Southern Charms

by S. E. Kloos

  Elizabeth just looked at Xander a moment before dropping her eyes. No, she couldn’t. She wasn’t the biggest fan of her mother, and Xander knew that already. Plus, he had a point when it came to the way she last spoke to her dad. In her defense, she was pissed off, but that didn’t really make it okay to say half of what she did. After a minute, she looked back up at him. “You were never grounded, were you?”

  Xander cocked a brow at her. “Fuck no, I ain’t ever been grounded. What the hell’s the point of takin’ somethin’ away from a kid when bustin’ their ass works much faster and leaves a longer lastin’ impression on the tyke? Get ya ass busted enough, you’ll make a mental note what not to do to avoid it happenin’ again. Now, don’t be thinkin’ that we was abused or nothin’ like it. We was disciplined for fuckin’ up, but we was leaps and bounds from anythin’ like that. I ain’t ever had no marks or nothin’ broken when my daddy busted my ass, least not as little kid. He did bust my lip when I was sixteen, which is exactly how I know what he’d do if I had said to him what you said to yours.

  “Just like there is a difference between respect and fear, there is a difference between abuse and discipline. It ain’t abuse to swat a kid on the ass for actin’ up or pop ‘em in the mouth for talkin’ back. They ain’t gonna like it, but that’s kinda the point. They learn what acceptable behavior for different situations is real quick. When the time comes for me to be a daddy, ya can bet your little ass I’ll bust theirs in a heartbeat. Kids’ll test their boundaries, and it’s our jobs as parents to teach them what those are. Ya can be a friend to your kids, or ya can be a parent, ya can’t be both... not when they rugrats, anyways. When ya try to be a friend, they don’t learn the difference between right and wrong, then they turn into little bastards that ain’t got a lick of respect for no one.”

  Before Elizabeth could say anything back to him about that, Wyatt came back in, a smirk on his face. He had caught the tail end of the conversation, and felt it necessary to goad Xander while waiting for the trace to finish up. “You ‘member when we were eight? When you got in that fight with Ben over who could climb the oak at the back of the field faster, and he ended up breaking his leg?”

  Xander ran his hand down his face before eyeing the ceiling, nodding. “Yeah, little hard to forget that one. I thought my daddy was gonna kill me, so I didn’t go home. By the time they found me, my mama was nearly out of her mind. I wasn’t allowed out of her sight for like a week. Not the best time of my life.”

  Wyatt smirked as he sat back down. “She even put you in an apron, didn’t she?” Xander glared at him, giving him the finger at the same time the thing Wyatt brought beeped, calling his attention back to it. Hitting a few buttons, Wyatt cocked a brow and hummed a bit. “Looks like he ain’t all that far from here. At least the phone ain’t anyways. It don’t have a GPS or nothin’, but it’s bouncin’ off of towers in the area. Can’t tell exactly where he is, though. Only a guess.” Looking up at the whimper, Wyatt smiled at the pale female across from him. “Don’t worry just yet, Doll.” Then he looked at Xander. “The gang’s all here. That was Lee. He and the others just landed, and are on their way to a hotel ‘fore they head on over. Should be here in ‘bout an hour.”

  It never failed to amaze Xander at just how fast everyone dropped everything when Wyatt picked up a phone. Rolling his head on his shoulders for a moment in thought, Xander nodded to himself. “Then I gotta run out right quick. I’ll be about a half hour or so. Y'all wanna come along or ya wanna stay here?”

  Elizabeth looked at him. “Where ya goin’?”

  “Store. Been meanin’ to go, but ain’t done it yet. There ain’t enough food in the house to feed my boys, and we’re low on beer.”

  At that Elizabeth giggled. “So, they’re a lot like my boys, then? You saw how much food I had to make when they came over.”

  Xander gave her a flat look. “Baby Doll, you dealin’ with country boys now. That ‘big’ breakfast you made? That would be an appetizer for us.”

  Elizabeth blinked at him, but Wyatt was the one that answered. “You g’on, Xan. Me and your Lady be fine withoutcha for a while.”

  Both Xander and Elizabeth looked over at him, matching looks of ‘what the fuck’ on their faces. Xander looked at him for a long moment before he cocked a brow. “What you up to, Wy?”

