Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
When Logan explained Ty had been acting jealous as a way to protect me, I’d been touched by his loyalty. But the enormity of what he’d actually given up, taking care of my brothers and me, hit me right in the gut. He’d given up two years of his own happiness because of loyalty to my father. Tears began to well in the uncomfortable silence that stood between us. Ty had always been unnerved by tears, so I tried to pull them back to save face. But finding out how long we’d truly been looked after by Ty and most of town, the past few days, burst the dam. For two years I’d thought I was on my own. That it was me against the world while I tried to keep us together. Knowing what I now know humbled me beyond reason.
I covered my face to hide my embarrassment, then turned my back to him while I tried to pull it together. Ty kept quiet, knowing me well enough to know I hated showing weakness in front of others, but after a minute of silent crying, he grumbled, “Shit,” and turned me around for a comforting hug.
“Quit acting like a girl,” he sighed in my hair.
“Shut up. It’s your own fault for being a good guy.” I sniffed loudly to keep my nose from running all over his shirt.
“Jesus. Are you using my shirt as a tissue?” he growled, poking me in the side in an attempt to make me laugh.
I jerked to the side in reaction and followed with a punch to his gut. After a childhood of roughhousing with the man, I knew exactly where to punch him. I must have caught Ty off guard though because he doubled over in reaction, grabbing my arm at the same time to avoid another shot. And that’s how Logan found us when he opened the door to the bar. Ty doubled over, holding my wrist tightly, and me with red eyes from crying, snot still seeping from my nose.
Logan took in the scene for about a half a second before his face morphed into deadly rage. Ty let go of my wrist when he got a good look at Logan’s face, but neither of us were quick enough to avoid what happened next. Before I could explain, Logan charged like a bull. Ty hit the floor harder than he ever had before, and I winced when the air punched from his lungs and gushed out on a moan.
When Logan grabbed a handful of Ty’s shirt and jerked his prone body up, drawing back his arm, ready to pound the life out of Ty, I shouted, “Logan, stop!” grabbing for his arm. “Ty wasn’t hurting me. We were just goofing around.” His icy gaze snapped to mine, and he halted his blow moments before his fist connected with Ty’s nose.
“Fuck me,” Ty coughed. “You knocked the wind out of me.”
Some of the ice thawed behind Logan’s eyes as he looked between Ty and me. “Explain why she’s crying. Explain why you laid your hands on her.”
“Fuck if I know. She’s a woman. They don’t need much of an excuse. And she’s got a mean right hook if you piss her off. I was trying to protect myself.”
“She weighs a hundred pounds wet,” Logan growled.
I looked down at my body and rolled my lips to keep from laughing. If he thought I was that tiny, who was I to correct him.
“Piss her off and you’ll find out. She learned how to punch from her brothers.”
“So you admit you pissed her off?”
“She’s easy to rile and it’s better than listening to her blubber.”
I held my breath while I waited for Logan to either stand up or drive a punch into my friend.
“Can I get up now?”
Logan glanced at me, so I smiled innocently. He searched my face, then dropped Ty and stood abruptly, putting out his hand for Ty to grab. “Call me the next time she’s blubbering, and I’ll protect you from her right hook.”
I rolled my eyes and turned for my stuff. “You should have stopped while you were ahead when I was blubbering. For future reference, hugging me is enough to calm me down. Tickle me again and I’ll do more than punch you in the gut.”
Ty hissed, “Fuck,” for some strange reason, so I turned at his expletive just in time to watch him hit the floor again.
“Oh, my God. Why did you punch him?”
“He knows why,” Logan bit out.
Ty shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs away. “I know why,” he grumbled, rolling to his haunches before standing. “Do me a favor, Skye, stop trying to help me out.”
I blinked. “Are you saying this is my fault?”
He worked his jaw back and forth, then spit blood on the floor. “It’s a guy thing,” he answered. “Just leave it at that.”