Page 74 of The One With the Mountain Man

"Mean?"

Her shoulders sagged. "There are so many ways she could ask about Marley, and yet she chose to be condescending and rude. I swear it's because she still wants you to magically fall in love with that damned Anastasia. I'm sorry, Huk."

"I find it annoying. Nothing else." I stopped caring about their opinion of me years ago. I cared even less about my mother's insane desire to choose my wife.

"Teach me your ways."

The front door swung open and Johnny came stomping out. His hands were balled into fists. The wannabe alpha-hole my sister married couldn't let this go and there would be no diffusing the situation the easy way. "Fuck. Get in the car." I tried to tuck Karis inside.

"What? Why?" Her eyes went wide as she took in Johnny's glare.

"In the car. Now." I practically shoved her inside. When Johnny saw red he was a bull and he wouldn't care if Karis got hurt on his way to me.

I had just enough time to close the car door, duck his right hook and dodge around him. "We don't have to do this, Johnny."

"The fuck we do. I gave you a chance to apologize." He swung and I jumped out of reach. Johnny was a classic boxer with a body built for it. He could throw a brutal punch.

But he was predictable. He charged after me, so I lowered my shoulders and tackled him to the ground. His arms were too damn short to land a punch. I preferred wrestling to boxing anyway. He bucked his hips and flailed as I held him down.

"I'm not...fighting you." Not over fucking Nora. Not ever.

"I'll fucking kill you!"

"For name calling my sister? Your Napoleon Complex is showing." I shouldn't have said that.

It just put the little shit into a rage, and he actually bucked me off him. Dirt and rocks flew as we scrambled back to our feet.

"Boys! Stop it! Stop it right now!" Mom shrieked. The air shifted as the whole family spilled outside.

Ollie pulled Johnny away while Logan and Colin pushed me in the opposite direction.

"You're a good for nothing piece of shit!" Johnny spat, muscling out of Ollie's grip, his chubby finger stabbing the air. "You're a lazy good for nothing drifter and a selfish fucking asshole. Stay away from my wife! My whole family!"

Johnny always was a dramatic whiner. It's why he and Nora worked so well together. They were cut from the same miserable cloth.

Although the personal digs did pinch a little.

"That's enough of that." Ollie pushed him back.

"Oh, you defending your asshole brother?" Johnny got in Ollie's face.

I rolled my shoulders, ready to fight him if I had to. Ollie wasn't a fighter, but he wasn't a pushover either. If Johnny took a swing at him, I'd make him pay. After all, it was me he was mad at.

"You don't want to do that." Ethan warned as he plopped one of their twins on Minna's hip. "Just take a breath and cool down."

I forgot that Ethan had three brothers and could wrestle with the best of them. Ollie didn't need me to defend him when his husband was more than capable.

"Oh, you'd just smile and let Huk call Ollie an asshole then?"

Fuck, I was so over this shit.

Ethan snorted. "No. But Ollie isn't an asshole."

Johnny lunged at Ethan for the implied insult. Ollie wrapped him up and threw him to the ground like a toy.

"Everyone stop!" Dad's familiar deep bass froze every single one of us in our tracks. Nora stood beside him with her arms crossed over her chest, a smug smile on her face even though her husband had just gotten handled twice. No, she was smiling because she knew what was coming next.

I really hated her sometimes. Like this, when she stood behind Mom and Dad, their perfect little copycat, ready to feed on the cruelty they were about to hand out.

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