  There was a smirk on Wyatt’s face as he smirked. “Nothin’. I just wanna get to know the lady that finally wrangled your ass.”

  Completely unamused at the comment, Xander crossed his arms. “Ya sure y'all be alright?”

  At that, Wyatt stood up and reached under the back of his jacket, pulled out the 9mm, and cocked the chamber. “Positive.”

  Chapter 33

  Twenty minutes after Xander left, Elizabeth was laughing her ass off as Wyatt told her all manner of stories about Xander from when they were kids. From what she had been able to gather, he was the youngest of the whole group that was on their way by about six months. On the other hand, if given ranks and such, he would be considered the ringleader. Most of the bigger shenanigans they pulled as kids were his ideas. The ones that weren’t, he still stood up and took the blame for when they got caught.

  She was currently learning that her cowboy had a record of his own, starting when he was fifteen. He was never booked on anything overly serious, just stupid teenage bullshit and hell raising--trespassing, underage drinking, and such. None of the older boys would ever let him get in trouble for the real serious shit they pulled, though.

  As a matter of fact, Wyatt and this kid named Nik each took an assault charge for him when he was sixteen, in exchange for all the ass whoopings he took for them over the years.

  “You gotta understand, Sweet Pea, things are different back home. We look out for each other, and we never leave a debt unpaid. I can’t tell ya how many times Xander faced his daddy for us, and the sumbitch deserved to get his ass beat much worse than what Xander did to him. Not a day goes by I regret sendin’ his ass home to his mama ‘fore the law showed up, and I’ll bet my horse Nik’ll say the same.”

  Elizabeth bit her lip while cocking her head to the side. “What favor did you owe him to be here now?”

  Wyatt ran his hand through his hair, sighing. “‘Fore I answer that, I want ya to know, I’da come anyways. Xander is like the kid brother I ain’t ever had, and I’d do anythin’ for him, just like his own brother would.” Once Elizabeth nodded her understanding, he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

  “‘Bout four years back, my kid cousin was in a nasty situation, a lot like the one you was in. Xander footed the bill to get her out of it. She was livin’ in England where she was going to school, and at the time, I didn’t have the money on hand to fly her home. I doubt I gotta tell ya the boy got a temper, but he don’t lose it over nothin’. It’s explosive, but he got the fuse of a saint to counteract it. When I called him to ask for help, ‘fore we even got off the phone, he had tickets bought, tellin’ me where to be and when. He went along with me to bring my cousin home, after Xander taught the little fucker the same lesson he gonna teach that Yank, iffin he ever gets his hands on him. When he told me not to worry ‘bout it, I told him to mind it, and call if ever needed anythin’.”

  Pausing, Wyatt shook his head. “However, I never -not in a million years- thought he would be callin’ me for the same reason.” Scratching his eyebrow with the back of his thumb nail, “I don’t doubt that by now Xander called up Kyle and told him what was goin’ on, but I know he called me first because I can do some wicked shit with computers.”

  Elizabeth thought about that for a moment, but before she said anything, a shadow passed over her from the kitchen window.

  From where Wyatt was sitting, he couldn’t be seen from the outside. When he saw the shadow slide over the young lady across from him and the fear spark in her eyes, he was out of his seat, gun in hand, pulling her up and along behind him.

  Moving through the halls in a ducked position, he stopped in an area with
no visible line of sight from anywhere but inside the house. Looking at the girl, he put a finger to his lips. After she nodded, Wyatt peeked out from around the wall toward the front on the house. When he didn’t see anything, he looked back at his friend’s terrified girlfriend. Crooking a finger under her chin, he forced her to look him in the eyes. Once he had her attention, he asked, “You ever shoot a gun before, Sweet Pea?”

  Swallowing hard, Elizabeth nodded. “A BB gun.”

  “Good ‘nough.” Taking her hands, he put his 9mm in them while flicking off the safety. “You see him or anyone ya don’t know, aim high and squeeze the trigger, ya hear? This got a bit more recoil than a pellet gun, so be prepared for that.”

  Stunned, Elizabeth jolted. “What?”

