Page 138 of Mountain Men Heroes

“Both of you get your grubby paws off my girl,” Damon jumped in, pulling her hand free of Jin’s.

Jin pulled back, raising his hands. “My bad, but baby, if you get tired of the broody, sulky cousin of mine, give us a call and we’ll take over.” He winked and elbowed his brother, who reached over and offered a hand too.

“Yeah, that’s enough of the pleasantries.” Damon threw his bar towel at the one named Rebel and she loved how he roared with laughter and flashed a broad smile that reached his eyes and charged the air with happy vibes. As if his laughter held magic. She smiled at that thought.

Jin dragged his stool closer. “Sorry for breaking up fun time right when the good stuff started.”

As she quickly noticed, not one to let his brother do all the talking, Rebel followed up his brother’s wisdom with a little of his own. “Gotta listen to the kids more, Damon. Told ya a nice date would make the holiday pass faster. It’s good to see you finally pulling out of your shell.”

“If that is what you are here for, you can march right out the same door you two sauntered in. Did Momma send you down here to tell me that?”

“Nah. But it’s the truth.” Both Jin and Rebel looked at her as if to say thank you, but for what she didn’t quite understand. “We just need to have a chat and then you guys can get back to your kissing game.”

She moved to pull away and give them their privacy, but Damon held her close. Jin winked at her and patted her on the shoulder, which pulled a growl from Damon. What the hell was that about?

“Down, boy. We don't want your girl even if she is the sweetest candy in Savage Ridge.” Yep. That queued up the rise of heat in her and yep, there went that darn pesky blush. She braved a glance at Damon from beneath her lashes, pretending to read through her book.

“What’s up then, boys?”

She brushed past Damon to snag a couple of shot glasses and hook some of the good stuff from the top shelf.

“There’s been some rumblings among the outer communities. The older folks who live off-grid. Some men have been coming up and telling them to get out. Wanting to take over their land by force. Sounds a lot like what we’ve already gone through. Your dad told us what Reaper and his brothers found out at their place. Thought you’d like to know. We tried to call but the signals wouldn’t connect. Seems like another storm is rolling in. Would suck to be caught with your pants down if you know what I mean. So we decided to swing by on our way to picking up some supplies.”

They were right. The weather did look like it was making a turn for the worse.

Damon scratched his chin. “So I’ve heard.”

Both Rebel and Jin held up their glasses in salute before tossing them back. “Damn sweet kick. Thank you, Ivy.”

“Anyone hurt?” Damon pushed.

“Not yet. We’re keeping a close eye,” Rebel offered. She wondered what he did to earn that moniker or if it was his given name.

Pushing her glasses up the ridge of her nose, she studied them closer. Both hiked their shirt sleeves to reveal thick forearms, and several buttons at the neck lay splayed open to show a tease of hair. Frankly, the brothers made it look like spring outside. Looking between them, she couldn’t tell them apart except for the tiny scar that sliced through Rebel’s eyebrow.

“Whoever is going around intimidating the locals and leaving marked bullets knows you’re here. And it’s putting everyone in danger.”

Chills ran over her body. “We have to warn them.”

Ivy turned on her heel, dashed over to where her coat hung and pulled it on.

Damon quickly tugged on her elbow. “Wait, hold up, angel. Warn who?”

She wrapped her scarf around her neck and pulled on her matching black gloves. “The locals, silly. Reapers family. They need to know they have backup. Support. Your family here in town. Everyone! If the lines are down then there has to be radios, right? Or we go door to door.”

“They already know, sweetheart.”

Her heart hammered. Jin stood and took her hands in his larger ones. “But thank you.”

“For what—I haven’t done anything.”

“For caring. That means a lot more than you think.”

Oh. She thought on that for a solid heartbeat and realized one thing. Maybe her heart wasn’t as dead inside as she thought. But that didn’t change anything. It just meant her heart hadn’t turned solid black yet. And that one little trigger brought her thoughts back around to Houston and why she wouldn’t be graduating come spring. And why staying here with Damon, as good as he felt, would not work either. How could she take on the responsibility of a relationship when she felt so broken inside?

“I think she has a point, though.” Rebel turned on his stool and stretched his long legs out. His statement bringing her out of her dark thoughts.

“Maybe we should make more rounds, head out there and keep an eye on things. Radio in if anything pings on the radar.”

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