Finders Keepers (20 page)

Finn grabbed the wrist she’d just slapped him with. The
second he put his hands on her, I went into action. I rushed toward them and
drove my fist into his jaw as soon as I was within reach. That made Finn let go
of Josie, but since the first punch had been thrown, the rest of the Masons were
closing in. Right as I was about to wrap my arms around Josie and drag her back
to her truck, something shattered against the back of my head. It wasn’t the
first time I’d had a bottle cracked over my skull, but it was the first time
Josie had been around to witness it. She screamed, her eyes widening as I fell
to my knees. The bottle had rung my bell, but I wouldn’t stay on my knees long.
Especially with Josie still out in the open and five guys getting ready to
unleash hell.

“Look who’s the tough guy now.” Finn lunged at me, his fists
ready. Just as I was bracing myself for the hit, someone leapt in front of me.

“Josie, no!” I yelled, trying to push her out of the way,
but Finn’s fist got to her before my hands did.

The punch hit her across the cheek, sending her flying back
into me. I caught her before she fell to the ground. Even though she hadn’t
cried out in pain and she looked more pissed than hurt, I felt murderous rage
flood my veins. If a gun pointed at Finn had magically appeared in my hand, I
wouldn’t have thought twice about pulling the trigger. That’s how blind with
rage I was.

“Josie, baby, are you okay?” I ran my hand down the side of
her face he’d hit. It was already swelling.

She nodded, her eyes finding mine. “Now that
baby
was
a term of endearment.” She managed a small smile and tried getting up.

“What the hell, Finn?” Colt charged his brother and shoved
him hard in the chest.

“She got in the way.” Finn motioned at us, not looking the
slightest bit sorry or ashamed. “If she’s going to try to protect this piece of
shit, that’s what she deserves.”

The thread I’d been hanging onto had snapped when Finn’s
fist connected with Josie. But fuck the thread.
I’d
snapped. Once I’d
scooted Josie up against the wheel of my truck, I formed my hands around her
face. “Are. You. Okay?”

“From that little bitch slap? Yeah, I barely felt it.” She
lifted her hand to her cheek, glaring at Finn.

I would do a hell of a lot more than glare at him as soon as
I made sure she was okay. “Please stay here. Let me handle this.”

She shook her head. “Sorry, Garth. If I liked hanging out on
the sidelines, I would have been a cheerleader.”

“Fuck the cheerleaders—”

“You certainly did back in high school.”

I was fighting two battles: one with my fists with the
Masons and one with my words with Josie. “I’m not asking you to stay here
because I want to keep you on the sidelines forever. I’m
begging
you to
stay here so I can keep you safe.” How was that not clear? Five moderately to
severely drunk guys were looking to turn me—and anyone else who got in the
way—into their human punching bag.

“We’re waiting, Black. But we’re not going to wait much
longer.”

Josie’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Why don’t you go buy a
fruity drink and make out with a guy like we all know you want to, Finn?”

A few of the Mason boys’ mouths dropped open, Finn’s mouth
clenched closed, and Colt tried not to smile. Me? I laughed. Hard.

Lifting his finger, Finn took a few steps our way. I braced,
ready to pounce on him if he came another step closer. “As soon as I’m done
teaching this piece of trash some manners, I’m going to hold you down and sew a
red A on that cheap farm-girl dress of yours, you ungrateful, cheating little—”

Yep. That was it. My rage containment threshold. Letting out
a grunt of outrage, I drove my shoulder into Finn’s stomach and tackled him to
the ground.

“Are we finally going to fight?” Finn yelled at me, dodging
my first fist. He didn’t dodge the second one quickly enough. He grunted when
my fist cracked the same spot he’d hit Josie.

With the reminder he’d laid his hands on Josie, a whole new
level of rage bubbled to the surface. Phase two of Garth Black losing his shit.
“No,
I’m
going to fight.” I cracked him in the other cheek. “You’re
going to lay there and take it.” Before I could get in a third punch, Finn’s
brothers piled on me. A couple grabbed my arms, and the others pulled Finn off
of the ground. He was barely up before he came at me, throwing a solid fist
into my stomach. And then another. And another. I lost count a few punches later.
When I curled over and coughed up a bit of blood, Josie came charging toward
us. Well, she came charging for Finn.

