Page 30 of Found By You

I shrug. “It’s for the best.”

She washes her hands. “Well, I don’t know how long you’re here for, but I’d love to hang out sometime. It’s hard trying to talk to Butch about how I’m feeling. He tries to understand, but it’s not the same as someone who’s going through it, too, ya know?”

“Oh, I know.” Boy, do I know…

We walk through the dying crowd at the bar to reach the front door. We step outside expecting the boys to be there waiting, but only a huddle of smokers lean against the building. “They might be pulling the trucks around,” Cassidy says, tapping on her phone while we wait off to the side.

Arms wrap around me from behind, and I smile. Sneaky man. I turn in his arms. “Where did you—” The words die in my throat when the face of a stranger fills my vision. It takes me a split second to realize it’s his hands that are on me—not Duke’s. I take a step back, and he reaches for me. “Hey, beautiful,” he moans, blowing cigarette smoke in my face.

I cough, waving at the smoke and swatting his hands away.

“Aw, come on. Don’t be like that.” He chuckles darkly.

Gross. I scoff, turning to walk away only for a loose smack to hit my ass. I gasp, whirling around. He grabs me.

“Hands off, Colt,” Cassidy yells, shoving at the stranger’s slimy paws locked on my jacket.

My heart pounds as he yanks me around like a rag doll.

“Fuck off, Cass,” he barks. His arm releases me for a moment to push her away, when his wrist is caught by a large, heavy hand. Butch stands tall and as intimidating as ever, forcing his way between the man and me.

Another pair of hands tugs at me. I jump, spinning on my heel and stumbling into his strong, sturdy embrace. Duke. Thank god.

His gaze is dark and…not on me. “He’s mine, Butch,” he growls.

Wait, what?

Cassidy takes my hand, ushering me with her to stand beside Butch.

“What are—”

I don’t get to ask what’s going on before Duke throws a sickening punch to the man’s jaw. The echo of bones cracking has me feeling ill.

I gape as Duke moves with ruthless precision. Landing three hard hits to the drunk man’s face, a nauseating hit to the gut, and a dead weight toss into the snowbank—peppered with stones and dirty cigarette butts.

I take several steps back. Who is this guy? Surely not the sweet, over-caring man I rode around with all day.

“Maci,” Cassidy calls out to me. “Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

I shake my head in disbelief. In what way is Duke pummeling this guy okay? I hurry toward the sidewalk, hugging myself as I backtrack to the motel. I should’ve just picked a damn movie.

“Maci!” The misplaced panic in his voice almost stops me in my tracks—almost. I pick up the pace instead. And it’s not another minute before the rumble of Duke’s truck trails along the road beside me. “Maci, get in the truck.”

I keep walking even as I glance at him. “Are you insane?”

He snarls—legitimately snarls—and hits the gas. The truck whips ahead to block my path at the next intersection I need to cross. Unbelievable.

“Get in.”

“No,” I say calmly. I start to climb over the large snowbank to get around him.

“Maci,” he shouts so loud it startles me. I slip on a frozen chunk of snow and lose my footing, falling flat on my ass. I suck in a sharp breath. Oh, that’s cold.

“Shit,” he bites out. The dinging of his truck door is loud in the cool, silent night.

I sigh, lying in the snow. I look up at the clear night sky filled with bright, beautiful stars. Wow.

Duke’s face fills my line of sight, towering over me with a worry-etched expression. “Are you okay?”

---