I slammed my hand into his chest, gripping his shirt and yanking hard until his back hit the bar. He yelped a little as I stood, lowering my nose to his, steam rolling off me as I poked a finger in his face.
“I told you to fuck off, Malcolm. You should have listened to me.”
I reared back, ready to plow my fist into his smug smile, when Buck intervened, jumping over the bar and grabbing me from behind. He yanked me away, my fist still twisted in Malcolm’s shirt until his buddy tore it away from me, ushering Malcolm to the other side of the bar.
He was laughing.
I charged after him again, which only made him laugh harder as Buck caught me around the chest, spinning me around to face him.
“Hey!” he said, voice loud and firm.
I had no idea if he’d said anything to me before that moment. I couldn’t hear anything but that asshole’s laughter.
“Listen to me,” he warned. “You know that pussy will call the cops and have charges pressed against you. You don’t need to spend any more nights in jail. Okay? So finish your whiskey and get the hell out of here.”
I tried twisting out of his grip, but he held me more firmly, and my breath singed my nose with every exhale. Finally, I growled, shaking him off and reaching for my whiskey. I tilted the glass back, finishing what was left, and then plowed through the bar door just as I had the one leaving the warehouse earlier that day.
My vision was half red, half black as I barreled through town, walking the short distance to my house that was a few blocks behind the main drug store. I stayed on Main Street until I hit that street, and as soon as I turned, I nearly ran over Ruby Grace Barnett.
“Oof.” She gasped as I plowed over her, both of us spinning and her nearly toppling over before I caught her by the upper arms, righting her again. The paper bag she’d been carrying out of the drug store fell in the process, toilet paper and toothpaste and other miscellaneous girly shit that I didn’t recognize spilling out onto the concrete.
“Shit,” I murmured, bending to help her retrieve it all.
Ruby Grace bent down as much as she could in her skirt, and once everything was back in the paper bag, we both stood, an awkward, heavy silence passing between us.
“Sorry about that,” I murmured, scratching the back of my head. Then, I turned, ready to close the distance between me and my house that was just a couple of blocks away now.
“Wait,” she called, and I paused, forcing a breath before I turned to face her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You almost ran me over,” she said, smiling a little. “And you look like you’re ready to kill the next person who looks at you.”
“Not far from the truth.”
She crossed her arms over the bag, balancing it on her hip as she cocked a brow. “Want to talk about it?”
“No,” I answered definitively. I made to turn again, but she spoke before I could.
“Someone’s particularly moody tonight.”
My nose flared, head aching with how tightly I gritted my teeth. I needed to get home. Now. “And someone else is particularly nosey.”
Her face fell at that. “Noah…”
“Look, why don’t you stop prying into my life and get back to your own? I’m sure you’ve got cake to taste or ribbons to tie or something.”
Ruby Grace’s mouth popped open. “Why are you being so mean to me? I was just making sure you’re okay.”
“Oh, is that right?” I asked, seething as I stepped into her space. Our chests were an inch apart, my breath hot on her nose as I looked down on her shocked expression. “You want to go back to the Black Hole, sit on my horse and rub your ass on me while we ride? Pretend like you don’t have a fiancé who would mind while I tell you all my fucking problems?”
Her brows folded together, eyes narrowing into slits. “Fuck you, Noah Becker.”
“I’m sure you’d like to, sweetheart. But, not tonight.” I somehow managed a smirk before I turned on my boot, shoving my hands in my pockets and picking up my pace to get back to my house.
It was out of line. It was nowhere near what I felt about Ruby Grace, but she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and my fury needed a friend to call home.