The guy had her by a hundred pounds, and she was coming at
him with nothing more than sheer determination and gusto. If I wasn’t so terrified
of what would happen next, I would have been bursting with pride. Right before
she got to Finn, Colt leapt in front of her, stopping her from going any
farther. She tried ducking around him, but he dodged in front of her. She tried
again, and she almost got by him. Finn was back to turning my insides into
gelatin when I sighed.

“Jesus Christ, Colt. Hold her back and keep her out of
this,” I said.

Josie flashed me a glare like I’d betrayed her. If betraying
her meant keeping her from getting any more hurt, that was what I would do.
When Josie made another run at Finn, Colt didn’t hesitate. Cinching his arms
around her, Colt dragged her away from his four brothers and me. That was the
first positive mark in Colt Mason’s corner. Josie struggled, and I’m pretty
sure she stomped down hard on his toes, but Colt was a strong enough guy. I had
a beating from him to attest to that.

Okay, Josie was safe. Time to kick some ass.

As Finn was winding up for another round of
Liquefy-Garth-Black’s-Internal-Organs, I jumped off the ground and kicked out
just in time to send Finn and his fists flying backward. The sudden motion
surprised the Mason boys holding my arms, so I was able to twist my arms free.
I didn’t waste any time pouncing on Finn. I might not have had any issues with
the Mason brothers—other than Colt dating Josie—but after what Finn had said
and done . . . They’d just secured the number one spot on my most hated list.

The two of us rolled across the gravel, each landing hits as
we struggled to gain the upper hand. Finn was a big guy—bigger than me even—but
I was a bigger badass, so that made us about even. Even through Finn’s and my
grunts and curses, I heard Josie crying out, yelling out, and finally, cussing
us out. I’d lose the fight right then and there if I could go back in time and
keep Josie from seeing it, but since time travel wasn’t a skill I’d honed yet,
I hit harder and hoped it would be over soon.

Finn and I were a pretty even match, but his three brothers
threw themselves at me as soon as I managed to pin Finn. Boots flew, fists
connected, and before I knew it, I was on my back, curling into myself and
hoping at least a few of my vital parts were still intact when they were done.
My dick being the most vital of them all. I made sure to cup both hands over
that piece of my “vital” parts.

Josie’s screams of protest quickly changed to pleas to stop.
She hollered her lungs out begging them to stop, threatening to call the cops,
promising she would kick all of their asses. Then her shouts turned to sobs as
their kicks and hits only picked up speed. I was close to passing out, no
longer able to feel what parts of my body were and weren’t working when her
weeps turned to choking whimpers. That right there—hearing Josie falling apart
and being unable to fix it—was the most painful blow I’d been dealt that night.
I’d no sooner convinced myself of that and then Finn grabbed the baseball bat.
Shit, that would hurt like a mother.

His first swing hit me in the lower back, his second a bit
higher. By the time he’d moved on to his third and fourth, I was passing out.
His brothers yelled at him to stop. Their hits and kicks had stopped as soon as
Finn took the bat to me, but from their voices, they were scared of the same
thing I was: Finn wasn’t going to stop swinging until I’d stopped breathing. It
took all three of them to pull him away from me. Even then, he was still
swinging that bat.

“Colt! We’re out of here, man. Get your ass in the truck,
and let’s go.” One of the twins, Dufus or Dipshit, called out.

As the trio continued to wrestle Finn toward Colt’s truck,
he never stopped glaring at me. “Don’t mess with me. Don’t mess with my
brothers. Don’t mess with our women,” he ordered. “After tonight, you’ll have
learned your lesson.”

I was beat to shit, more broken than put-together, and I had
to spit blood before I could say something, but I wouldn’t let Finn think he’d
beat me. He hadn’t. I hadn’t come so far mucking through life’s shit it only to
be beaten by a few pairs of fists, a baseball bat, and Finn Mason. “You call
that a lesson? Come back over here, and I’ll show you a lesson.”

It was true—I really didn’t know when to shut my mouth.

Finn lunged against his brothers, but his adrenaline was
fading since he wasn’t using me as a human piñata. His brothers had no problem
tossing him into the back of the truck and keeping him there. “I’m going to
kill you, Black!”

I blew a kiss his way. “Have fun with the boys, sweetheart.”

