because he was a lying bastard. You don’t know what the hell you’re taking about.”
I stood, stepping over his stool and moving away from the bar so that Landon was no longer between me and the men.
The guy was rolling up the sleeves on his dark blue flannel, the closest thing to mourning wear he must own. The move was meant to look casual, but I could see the rigid set of his shoulders, knew the move was meant to prepare him to fight.
“Knew the man for twenty years, I’d say I know what I’m talking about.”
“Yeah? Well then I guess you’re the one full of shit.”
By the time the guy stood, my heart had already thundered to life. The bartender was nowhere in sight, leaving me with two very angry men.
Then his three buddies stood, flanking him, and I knew we were screwed. Even when faced by the group of them, Landon didn’t back down. He wasn’t the type to back down from a fight—and in this case, I knew that could be a life-threatening trait.
Fear snaked up my spine.
“My father was an asshole who beat his wife and son,” Landon spit. “Whatever he told you, it wasn’t the truth.
“Oh, he told me a lot alright. He told me all about you,” The guy said, as Landon stalked across the room, every step bringing him closer to an inevitable explosion. I hung back, darting a look around the room, desperate for someone to stop this before he got hurt. “How you got expelled for fighting at school, how you would attack him when he got home from work.”
They were inching closer to one another now, Landon’s shoulders stiff and his fists clenched. “Yeah? And who the hell do you think taught me to fight?”
“I don’t think you can fight for shit unless you sucker punch someone,” the man growled. “Your old man told me what a fucking pussy you are.”
“What were you, his girlfriend?” Landon mocked. “I never heard a man talk so much shit in my life.”
And then the guy swung. Landon stepped back and dodged, throwing his own punch and landing it squarely on the man’s jaw. I jumped back as the scuffle moved toward me, and one of the guy’s buddies—a huge guy with red hair—leapt forward, punching Landon in the gut too fast for him to avoid.
Landon groaned and dodged the second fist, landing a hit of his own. The third guy came in fast, swinging at Landon’s face. His knuckles just barely missed, skimming along the bridge of Landon’s nose. Now Landon was surrounded on three sides, ducking and dodging and throwing punches, but it couldn’t last forever. He was fighting them four on one.
I screamed, shocked by the violence and speed of the brutality I was witnessing. They were all big and strong and there was no way for me to try and break them apart, the way they were fighting.
Landon nailed the third guy on the cheek, sending him sprawling to the floor.
The follow-through has turned Landon’s body, twisting him to the left and leaving him open to a flying punch from the first man. It hit him squarely in the jaw, the smack loud enough to make me gasp.
Landon whirled, throwing punch after punch on the guy, oblivious to the two friends who had regrouped. One of them punched him in the side, and Landon’s breath whooshed out.
He was holding his own, but outnumbered. With every punch he landed, three pairs of fists flew toward him.
“STOP,” I said, still afraid to jump in. Afraid to put myself in the middle. I glanced over my shoulder, relieved when I saw the bartender and brawny, dark-haired guy rushing out from behind the bar.
Landon threw another punch, hitting the first guy square in the nose, just as the two men arrived. The bartender jumped in front of him, shoving Landon off balance.
He had the element of surprise, and as Landon reeled back, I grabbed his arm.
“Stop, stop,” I said again and again, as Landon regained his footing.
He started to yank his arm away, but then it was like my voice registered. He turned to see me beside him, and it was hard not to flinch away from the venom in his expression. The thin control he’d held onto all day had snapped, and I had the feeling he’d fight these men for another hour, until he was spent, and his anger was gone.
His eye raked over me, and I knew he couldn’t miss how