you say? Hold on, I can’t hear you. I’m going to step outside.” Lexi pointed to the door.
Joy gave her a nod and turned to look at the deputy sitting at the counter.
She crossed her legs and settled back in her chair. The drab area could do with some sprucing up, starting with more comfortable chairs, and some better plain color choices for the walls. A little color would go a long way.
Deputy Griffen continued working at the computer quietly. According to him, Junior, Mark, and Sean were still being processed, and they couldn’t pay their bond yet until the amount was determined. They had done some true damage at the bar.
Joy had been shoved out the way the minute chairs and bodies went flying. The last thing she saw was Junior punching Wade in his face, sending him crashing back into the bar.
When would all of this fighting stop?
What would it take to settle everything between them?
A warm trail of tears slid down her cheeks. She sniffed and reached up to wipe them away. The door opened and she looked up, expecting to see Lexi walk back through it.
Instead, it was Jonah Brooks, along with the woman Joy assumed to be Eliana, his nurse. Wade had mentioned the nurse who had really been helping them with their father.
Jonah had a cane in his hand, and slowly made his way across the room. He walked over to the desk and straightened to his full height. It was uncanny how much his boys looked like him.
“Mr. Brooks, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you here,” Deputy Griffen chuckled.
Jonah released a grunt and leaned against the counter. “At my boys’ ages, I shouldn’t be here at all. How much is it to get them out?”
“They aren’t ready yet. They are still getting processed. They did some damage tonight.”
“When don’t those boys of mine not cost me money?” Jonah muttered.
“If you have a seat, I’ll let you know when they are ready for your payment.”
Joy glanced around, wondering if she should go wait outside.
Eliana attempted to guide him over to the row of chairs.
“I can do it, woman,” Jonah growled.
“Don’t you snap at me, Jonah. Stop being so stubborn,” Eliana huffed.
Joy’s eyebrows rose at Eliana’s retort. Jonah snorted and turned, his gaze landing on her. He walked over and took a seat a couple chairs away from Joy, while Eliana sat on his other side.
“Joy,” Jonah murmured.
She swallowed hard, unable to believe he was speaking to her.
“Mr. Brooks.” Her voice cracked. She peeked back over at the desk to find the deputy ignoring them. He just sat there, typing away at the computer.
How much longer is it going to be to process the guys?
Joy wanted to go ask him, but she had only sat down a few minutes ago when he had told her she’d have to wait.
A look at her watch confirmed it had been seven minutes exactly.
“Heard my boy got into it with your brother,” Jonah said, breaking the silence.
Joy nodded. “Yeah.”
He blew out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. It was the same color as Wade’s, but peppered with some gray. He turned his gaze to her, and she was hit with the same colored eyes as Wade.
“Wade tells me you broke it off with him.”
Joy froze in shock.
Wade had told his father about them?
“You knew about us?” she asked incredulously.
He held her gaze and jerked his head in a nod. “There isn’t anything that goes on at the Blazing Eagle that I don’t know about. I saw the difference in my boy. He was happier, and more outgoing. I haven’t seen him that genuinely happy in a long time. They think I don’t pay attention to them, but I do.”
Joy was blown away.
This was the longest conversation she had ever had with the elder Brooks. When she was a child, he would holler at her and her siblings to get off his land.
Joy’s heart was pounding away. She sat in disbelief before feeling the spitfire she always had harboring deep inside her come through.
“So let me get this straight. You knew your son was involved with me, but you didn’t say anything?” She spun around and glared at him.
“For what? My boys are grown and never listened to me,” he snapped. His eyes darkened and narrowed on her. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but was cut off by Eliana.
“Calm down, Jonah. We don’t need your blood pressure up,” she murmured, patting the old man’s knee.
He nodded and settled back. Wade had shared his amazement about how his father responded to Eliana, and Joy had to admit, she was impressed.
The Jonah Brooks she had grown up knowing was mean, testy, and yelled a lot.
This man next to her had definitely changed.
Joy was at a complete loss. She turned away from Jonah and studied her hands. She had made a huge mistake in putting their families ahead of Wade and her. Thoughts swirled in her mind. If only she could speak with him.
