Page 43 of Tequila Burn

“I saw you,” I scream at Holly.

“You didn’t see shit, bitch.” The words have barely left his mouth, but Hudson’s already in motion. He moves his sister to the side and swings, his fist instantly connecting with the side of Holly’s face. Holly stumbles back, clearly surprised, but quickly recovers. Lunging for Hudson, he tackles him on top of the large desk that sits in the middle of the room, the momentum causing both of them to crash to the floor seconds later.

Everything happens so fast and yet almost feels like it’s taking place in slow motion. Hudson rolls on top of Holly and lands two good punches before Holly clocks Hudson under the chin, catching him off guard so he’s able to take the upper hand and roll on top of Hudson.

It doesn’t take long for the power to once again shift, and when it does I fear Hudson will kill Holly if someone doesn’t stop him.

Brittany’s screaming, trying to peel her brother off of her boyfriend and I’m frozen, not really sure what to do. Finally Hudson’s dad comes storming into the room. It takes him a split second to take in the scene before he jumps into action, pulling his son up like he weighs next to nothing before slamming him into the bookshelf along the back wall.

“Stop,” he warns. Hudson’s glazed vision seems to clear the instant he registers his father’s voice. “What the hell is going on in here?” He looks around at each one of us.

“That mother fucker put his hands on Brittany.” Hudson is the first to speak.

“I didn’t fucking touch her,” Holly screams, stumbling to his feet as blood pours from his nose.

“Lennon saw you.” Hudson makes an attempt to move but his father’s arm shoots out, holding him in place.

“Did he?” Thomas’ gaze moves to me, looking for me to confirm what Hudson’s telling him.

I manage a quick nod, still frozen in place.

“Come with me,” Kelly says as she enters the room, ushering a crying Brittany out into the hallway.

“You have about five seconds to get the hell out of my house before I call the police,” Thomas says to Holly, his voice eerily calm.

“Fine. But she’s coming with me.” He gestures toward the door that Brittany just exited through.

“Like hell she is,” Hudson grinds out, looking like he’s seconds away from going after Holly again.

“Get out of my house,” Thomas repeats.

“Or what?” Holly smiles wide, his front teeth red with blood.

“Lennon, will you please tell Mary to call the police,” Thomas requests, his eyes never leaving Holly.

Again, all I can do is nod before quickly exiting the room, not looking at Hudson’s three sisters who are grouped at the end of the hall as I do.

—-

It’s nearly forty-fiveminutes later when Hudson comes out on the back deck and finds me huddled under a fleece throw blanket in one of the chairs furthest from the door.

Flopping down into the chair next to me, he lets out a slow breath and stares out into the backyard.

“Everything okay?” I ask when he makes no attempt to say anything.

After Mary called the police, I hung around long enough to give the responding officers my statement before sneaking outside, feeling like I was intruding on a family matter that I had no business being a part of.

I was able to hear some of what was happening after they pulled Holly outside. He was not quiet about voicing his discontent. But other than Holly, I couldn’t hear anyone else. Probably because he was the only one yelling the entire time.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Lennon.” Hudson turns his head to meet my gaze. “I’m sorry you had to see all that.” He gestures toward the house. “Not really how I’d planned our first Christmas with my family.”

“Hey.” I squeeze his hand. “You don’t have to apologize to me. It’s not as if my family is perfect. Trust me; we’ve had a few dramatic evenings in the Claire household over the years.”

“You probably think I have zero self-control. Fuck. I swear I don’t make it a habit of walking around beating people up.” He chuckles, despite the seriousness in his voice.

“If I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing.” I had considered laying a good one on Holly myself, but figured it would probably hurt me more than it would him. “I’m just glad you’re not the one they ended up taking to jail this time.”

“You and me both,” he agrees. “I’ve been in three fights in my entire life and two of them have been in the last four months with you bearing witness.”

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