Aspen’s fingers curled.
“Jesse, will you tell Clara that my roast beef makes hers look like baked leather?”
Jesse turned to his siblings. “Both your roast beefs suck. Mine is obviously the best.”
Clara’s jaw dropped. “The last time you made me a roast, it was half raw.”
“It was intentionally rare,” he said, almost offended.
Becket shook his head. “You’re delusional. You spent too long on those dangerous Ghost Ops missions, and they messed with your head. Your roast beef is the worst in the family.”
“Hey, I—”
Jesse stopped when Aspen left the table and marched across the bar, right toward the couple. He looked at the guy who’d been towering over the woman, and he now had a firm grip on her arm as he yelled into her face.
Fuck.
He took off after her. “Aspen.”
She didn’t stop or turn. When she reached the couple, she grabbed the guy’s arm and yanked. “Get the hell off her!”
Now the guy turned and towered overAspen. “Why the fuck are you touching me, bitch?”
“Bitch?” Aspen stepped closer. “You’re lucky touching your arm is all I’m doing. I should kick you in the balls for grabbing a woman like that.”
Red darkened the guy’s cheeks, and he reached for her, but Jesse pushed between them before he could touch her and shoved his chest. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What amIdoing? This bitch—”
Jesse grabbed his arm and twisted it back, shoving him down so he was bent over the table, ignoring the gasps around him. “Youdo notcall her that. And while I’m here, you don’t grab women like that. Do you understand?”
“Get the fuck off me!” the guy yelled, attempting to shove back into Jesse, but he didn’t move an inch.
“I will,” Jesse said between gritted teeth. “Once you tell me you understand.”
The asshole struggled for another second before clearly realizing he wasn’t getting out of this until Jesse let him up.
“Fine,” he growled. “Iunderstand.”
Jesse released him and stepped back, making sure he remained between the jerk and Aspen. “Now get out.”
The guy’s brows rose. “You can’t tell me to—”
“I just did.”
“So did I,” CJ, the older bartender, said as he came up behind Jesse.
The asshole’s chest rose and fell as he looked down at the woman he’d grabbed. “Come on. We’re leaving this shithole.”
The woman glanced at Aspen, holding her gaze for a beat before looking back at him. “No.”
His hands fisted, and Jesse’s muscles twitched, preparing to grab the guy a second time. But he was obviously smarter than he looked, because he turned and stormed out of the bar.
Good.
Jesse turned to see Becket standing close by. He had no doubt his brother would have backed him up if he’d needed it.
He looked down at Aspen.
