Page 13 of Boundaries

A disturbance suddenly kicked off at the bar and I leaned over to see what the issue was. I wasn’t a people watcher but I was nosy.

What I saw was like a fist in my stomach.

It obviously wasn’t my day. Had I pissed off the powers that be somehow?

By some cruel twist of fate, Mason McKenna and his annoying, fucking brothers had materialised by the bar, laughing, and joking with the barmaids.

Twice in one day, like a bad smell that you couldn’t shake off.

Alex and I sat at a booth table at the back of the room and I manoeuvred the tall menus to shield us. Hopefully, the boys would stay and prop up the bar, and wouldn’t see we were there. Let’s face it, the barmaids were hot-totty and considered a free-for-all. There was gossip between my friendship groups that the McKenna boys had shared girls in the past. That was some sordid shit and I found the thought revolting.

“What’s up? Trouble brewing?” Alex said, lowering his head toward mine from across the table. His keen eyes glittered. He knew all about my war with the McKenna boys.

“You could say that. McKenna boys, on your six, but don’t look yet,” I whispered, shifting my empty plate, and taking a nervous sip of wine. An uncomfortable expression dashed fleetingly across his face before he masked it. Alex knew exactly how I felt about Mason. To be honest, the entire village were aware.

Alex’s cute boyish eyes crinkled. They were sun streaked as he worked outside all day.

“Shit,” he said on an exhale.

Mason, Seth, and Boyd stood in the pub as if they owned it. Boisterous, rampant males, obviously gagging for a cold pint after a hot day. The fact that they had come to this venue was a pain in my arse. What were the chances?

I nervously played with the edge of my sundress, it suddenly felt like it was cutting into my shoulders, but I was glad I looked nice. When I saw Alex, I went all out girlie as he only ever saw me in grubby jeans and wellies at work. You didn’t muck horses out in girly shit, it wasn’t practical and despite what Mason McKenna had said. I was extremely practical when choosing my apparel.

We continued to chat in stealth mode, the menus were like a shield, but my relief at being unseen was soon short-lived. Suddenly, the menus were pushed over and Boyd stood there with a huge smirk on his annoying face. He was slightly shorter than Mason and wasn’t naturally well-built, his muscles being sculptured by the gym rather than hard work. However, he was dressed in work-type clothes; jeans and a top covered in paint which was a surprise. Maybe he’d done something helpful with his day. He looked like a scruffy fucker. His face was unshaven and of course, it would be, no point straining yourself with a razor for that pathetic amount of bum fluff. Boyd had the McKenna eyes, brown ones that would occasionally look black: a colour to match their souls of course. His nose was slightly crooked, which was probably his only flaw. He was still a handsome man, unfortunately.

The thought of those lips anywhere near my sister made me jerk back in my seat and shoot him the dead eye.

“What were you two up to behind there? You know this is a public place, right?” Boyd began in a chirpy voice, pointing his bottle of bud at us to highlight his comment.

“Piss off Boyd,” I huffed, leaning back in my seat. Yes, he was good looking but he still gave me the ick.

“So cold Amy. Mason said you wanted to see me?” he questioned, his dark eyes flicking between Alex and I. Alex looked awkward and sat back in his seat, fiddling with his empty plate.

Before I could think of a snappy comeback, the devil’s own voice trickled into the mix, like fucking poison.

“Amy Taylor-Joy, you’re such a fucking stalker,” Mason’s annoying voice bled in, like a sliced artery.

I rolled my eyes. “I was here first, shit for brains,” I pointed out in a firm voice. Alex’s eyes widened and his neck turtled into his shoulders. He so wasn’t one for confrontation.

Turning my head, I watched helplessly as all three brothers joined us around our booth, the younger two tugged over bar stools, and Mason spun a chair around and straddled it backwards. His strong jean-clad thighs were close to my own. I tried to scoot further into the booth but my oversized bag was in the way. I toyed with the idea of pushing it onto the floor, under the table but then the McKenna’s would see my retreat. As I said, you didn’t show any weakness in front of McKenna men.

“I heard you two were going out?” Seth put in with a huge toothy grin. He was the youngest of the McKenna boys at just fifteen, but he still had a beer in his hand. By his appearance alone you wouldn’t place him that young, he was still as tall and as arresting as his brothers. He was, however, the most immature. A watered-down version of his siblings.

Alex suddenly looked like he was going to be sick.

“I must admit, I was surprised. Totally didn’t see that coming,” Seth added before his brother cut him off.

“So, spill it. What do you want to see me about?” Boyd interjected, shooting Seth a dark look. I was surprised Mason hadn’t given him the gist.

Seth still wore a massive grin as he looked between us and Mason just sat there in brooding silence, his eyes on my face. I’d only cast him a glance, I refused to look directly at him, he didn’t deserve my attention and why the hell had they sat with us? To bug us of course, a McKenna speciality.

Mason knew I was ignoring him on purpose and obviously couldn’t help himself. He had to have my attention, McKenna men did not like being blanked.

“Aren’t you going to have your little chat with Boyd, Amy? You were panting for it this morning,” Mason suddenly cut in before taking a swig of beer. One muscled arm was resting on the back of his chair. He looked fit as fuck. He was still a wanker though.

“What I have to say needs to be said in private really,” I excused. There was no way I was discussing the unfortunate possibility of Boyd and my sister when he had backup. Taking on more than one McKenna at a time was suicide, everyone knew that.

“You want to get me on my own. Why Amy, I didn’t think you saw me like that,” Boyd smirked, shooting a wary eye toward Mason. A look I found interesting. Was he checking he had his brother’s approval or was he scared he was stepping out of line?

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