Page 74 of Wood Riddance
“Wear this.” I pushed the shirt into her chest.
Her glower only intensified. I was out of line and I knew it, but there was no stopping me now.
“Is everything okay?” Dylan asked, coming around to stand beside her, reminding me of his presence.
Before I could answer—words weren’t exactly flowing from me fluidly in my state of agitation—angry voices piped up around me.
The three Gagnon brothers had assembled on either side of me.
“You got a problem?” Remy said, stepping between me and his sister.
“Fuck off, Remy,” Adele said, pushing him back. “Worry about yourself.”
“Is there an issue here?” Henri asked, cocking a suspicious brow at me. This guy signed my paychecks, but in this moment, I didn’t care.
“I was offering her my shirt,” I said through gritted teeth. “The lady is cold.”
“She’s fine,” Remy spat, weaseling his way up beside Adele again.
“Don’t speak for her,” I growled.
“Why do you care?” he taunted, getting in my face. “Why are you even speaking to my sister in the first place? Go away.”
He had always been the family hothead. For a moment, I contemplated if Adele would hate me for punching him in his pretty face. He had recently appeared on the cover of a Racine catalog, and he could probably stand to be taken down a few pegs.
We stared at each other for a moment, both fuming, fists clenched at our sides and eyes narrowed. But then Gus stepped in, putting a hand on my chest and pushing me back.
“We don’t want any trouble,” he said, guiding me away from Remy.
Adele’s little brother stood his ground. He hadn’t once flinched in my presence. Next to him, Dylan crossed his arms. Damn. Maybe I had underestimated the mild-mannered science teacher.
“You are all out of your minds,” Adele shouted in my periphery. “Everyone back off and take your toxic masculinity with you.”
Remy ignored his sister in exchange for puffing out his chest and doubling down on his glare. Behind him, his brothers stood silently. “Do we need to take this outside?” he asked, his voice low.
Over my right shoulder, Jude laughed. “What are you gonna do, Gagnon? Climb a fucking tree?”
“I do hold a world record,” Remy replied, lifting his chin a little higher.
I took another step toward him. If a fight was what he was looking for, then I’d be happy to oblige.
But Henri stuck his arm out in front of his brother. “We’re done here. Come on, Remy, Adele.” The look he shot me wasn’t one of rage like his brothers’, but one of utter disappointment. And damn if it didn’t have its intended effect. Instantly, I felt like shit. But I couldn’t roll over now without looking like a coward.
The three Gagnon brothers and Dylan, all standing with their arms crossed, were an intimidating sight. I was man enough to admit it. But I had my brothers with me, and my insane obsession with Adele was apparently rendering me both stupid and impossibly brave.
“I’ll handle this,” Adele said, grabbing me by the arm. “Outside, Stretch.”
“Adele, don’t go anywhere with him,” Remy protested.
She whipped around and almost bit his head clean off. “Walk away, or you’ll get the next ass kicking.”
That’s all it took for him to stand down. Clearly, he knew she was serious.
As she pulled me through the bar, we passed a table of older ladies who were hooting and hollering.
“You should settle this like men,” one of my former teachers shouted. “Wood-chopping competition.”
Her friends, which looked to be the majority of my mother’s quilting group, giggled.
