“Mornin’, Wolfe, Amy.”
Glancing over, I smiled at Reagan, sitting at a table with her loser of a boyfriend, Billy.
I tipped my hat while Amy gave her a warm, “Good morning.”
“What brings you kids into this fine establishment?”
Kids. Right. I hadn’t been a damn kid in a long-ass time.
However, it was amusing coming from a woman who was four years younger than I was. Now that I thought about it, that made Reagan and Amy about the same age.
“Breakfast,” I said, my eyes sliding over to Billy, who was shoveling food into his mouth as though he hadn’t eaten in a year.
“Quit yappin’,” Billy grumbled to Reagan. “I got shit to do.”
Every single time I laid eyes on Billy Watson, I wanted to punch the fucker in the face. I had absolutely no idea what Reagan saw in the guy. He was a two-bit mooch who cheated on Reagan more often than not. Yet for whatever insane fucking reason, she kept him around.
“We’ll talk to y’all later,” I told Reagan as I slid my hand behind Amy’s back and urged her toward our table. I threw one last disdainful glare at Billy for good measure. One day somebody was going to steal that girl away, and I hoped like hell I was there to see it. Clearly the fucker didn’t know a good thing when he had it.
I pulled Amy’s chair out for her. Once she was seated, I took mine. The bells jingled over the door, and all heads turned toward it as Lynx made his way inside. The place was relatively packed this morning, so it was interesting to see the way his eyes instantly zoned in on Reagan and Billy. That good ol’ boy grin disappeared instantly.
“Son of a bitch,” Billy groaned, his voice louder than it should’ve been. “Can’t we fuckin’ go anywhere in this stupid fuckin’ town without your sorry ass showin’ up?”
What the fuck?
I glanced over at Amy, then around the room, wishing like hell someone could fill me in on what was going on. Everyone who knew us looked as surprised as me.
“Watch your goddamn mouth,” Lynx snarled.
Amy chuckled beside me. That was Lynx for you. Cursing while telling someone else not to.
“Fuck off, Caine,” Billy growled.
“Billy, stop,” Reagan said, placing her hand on his arm.
Billy shrugged her off. “Always defendin’ that asshole. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were suckin’ his dick instead of mine.”
The room went deafeningly silent. No chatter, no clank of silverware, no hiss from the griddle in the kitchen. Absolutely nothing except for the warning growl that emanated from Lynx seconds before he reached over and ripped Billy right up out of his chair.
“Lynx, don’t!” Reagan yelled, jumping up and sending her chair over backward.
“Stay here,” I instructed Amy, getting to my feet at the same time two more cowboys in the back stood.
No one took kindly to men treating women the way Billy did.
I held up a hand to halt the two cowboys, letting them know I'd handle it. I shoved the door open harder than necessary, watching as Lynx dragged Billy halfway across the parking lot.
“Lynx, let him go,” Reagan hollered, moving in close.
I got to her in seconds, picking Reagan up off her feet and pulling her back.
“Put me down, you asshole!”
“Chill, darlin’,” I crooned. “He ain’t gonna kill him. Although he probably deserves it.”
“If I ever fuckin’ hear you say some shit like that again,” Lynx hissed, his hand fisted in Billy’s shirt as he held the man in place, “I will beat you so fuckin’ bad your momma won’t recognize you no more.”
The sound of tires on gravel had me looking over. The familiar dark brown truck pulled to a stop right beside Lynx and Billy. Rhys climbed out, shoving his hat on his head. The man was wearing his signature Wranglers and white button-down shirt, badge clipped to his hip, gun holstered there, too.
