Page 34 of Whiskey Lullaby
I wanted to make her happy more than I wanted to nail him in the face, that should have been my first clue I was in trouble. I took a breath, my pulse thrumming in my neck. “Fuck off, Summers.” The second I turned my back to him, there was a crack and a splintering pain shot across the side of my head. Dazed, I stumbled forward a few steps and caught myself on a bar table. Shattered bits of glass tumbled over my shoulder when I looked up, and, of course, there was a crowd gathering around.Shit.
“Leave him alone, Max!” Hannah shoved her hands against him, but he didn’tbudge.
“Aw, that’s cute.” Max laughed. I thumbed under my nose, bristling with anger.God, I’m going to beat his ass.“Guess you’ve turned into a whore now, huh,Hannah?”
That’s it!My temper snapped, sparking like a live wire. I drew my arm back and slammed my fist right into his cheek. He fell against the wall, stunned, and I hit him again. He attempted to throw a weak punch at me, but I ducked and nailed him right in the gut before I grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed him into the wall. Leaning into his face, I said, “Don’t say shit like that about her.” I gave a final push then let him go. He sank to thefloor.
My chest heaved with anger when I turned around, my knuckles pulsing andthrobbing.
Hannah’s hand was clasped to her mouth and she had one arm held tightly across her chest. I wasn’t sure whether she was pissed or scared, but she took hold of my hand and dragged me from theroom.
One of the bouncers stopped us in the doorway. “Gotta problem,Greyson?”
Hannah held her hand up. “Don’t, Billy. Max startedit.”
“Ah, right. Max.” Billy clapped me on the shoulder. “Dude’s a dick,” he said before heading into the room buzzing withexcitement.
Without another word, Hannah pulled me through the bar toward the exit. A stream of cigarette smoke drifted in front of us when we stepped through the doorway. She swatted it away from her face. There was a moment where she just stared across the parking lot, gnawing at her lip. Finally, she huffed. “Thanks.”
“That guy’s a piece of shit. I’ve already beat his ass once.” I dropped Hannah’s hand and swiped my hand through my hair, worried the bastard was going to file a charge against me. Again. That’s all I needed, I thought as I paced underneath the flickering neon light of the bar. “Fuck!”
“Hey, it’s fine.” She placed her hand on my arm. It was such a simple touch, yet it provided so much comfort.Damn. She’s getting megood.
“Can you…” She rifled through her purse with her free hand before pulling out her phone. “Can you take me home? I just kinda want to get outta here and Meg’s in there with her ex and she’llprobably—”
“Yeah, ofcourse.”
Smiling, she jabbed her finger over the screen of her phone then put it to her ear. I nodded toward my truck and we walked side by side through the gravellot.
“Hey,” she said into her phone. “Where are you?” I unlocked the door and held it open for her. “Yeah, yeah. I figured,” she huffed. “Okay, well, I’ve got a rideso—”
She closed the door, and I went around to the driver’s side. When I cranked the engine, she was still on the phone. “It’s fine. I’m fine. I promise.” And then she hung up, looking over and shooting me a nervous grin while she wiped her palms on the legs of herjeans.
“Meg warning you aboutme?”
“Huh?” Her browwrinkled.
“I know she told you to stay away from me,” I said as I pulled onto the two-lane highway. I glanced over, and she’d narrowed her eyes. I would almost bet money she was wondering how I knew. I didn’t. What I did know was that most girls warn their best friends to stay away from the Big Bad Wolf, and Meg knew I was no good for Hannah. Hell, obviously, she wasn’twrong.
“I know she did, so, why are you talking tome?”
“Maybe I don’t believeher.”
“Oh really?” I laughed. It wascute.
“ShouldI?”
The traffic light turned red and I stopped. The moonlight crept through the windshield and over her face. That raw beauty that radiated from her, it made me weak. “Maybe.” My gaze fell to her lips, and all I wanted to do was kiss her. Maybe I could have kissed her. Possibly, have done a lot of things to her, but for the first time in my life, I was scared I’d screw something up, so I swallowed and settled on grabbing her hand, lacing my fingers through hers. I didn’t want to taint her innocence. I wanted to drown in it,instead.
“I’ll take my chances,” she said. The light changed, and I turned my attention back to the road. The engine sputtered, nearly stalling when I pressed thegas.
“It’s good to live on theedge.”
“There’s a first foreverything…”
The little town faded into nothing but fields of tall grass. Cow pastures. Fields of cotton in full bloom. “You do know I’m not taking you home yet,right?”
“Really?” A smile inched across herface.