She would apologize.
The first thing she would say? She was an idiot.
Joy bit her lip and thought back to the bar. There had been a blonde standing at Wade’s side. Who the hell was she? They had looked really cozy with each other.
It had not even been a week since she had broken it off with him. Had she already been replaced?
“What do you say? You and me?”
There was no way he had replaced her that easily.
Sitting straighter, she realized she was going to have to pull up her big girl panties and talk with Wade again. He had fought her brother twice, wanted her to just think of them only, and she had pushed him away. She’d had trouble believing they could make it work, when all along, he had always had faith in them.
Well, whoever the blonde bitch was, she was going to have to step aside.
Wade Brooks was hers.
“Mr. Brooks.” The deputy motioned for Jonah to come to the counter.
Jonah pushed up and walked over to him.
Joy wondered where Lexi was, and why it was taking her so long to come back inside. Joy peeked out the window behind her and saw her sister leaning against the truck on the phone.
Joy tried not to appear as if she was eavesdropping when she heard the policeman mention Wade’s name.
“I don’t want to alarm you, but Wade must have been really into his cups tonight. His alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit. They’ve alerted me that he’s passed out. They can’t get him to wake up, so they have called in an ambulance.”
“What?” Jonah roared, slamming his fist down on the counter. “Let me back there. I’ll get him to wake up.”
Joy’s heart skipped a beat. Eliana stood and walked over to Jonah. This time, she didn’t say anything, but placed her hand on his back.
What did he mean they couldn’t get Wade to wake up? She must have heard him wrong.
“Wait, what did you just say? What’s wrong with Wade?” she asked, flying across the room. Getting caught listening to their conversation was the least of her worries. She needed the deputy to repeat what he’d said. Her Wade was fine. It must be someone else with the same first name.
“Let me see my boy,” Jonah demanded.
“It’s for his safety. They just want to make sure nothing happens to him.” The deputy swallowed hard, holding his hands up in the air. “I’m just relaying what the deputies in booking have shared with me.”
“An ambulance? Why won’t he wake up?” she asked. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Ma’am, I’m speaking with Mr. Brooks here about his son—”
“Don’t you dismiss me,” Joy snapped, her voice ending on a shriek. “I have a right to know what is wrong with Wade.”
This was Wade they were talking about. She may have made a mistake regarding their relationship, but she loved him, and no one was going to keep her from him.
“It’s all right, Tom. She’s Wade’s girlfriend,” Jonah stated.
Joy almost passed out. Her gaze flew to Jonah’s. She must have got knocked on the head during the melee at the bar. Did Jonah just say she was Wade’s girlfriend?
The sounds of sirens filled the air.
Her heart pounded, and her lungs burned as she tried to drag fresh air into them.
What was wrong with Wade? Why wouldn’t they let his father back there to see him? Panic set in.
She couldn’t lose him.
“What is going on?” Lexi rushed back into the station. “There’s an ambulance on its way.”
The sheriff’s station was located on a portion of the highway with nothing else close for miles.
“It’s Wade.” Joy turned around and burst out crying, unable to finish her sentence.
Lexi immediately wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tight.
Joy knew he’d seemed off as he turned around when Junior had shouted his name. He was swaying on his feet, and his eyes had been bloodshot. She hadn’t been sure if it was the bad lighting or what, but he had looked three sheets to the wind.
She should have done more to keep her brother and Wade from fighting. If she could do it all over again, she would have just walked up to him and demanded he speak with her.
It would have been easy to take him away from the bar and go somewhere they could have talked alone.
Now, Joy just hoped she wasn’t too late to tell him how she felt.
25
Wade groaned. He felt as if he had been trampled by a bull. A jackhammer was currently taking up residence in his head, while his mouth felt like he had a million cotton balls stuffed inside of it.
He tried to pry his eyes open, but they were stuck. After several attempts, he finally got them to open. He glanced around the room and took in the stark white walls surrounding him. Bright light floated through the windows to the side of him.
This wasn’t the jail cell.
“Where the hell am I?” he mumbled.
His voice didn’t even sound like his. It was gritty and raspy. A foul taste lingered in his mouth, and he was desperate for something to take it away.