“Aw, shit,” I muttered as she tackled him just as she had with me that first night.
Glass shattered, Mav screamed, and then there was a deafening crash as they landed in a heap on the front porch.
Sighing, I stepped over the broken window, shaking my head at the crunch under my boots. Blake got to her feet, staring down at the sheriff in astonishment, and Mav…
Well, he just laid there.
Her gaze swung to mine. “I swear, I didn’t know the window was so close.”
“You know, that’s three times now.”
“I know!”
“Windows are not meant to be a deadly object,” I argued with her. “And even if they were, I didn’t want the man dead.”
“I swear to God, I never intended— but he wouldn’t stop! He was going after you!”
“And I can take care of myself!” I argued. “I don’t need you protecting me, especially not when?—”
I cut myself off just as I was about to mention that she was pregnant.
And thank God I did because her eyes narrowed dangerously at me, begging me to finish that thought.
“Especially when what?”
“Uh…”
Think fast, Parker! Fuck, you cannot fuck this up.
“Especially when these are guys I grew up with,” I went with. “They can’t hurt me.”
The anger on her face seemed to recede a little, thankfully replaced by what looked like guilt. I was safe. She bought it one hundred percent.
“Look, we fight sometimes. We always have. Don’t get between us. They would never hurt me.”
She winced as she looked down at Mav, still lying on the ground. “Is he okay?”
“Probably,” I muttered, kneeling down for a closer look. Rolling him over, I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t see a massive pool of blood underneath him. Thank God for small miracles.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “You didn’t tell me she was psychotic.”
“She’s not. She’s just protective. And she likes windows.”
Holding out my hand, I pulled him to his feet, brushing the glass from his body. There were a few shards here and there, but nothing too life-threatening.
Sighing, I knew what we had to do. “I don’t have anything to clean you up here.”
“So, hospital or your parents,” he muttered.
“Yeah, what’s your preference?”
But he never got the chance to answer because Pop pulled up in his truck, and when Ma got out and saw the destruction, it was already too late to formulate a plan.
“I swear,in all my life, I have never once seen boys as rowdy as all of you,” Ma said as she poured alcohol on Mav’s cheek, not even bothering to be gentle.
“I thought you would have grown out of this nonsense by now. You’re the sheriff,” she chastised Maverick. “You have a standard to uphold.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
