Peter O’Connor approached, frowning when he saw Braden’s boot was positioned against his tailgate. “Boots off, man. I just got that painted!”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” Braden waved away Peter’s concern, dropping his foot. “Brock was just admiring the Bronco. He wanted to know what kind of work you’ve put into it.”
I didn’t let the surprise I felt show. I kept my mask of indifference on and looked at Peter, who seemed to cower slightly before me. It was the common reaction I got since arriving home a week ago. He swallowed hard and started rambling about all the time and money he put into the aging Bronco.
Normally, engine talk captured my attention. I loved vehicles and the mechanics of how they worked, but my mind was still cloudy with all the shit my brother had said, and with the fact that the last time I saw Braden and his friends, they were far too young to drive, let alone understand how to restore vehicles like the Bronco.
I felt old and out of place. Twenty-four isn’t really old by any stretch, but I guess when you go through the things that I went through…it ages you. I had definitely changed a lot since the last time I was here, and maybe Braden was right. Maybe I did need to get laid. It had been a long fucking time since I felt a woman beneath me.
I exhaled, nodding every now and then to keep up the ruse of listening to Peter and Braden as they talked shop. I brought my lukewarm beer to my lips again, still feeling incredibly out of place among these people. My brother’s friends, people I’d known but not personally. I missed my old friends, my old life. I almost missed the person I was before everything happened, but you can’t go back. I could never go back to the person I was seven years ago; too many fucked up things had happened since then.
After my dad died when I was in grade nine, I went a little wild. I rebelled and it was an incredible feeling of freedom, having that man that I hated with every fiber of my body dead and gone. I was free of the guilt of leaving my siblings in that house. I went through a time where I drank a lot at parties just like this one. I had fun, and I enjoyed the attention that was lavished on me from the opposite sex. I used to hook up with willing girls and not care if they developed feelings. All I wanted was to experience the freedom I never had when my old man was around.
When I wasn’t partying it up with my friends or getting my old shitty Ford stuck in a mud bog, I spent a lot of time at the Armstrong’s farm. I think Gordon’s dad took pity on me and put me to work just to try and keep me, and Gordon, out of trouble. Whatever the reason for hiring me, I was grateful. It was because of that job that I was able to earn enough money working on his farm to sign up for my first rodeo tour competition.
I left town the second I had the cash to enter the rodeo tour for bull riding when I was seventeen. I’d always been damn good at bull riding. Nothing came close to the feeling of staying on when the beast was working its hardest to buck you off. The money was decent, good enough to send back to my mom and still have a little left over for myself. I traveled with the Ontario Rodeo Association for a year and a half before the arrest.
Even before the arrest, I’d drifted away from my friends. That’s what happens when you move on and pursue different interests; when you aren’t forced to see each other often around town. When your interests grow from partying and drinking and girls to something more. That was what happened when you stopped running in the same circle.
Gordon and Grady were still in Parry Sound. I had no clue what Gordon was up to; I’d yet to run into him, but Grady had his own wood milling company and Travis was a top charting country singer, based out of Nashville and currently on tour.
“Don’t get too shitfaced, Braden. We need to be up early tomorrow,” I told my brother, frowning as he cracked open his ninth beer. I needed him level headed and awake. Braden rolled his eyes at me.
“Yes, Dad. I’m aware we have to be up early tomorrow,” he grumbled. I clenched my jaw, irritated at my brother. I hated when he called me Dad, even though growing up I had filled those shoes to the best of my ability for him. It was still a fucking insult.
“Don’t be a dick,” I shot back, my gaze drawn again to the fire and the beautiful blonde sitting before it. I forced myself to stop staring and instead looked down at my feet, where my dog was lying. Hunter’s body language alarmed me. His head was raised and he was focused on the small cluster of guys hanging out by the bed of Ezra’s truck.
Hunter had always been wary of strangers due to his rough start, but he seemed particularly fixated on one guy in particular. He wasn’t from around here. With a town as small as Parry Sound, everyone knew everyone else and I definitely didn’t know him. He looked like a cidiot, the slang term my friends used to describe someone that was obviously from the city and most likely an idiot. He was dressed in DC from head to toe. He had a faux hawk and what I could see of his arms were covered in the kind of shitty tattoos you’d expect to get in someone’s basement.
I didn’t like the vibe he gave off, or the way that he loudly complained about the music selection on more than one occasion since arriving an hour ago. He was boastful, loud, and cocky as hell. I didn’t trust him and it was evident that Hunter didn’t trust him either.
I especially didn’t like the way he was staring at Tessa. I didn’t like the greasy way his gaze alternated from watching the two girls shaking their asses to Florida Georgia Line to staring at Tessa.
“Braden,” I said lowly, stepping closer towards my brother. “Who’s the walking DC advertisement?”
Braden lifted his head, following my gaze. “I don’t fucking know. He came with someone, I think.”
“I don’t like him,” I muttered darkly, my brow furrowing.
Braden laughed. “You don’t like anybody,” he pointed out, shrugging off my concerns. I opened my mouth and promptly closed it when I saw Elle leading Tessa over to Ezra’s truck. DC guy’s eyes followed her as she climbed into the back beside the other two drunk girls.
A Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood duet came on, one I hadn’t heard before, and Elle instantly started to sing. She was at least better than the two tone-deaf girls beside her.
Tessa hesitated for several long minutes, her eyes searching the crowd for a moment until they found me. I felt my lips turning up in the tiniest hint of a smile when those amber eyes landed on me. She smiled wider in response and joined in.
And shit…she wasn’t half bad. Her voice was melodious and the way that her eyelids fluttered closed, her thick lashes resting on her soft cheeks took my breath away. It was as if the music was flowing through her, and it was the most erotic thing I’d ever witnessed. My jeans started to feel extremely uncomfortable. It took everything I had in me to pry my eyes away from her, but not before Braden noticed.
He smirked knowingly, but wisely kept his mouth shut. He must have finally picked up on the fact that I’d had enough of his bullshit prodding; my patience was running out. I wanted everyone to vacate my property stat, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen and the last thing I wanted was a bunch of drunken eighteen year olds on the road anyway.
I wanted her to stay. I could watch her sing up there all night.
But Tessa was done singing. She said something to Elle and jumped off the bed of the truck, landing expertly on her feet and heading towards the tree line.
Part of me wanted to follow her, but I didn’t. I turned my attention back to Braden and Peter and tried to lose myself in their conversation. But then, Hunter growled lowly, threateningly. He slowly stood up on his feet, his hackles raised and his teeth showing, his eyes focused on the trees.
I frowned, glancing around. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. People were still dancing and drinking, talking and laughing. Then it dawned on me; the guy decked out in DC clothing, the one that stuck out like a sore thumb, was nowhere to been found.
Neither was Tessa.
I set my beer down and grabbed the nearest flashlight from a stump, whistling once to Hunter. He took off like a shot, leading the way.
I shined the flashlight towards the sounds of a scuffle and my dog’s threatening growls. DC guy was on the ground, trying to shake his leg free from Hunter’s mouth, swearing up a storm. I slowly raised the flashlight, searching around for Tessa.
She was leaning against the tree, her hands gripping the bark like she was afraid to let go. Her amber eyes were full of panic and tears. There was a red mark across her cheek and her lips were stained with blood.
My jaw clenched as a deep rage washed over me. It took everything I had to not give in to the very strong desire I had to teach this piece of shit a lesson. I tried to focus on controlling my breathing and very slowly lowered my flashlight back to the struggle happening on the ground.
“Hunter, stop.” I knew that my voice was just as menacing as Hunter’s deep throat growling had been. In a lot of ways, I was more dangerous than the dog. DC guy knew it, judging by the fear he wore on his face. Hunter immediately released his leg, but refused to stand down. He was poised, ready to jump again, his teeth bared and a low rumbling came from deep in his chest.
DC guy was struggling to get up, intent on running away. As if he’d get two feet.
“What happened here?” I asked, my jaw clenched to the point of pain.
“Your dog is fucking nuts,” DC guy said, spitting on the ground just in front of my feet.
I lowered myself to a crouching position, getting right on his level and aiming the flashlight directly into his eyes. I watched them constrict until the pupils were all I could see. “I’m going to ask you one more time, what happened here?”
“Nothing, we were just having some fun and your stupid dog attacked me!” DC guy’s eyes were looking anywhere but at me, a sure sign that he was lying, as if Tessa’s appearance wasn’t evidence enough.
“Interesting,” I said slowly, shining the light on Tessa’s face again. She trembled like a leaf. The sight of her like that nearly made me lose the last shred of control I had. “It doesn’t look like she’s a willing participant in this ‘fun’ at all. In fact, I’m pretty sure she came out here alone to go to the bathroom and you, being the sick and disgusting fucking pervert you are, decided she was an easy target. A drunk girl going off into the woods alone? Yeah. I could see where you’d make that assumption. I don’t know where the fuck you’re from, asshole, but around here? We watch out for our girls. I saw Tessa leaving alone, and I saw you watching her. Now, here we are. My dog doesn’t attack people for no reason. Chances are, he got here first and saw you hurting an innocent girl, so he put a stop to it because that’s what he’s trained to do.”
I stood up slowly, my eyes still focused on the guy’s face, conveying every last bit of rage. It was inevitable that he understood my deadly threat in the words left unspoken.
“She’s a fucking cock tease,” the guy desperately argued. “She’s been making eyes at me all night.”
This was the wrong answer. I took one step towards him and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking him up. “You don’t get to assume a girl’s body is yours just because she looked in your direction, shit-stain. No means no, or weren’t you taught that back home?” I tilted my head, smiling dangerously.
“I-I’m sorry!” the guy stuttered, the panic evident in his eyes.
“Come,” I said, not only to my dog but to Tessa too.
There was only one time where I lost control like this; where the need to pummel every last bit of my rage onto someone had consumed me until I couldn’t see straight.
And I’d snapped. I’d done exactly that, and I served time for it.
I needed to get them out of here; I needed to get around people so I didn’t lose the last tether to my control and tear this fucking loser apart bit by bit.
