Page 16 of Between Two Thorns

And while the other guys might try to feint closer, the green-eyed guy didn’t move.

“Del,” Sam said, low and gentle, and like he was trying not to startle a baby deer. Or a cornered wolf.

The older man put up a hand, reaching to the younger’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze near the back of his neck.

Rose saw Del tense at the touch, then slowly let his muscles melt into it, only to curl up again when he looked away from Sam. Like the younger was suppressing an impulse to do something… or maybe fighting with more than one instinct at once.

But Sam had already stepped in front of Del, too. He walked into the center of the cleared circle, that wall of bodies from the dance floor now ringing the scene and writhing again. Though this time it wasn’t with the coordinated sway to music. It was with jittery anticipation of action. Rose swore there were more people here than the Bone & Barrel could even contain. As if twice as many had materialized from the empty desert around them—though it was far too dark to see beyond the three street lights nearby.

“Gentlemen, please.” Sam raised his hands, palms up, appealing to them. And probably to Del just as much. “Let’s not do this and cause more of a headache for Ms. Bonnie.”

Oh, so that was the bartender’s name. Well, it wasn’t like she was wearing a name badge when she offered Rose that angel shot earlier.

Maybe she should have taken that drink.

Rose stood up on the back step, grabbing the ambulance doors to keep herself upright. She saw heads nodding in the crowd along with Sam’s cooler rationale. They obviously liked their hangout away from school and rules and the woman who owned the place.

But Chad showed his douche-baggery again.

“What’s the matter old man, ain’t up for it?” he jeered, and the taunting voices turned with the tide easily.

Sam’s lips pulled at the corners.

Rose sure as hell didn’t think he was that old; he sure as hell didn’t look or act all that old. Besides, the silver in his trimmed stubble aligned perfectly in a way that emphasized his cheekbones.

Very, very attractive.

Sam shook his head. “Oh, I ain’t scared of some kid acting too big for his britches.”

The echoing “Ooh” sound followed them as Sam closed the distance between himself and Chad with an undeniable swagger.

He showed no signs of being scared by the youngster threatening to take a swing at him.

The wolf-whistle she heard from the onlookers could have come from her own lips—because that was damn hot.

Chad looked like he was boiling in his own skin. He was absolutely burning up at the implication and the audacity of another man to have confidence in front of him. One who appeared to be older—and shorter, too.

The douche then did something that was absolutely predictable. He hauled back with a grunt and made to swing, telegraphing the action with every pull of his taught muscles.

Sam beat him to the punch. Literally.

And sank his balled fist into the young hot-head’s gut. In a swift move, the old man EMT undercut the towering figure of Chad and sent him stumbling backward into the sea of people.

Sam moved away from him, ensuring that there was a safe distance between them before looking back in their direction—a smirk in his dark brown eyes.

Chad’s buddies were picking him up from the ground and dusting him off, the wall of humans moving symbiotically again to get him back on his feet.

“You’re gonna pay for that, you son of a bitch—” Chad roared, kicking off dust clouds in his wake as he charged after Sam. Going to tackle him from behind—the coward!

Rose jumped up from the back of the ambulance and squealed as her wrapped foot refused to support her. It wasn’t as bad as the splintering pain before—but it still knocked her back and making her feel like an idiot when both Del and Sam turned towards her. The older’s back was left unguarded.

So Chad could lob himself forward like a human cheap shot.

Del grabbed his friend around the upper arm and pulled him out of the way.

The blond man went sailing past him, plowing into the people gathered at the far side of the circle that had cleared for the fight.

This time, they didn’t catch him.

---