in his grasp, a hand over her mouth. She strained against his hold.
Wyatt rushed forward, his unexpected appearance distracting the guy.
Grace wriggled free. Wyatt took advantage of the sudden clearance to deliver a cross punch.
The man’s head flew back. He rebounded quickly and attempted a jab.
Wyatt blocked it with one arm, grabbed the guy’s jaw with the other, and twisted his head, leading him to the ground. Wyatt dropped his knee onto the guy’s throat. He checked on Grace, a still shadow. “You all—?”
“Look out!”
The tackle came from out of the blue. A fist slammed into Wyatt’s gut. He hit the ground.
Wyatt pushed the considerable weight off and sprang to his feet. He waited for the drinking buddy to get up, then faced off against him. He could bring the guy to his knees without so much as a bruise, but where was the fun in that?
“Shouldn’t have done that,” Wyatt said.
“Oh yeah?” Idiot Number Two wore a smug grin. “Let’s see whatcha got.”
Number One was coming around, but Wyatt had a minute or two. He threw a cross punch, pivoting at the waist. The guy tried to block it, but he was too slow. The strike landed with a satisfying thwack. His head jerked back and to the side.
Wyatt pulled back his fists, waiting in a defensive position. “Still want to defend a man who was assaulting a woman?”
Instead of answering, Number Two surged forward with a growl, going for a tackle. Wyatt easily dodged him, and the man flew past, barely keeping his footing. He cursed a blue streak. And fool that he was, he barreled forward again, head aimed for Wyatt’s gut this time.
Wyatt braced his feet in a fighting stance and, on impact, pivoted and shoved the man’s shoulder, adding to his momentum. He hit the ground hard and didn’t get back up.
Wyatt shook his head. If the man had a lick of sense he’d stay down.
But Number One was back on his feet, eager for more trouble. Mean eyes glinted in the darkness. He was taller than Wyatt and probably figured that to be an advantage.
“You need to mind your own business,” Number One said with a grunt.
“You need to learn some manners.”
The man jerked his head toward Grace. “This your sister? We’re gonna have some fun with her once I take care of you.”
A surge of disgust coursed through Wyatt, but he kept his expression blank. “Give it your best shot, buddy.”
The guy sprang forward, going for Wyatt’s legs.
Wyatt hooked his arm, elbow bent, around the man’s head, cupping his jaw, and twisted his body, bringing Number One to the ground easily. He lowered his knee to the man’s neck and looked up just in time to see Grace knocking Number Two on the head with something as he was getting to his feet. The man slumped back to the ground.
Grace dropped the object and skittered away, flapping her hands.
Wyatt gave her a nod. “Not bad, Bennett.”
“All right, I give.” Number One tried to squeeze out from under him. “Let me up.”
Another shadow burst out from the woods, and their brownie buddy came to an abrupt halt, surveying the scene in silence.
“Want to join the fun?” Wyatt kept his knee on Number One’s throat in case he had new ideas.
“I’ll take a hard pass,” Evan said.
“Good to see someone has a functioning brain cell. You’d best round up your friends and head out of here. They’ve worn out their welcome. This one manhandled the lady.” Wyatt jerked his head toward Number Two. “And that one came to his defense.”
Evan swore, his eyes sliding to Grace. “Real sorry ’bout that, ma’am. And here I came along to keep them out of trouble.”
“You might think about finding some new friends.” Wyatt cautiously eased his knee away from the guy, who grabbed his own throat and started hacking.
“Come on,” Wyatt said to Evan. “I’ll help you take them to the truck.”
Chapter Fourteen
Grace slumped onto the log as Wyatt shut the truck’s passenger door. She was shivering, but not so much from the chill in the air. She’d never witnessed a real fight, much less been a participant. Her heart was still knocking around her chest like a pinball.
She pressed her palm to it. She could still feel the place on her arm where that guy had clamped it. When he’d put his meaty hand over her mouth, she’d thought she was done for.
The panic evaporated the second she saw Wyatt coming to her rescue like an avenging