Tessa pushed herself shakily away from the tree, following as I dragged the guy out from the bush and towards the fire. If my hands weren’t full, I would have carried her. But I wasn’t sure my hands could be tender enough for her anyway, not when I wanted to rip this guy apart.
People noticed us approaching, and the conversation and music were quick to die when they realized I was dragging DC guy by his hair, towards the fire. Braden rushed towards me, alarm on his face. He probably thought I’d gone off the deep end again.
“Brock, what the fuck gives!” he shouted. His expression was angry but I could see the panic beneath his blue eyes. A bunch of the other guys started over, their expressions cautious. Elle was the first one to spot Tessa, trailing behind me with Hunter at her side. She let out a strangled sounding squeak and hopped down from the back of Ezra’s truck, flying past Braden on clumsy legs.
“What happened!” she demanded, nearly tripping over her own feet before she reached Tessa. Braden’s eyes followed, taking in her friend’s appearance.
I released my hold on the guy’s hair and he dropped to the ground. I glared at every person standing around the fire, watching. “Who invited this piece of shit?”
It was so quiet, crickets likely would have been heard if my blood wasn’t boiling in my ears. Ezra cleared his throat and stepped closer. “I did.”
“Who is he?” I asked, almost needlessly. I didn’t give a fuck who he was.
“My cousin…Chris,” Ezra answered, looking briefly down to his cousin lying on the ground.
“Well, your cousin just tried to rape Tessa,” I spat, my anger boiling over. Ezra looked from his cousin to Tessa, his expression astonished. He opened his mouth and closed it, searching for words he didn’t have. Elle was tethered to Tessa, staring at her with a horrified expression on her face. “Get him the fuck off my property before I let the local police department deal with him, or better yet, before I deal with him.”
Ezra set his beer down and wordlessly walked over to his cousin. He forced him up by the arm, his head down, ashamed and disgusted. He shoved his cousin into the cab of his truck roughly and took off, expertly weaving around the other vehicles.
Watching them go didn’t make the rage boiling inside of me ease up. My hands were at my side, clenched into fists. I stalked back and forth like a wild animal, needing a release for all this pent up energy and anger, but hopeless at getting it out.
“Come on, Tess,” Elle said, the sound of her voice breaking through the rage haze was enough to spark my attention. I looked up, watching as they walked gingerly towards their tent. Tessa’s movements were pained, and that pissed me off more.
Braden went to follow, the arrogant smile gone from his face and a look of concern in its place. Elle shook her head at him and he stopped, his hands clenching at his sides before he turned and stomped towards me. We watched as she reached the tent, holding the flap open so Tessa could crawl in.
I put my hand up, silencing Braden before he could speak. I knew he had questions, but I couldn’t talk to him yet. Every step Tessa took away from me, the worse I felt. I needed to make sure she was okay, really okay. I needed to make sure that sick fuck hadn’t touched her, because if I was too late and if he touched her…there would be no stopping me. I’d be going after him and hunting him down.
I cleared the distance with four long steps, pausing momentarily to grab a bottle of water from a cooler that happened to be in my pathway.
Elle was just about to close the flap, but before she could, I crouched down in front of the tent entrance. Hunter was by my side, his tongue rolling as if he was celebrating a successful game of fetch. To him, he had.
My eyes met Tessa’s, and my hands gripped tighter to the bottle of water as I was hit with a thousand different staggering emotions. The need to protect this girl overwhelmed me. The desire to bring back that smile to her lips and that light behind her amber eyes t
hat had been present just a few short hours ago tore me up inside.
“Are you okay?” I asked, swallowing hard. I was afraid to hear her answer, but at the same time…I needed to.
Tessa
The depths of his steel gray eyes swirled like the dark clouds of a thunderstorm. I could see the warmth and concern, but there were other things too, like heady emotions that I couldn’t quite pin-point. The electricity between us sizzled and crackled. It reminded me of that feeling I got just before a serious thunderstorm rolled in. Even the tiny hair follicles on my arms stood up at attention.
I could easily let the world fall away and focus on whatever it was brewing between us, but his question reminded me of what had just transpired…what Brock had rescued me from.
I swallowed hard, my throat raw from crying and trying to scream. “I’m fine,” I almost croaked. I dropped my eyes, feeling his unasked question burning a hole through me. “He didn’t…you got there in time.”
Brock nodded once, his jaw tense. He set the water bottle down inside our tent and stood up. He abruptly changed his mind and crouched down again, staring intently at me. I could feel the burning heat of his gaze, and my eyes rose involuntarily to meet his.
“I’m sorry this happened to you tonight, Tessa. You did nothing to deserve it,” he told me before finally standing up and walking away.
Elle closed the flap of our tent with a shaky hand and turned to look at me, tears spilling out of her eyes. “Tessa, I am so sorry I wasn’t there. I should have gone with you. I should have never let you go alone.”
“It’s not your fault. Normally stuff like that doesn’t happen around here.” It felt as if each of my limbs weighed a thousand pounds. I was heavy and groggy, and I realized I had yet to process the severity of what had almost happened.
Rebel Soul: (Rebel Series Book 1) ((Rebel Series)) Page 4