  Giving her a reassuring smile, Wyatt lowered his voice. “It’s called a warning shot for a reason, Sweet Pea. When they look to see where it came from, they lookin’ down the barrel of a gun no matter where you aimin’. It’ll also let me know someone here that ain’t supposed to be. Everythin’ gonna be just fine, I promise. Just stay here and I’ll be right back, alright, Sweet Pea?” When she nodded to him, he smiled at her. “Atta girl.”

  Once he was positive she was as alright as she was gonna get, Wyatt peeked back around the corner before getting up. Once again staying low, he moved back through the house to the front door, grabbing Xander’s rifle that was propped against the wall. After checking to see if it was loaded, he leaned against the wall to look out the window without touching the window covers.

  When he saw the distorted body of someone through the glass, he cocked the gun with one hand while reaching for the doorknob with the other, glancing behind him when he heard the lady of the house squeak at the sound. It was kind of a scary noise if you’re already freaking out... and drunk. Moving his eyes back to the door when he heard voices, he glared hard before throwing the front door open and taking aim. “I oughta fuckin’ shoot y'all on principal alone, ya stupid bastards.” Taking a sick pleasure in how his ol’ buddies jumped back with their hands up, he lowered the barrel, calling back into the house as he clicked the safety back on. “You can come out now, Sweet Pea. It’s alright. It’s just mine and Xander’s dumbass friends.”

  Riley and Nikolaus looked through the doorway, only to see the terrified brown eyes of the young lady Wyatt had told them about when he first called them.

  Wyatt just glared at them again before turning back into the house, setting the rifle back in its place by the door before going over to Elizabeth. Crouching down next to her, he very gently -but quickly- disarmed her, clicking the safety before replacing it in the holster on the back of his belt.

  Staying right where he was, he returned to glaring at his friends. “What the fuck is wrong with you two? First off, y'all ain’t even supposed to be here yet; and second, why the fuck wouldn’t ya give a little warnin’ before scarin’ the shit out of Steele’s girlfriend? You do realize he gonna fuck y'all up when he gets home, right?” Glancing at his watch, he added, “Which is gonna be just about any time now.”

  Riley and Nikolaus stared at each other for a second before looking back at Wyatt and Elizabeth. Riley was the first to say something. “Sorry, Sugar. We didn’t mean to scare ya. We figured y'all heard the truck.”

  Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly while wiping the tears off her cheeks, Elizabeth tried to smile at them. “Don’t worry about it. It has just been a really shitty day.” Taking the hand presented to her and getting to her feet, she waved the boys in with better of a smile. “Xander ran to the store. Come on in.”

  After tipping their hats to her, they did just that, shutting the door behind them and wiping their boots off, following her and Wyatt back to the kitchen.

  Elizabeth went to the fridge and opened it, pursing her lips at just how low they were on beer. Shrugging, she grabbed two before handing them to the newcomers with a smile. “So, what are your names?”

  Riley took his beer with a wide grin. “I’m Riley, but most people just call me Lee.” Nodding over at Nikolaus, he offered, “That’s Nikolaus, but he goes by Nik.”

  Elizabeth smiled at them again. “Well, I’m Lizzy, but I have yet found someone that will actually call me that.”

  Lee snorted. “And chances are, ya won’t. Where we come from, a lady is hardly ever called by name ‘less she married, and even then it depends.”

  Sighing lightly, Elizabeth nodded, but before she said anything, the front door opened. A minute later Xander walked into the room, a case of beer in one hand and a bag of something in the other. He paused at the sight of Lee and Nik. Glancing toward Wyatt to ask what the fuck happend to an hour, he saw his girl first, her eyes still red and puffy. Glaring back at the two who were not there when he left, he set the shit in his hands down before crossing his arms, his glare deepening. “Why don’t y'all two come give me a hand unloadin’ the truck?”

  Nodding to the not-really-a-question question, the boys set their beers down to follow Xander outside. They knew full well it was better to get reamed for scaring the girl to tears now, than it would be to wait until later.

  Elizabeth watched after them until she couldn’t see them anymore, then turned to Wyatt, who didn’t look even the slightest bit concerned about the situation. “He’s not really mad, is he?”

  Wyatt cocked a brow at her as he took a pull of his beer. After swallowing the mouthful, he nodded. “Oh, he nine kinds a pissed. He’ll give ‘em an ear full, possibly a crack on the back of the head, and it’ll be like it never happened. When it comes to this particular little gang we got, there ain’t no grudge holdin’. We deal with shit and let it go. I guarantee they laughin’ ‘bout some stupid shit when they come back in.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Ten minutes later, the door opened again, the sound of laughter bouncing off the walls nearly covering the indignant voice of either Lee or Nik, she wasn’t sure. Eyes meeting Wyatt’s -who had his feet kicked up on the table and his ankles crossed- she stared with wide eyes as he lifted his beer bottle and winked, “Told ya”, before taking a drink, killing the last of his beer. Smirking at the still stunned lady, he offered, “You ain’t buds for twenty some odd years without learnin’ a few things over them years, Sweet Pea. Don’t worry, you’ll be ‘round long enough to learn.”

  Blinking at him, Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder when she heard something hit the ground, then turned back and lowered her voice. “What?”

  Wyatt just shrugged at her, tapping the tip of his nose before lacing his fingers together behind his head. Right as the other boys came back into the room, that same smirk on his face clearly said, ‘I know something you don’t know’.

  Chapter 34

  It was more than a half hour later when there was a blaring car horn outside, making Elizabeth jump and the boys roll their eyes. Xander stood up from the table with a sigh. “Idiots.”

  Xander went to the door. Leaning on the jam when he opened it, he called out. “Y'all a bunch of fuckers, know that shit?”

  There was laughter as the engine was cut and the driver got out. “Awe, come Xan. Ya know your ass missed us.”

  Xander snorted. “About as much as my wisdom teeth, Dom. Well, come on in. Everyone’s in the kitchen.”

  Dominic followed after him. “Can’t wait to meet this girl of yours, Xan. She sounds like quite the little peach.”

  Xander smirked over his shoulder. “That she is. You fuck with her and I’ll put a hurtin’ on ya, ya hear me?”

  Once Xander and the last of his guests got to the kitchen, there was a round of ‘hey’s’, but Elizabeth was in a state of shock at the sight that met her eyes when she turned around.

  Xander smiled at her. “Darlin’, these are the other two fuckers ya been hearin’ ‘bout. This here is Dominic, Dom for short. And this asshole is...”

  She cut him off. “Patrick?”

  Patrick crossed his arms with a smirk, chuckling hard. “Well now, would ya lookie here. Seems I get to kick the bastard’s ass
again.”

  The rest of the boys looked back and forth between the two a few times before Wyatt called out what everyone was thinking. “Y'all two know each other?”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “Not well, no. He lived on the floor below Brandon and I. It was him and his roommate Matt who helped me out the day Brandon got arrested. I had more interaction with Matt that night than I did him, though, since he was busy with Brandon.”

  Xander gave her an indignant look while pointing to Patrick. “You got me mixed up with this fucker the day we met? Seriously?”

  Jaw dropping, she stared at him for a minute, mouth opening and closing a few times. She had no idea what to say to that. Tripping over her tongue a few times, all she could get out was, “Uh... sorry?” and a shrug.

  Xander snorted before he chuckled, “I’m fuckin’ with ya, Baby Doll. I’ve known Rick here since I was three. Matter of fact, we got mistaken for brothers till we was what...” He turned to Rick with pursed lips, “Seven? Eight?”

  Rick shrugged. “Somethin’ like it. You didn’t start lookin’ like Ky till you was damn near ten.” He turned back and smiled at the still clearly stunned lady. “Matt is the only person who called me Patrick ‘sides my mama when I’m in hot water. Everyone normally just calls me Rick.” Leaning on the counter while crossing his arms, his eyes softened a bit. “How ya been, Doll? Ya had me worried ‘bout ya for a while there that night, and more than once over the last few months.”

  Licking her lips, Elizabeth scratched the back of her head before shrugging. “Alright, I guess. Took about a month for the bruise to fade completely, and about six weeks for the bone to heal. I met Xander about a month after I left New York... been with him ever since. I have no current complaints.”