That sent him into another fit of rage, making his brothers
look like they were considering using the baseball bat on him.

“Colt! Today!” one of his brothers shouted.

Colt finally let go of Josie, and as soon as he did, she
spun around, slapped him so hard it echoed, and raced toward me with a look of
terror. From the looks of it, she must have thought I was about to die—or was
already there. Once she reached me, she fell to her knees and draped her arms
around me. Actually, it was less of a drape and more of a grab.

I grimaced. “Hey, Joze? You know I love you touching me, the
more desperate the better, but right now . . . less is more, baby.”

Her arms instantly loosened. “Oh my god. Please don’t die.
Please. Don’t. Die.” She was such an emotional wreck, it looked like she didn’t
know whether to laugh or cry. She wound up going with the latter.

I managed a smile, despite it hurting like hell. “Okay,
fine. I won’t.”

Colt was heading for his truck, glancing at us like he
wasn’t sure what had happened or what to do about it. Just when I was sure he
was going to keep on walking, he paused. His whole face lined as he studied
Josie and me spread out over the gravel. “You want me to call an ambulance or
something?”

Josie shot him another glare.

“Or something,” I huffed, slowly rolling onto my back. I
stretched out one limb at a time, one inch at a time. Nothing felt broken—at
least no bones were. Colt slid his phone out of his pocket. “Thanks, but I’m
good. If I called an ambulance every time I got in a fight, I might as well
just buy the company because it would be cheaper.”

Colt shifted. “You sure?”

“Just get the hell out of here!” Josie shouted at him,
eyeing the bat.

“We’re good. Do as the lady says.” In my state, I wouldn’t
have been able to stop Josie if she did decide to pick up that bat and take
swings at a flock of Masons.

“Okay.” Colt nodded and started for his truck. “I guess I’ll
see you . . . around?”

Josie snorted and wiped at my face with the sleeve of my
jacket she still had on. I stroked her cheek. It was still swelling and already
bruising. Another flash of rage.

“Colt?” I didn’t wait for him to acknowledge me. I knew he
heard me. “Tonight, you were my ally because you kept Josie out of all this.
Come tomorrow”—I managed to lean up on my elbows to look him straight on—“you’d
better steer clear of me. If I run into you, I’m treating you like any other
Mason who did this to her.” My eyes scanned her face before shifting back to
his. When Colt inspected her face, his eyes closed in a wince. He nodded once
before leaping into his truck and peeling out of the parking lot faster than
they’d peeled into it.

“Man, Josie. I don’t know who took it out of me more
tonight—you or the Masons.” I cupped her other cheek and worked up another
smile. It was done. The Masons had done what they’d wanted to, were gone, and
we were both okay. I might need a good night’s sleep and a few Tylenol, but I’d
had it worse. Unlike other fights, I hadn’t had anyone to sit beside me
afterward, stroke my hand, and look like they were suffocating in their concern
for me.

Concern . . . it was a fairly new concept to me. One I was
sure was overrated and a bunch of bullshit. As I laid there spread over the
gravel, blood pooling in my mouth and every square inch of my body throbbing in
pain, I realized how nice it was to have someone concerned about my wellbeing.
Someone concerned about
me
. Someone cared whether I was still alive come
morning, and that gave my life a meaning and purpose that had been absent. She
depended on me, and for right then, she wanted me in her life. It was a
sobering reality. One that would take a while to figure out.

“Say something. Please,” she sniffled, wiping her nose with
the same sleeve she’d used to wipe my face with. It was dotted with blood. “I
don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to fucking do right now.”

“It’s okay. I’m okay.” She looked as close to hysterical as
I’d ever seen Josie, and despite the pain coursing through my body, seeing her
so undone caused the most pain. “Why don’t you help me up and over to my truck
so I don’t get blood all over yours, and then let’s just get back to your place
and figure out the rest when we get there. Sound okay?”

“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital? You look
bad, Garth. Really, really bad.” She bit her lip as a tear slipped from her
eye.

That tear was like another baseball bat slammed into my back.

“No hospitals. They’re sick of me anyways even if I actually
needed one. Which I don’t.” She looked like she was about to start screaming
for an ambulance. “Just get me back, get me to bed, and I’ll wake up tomorrow
good as new.” Nothing I was saying was calming her down. If anything, every
word seemed to be working her up more. Gritting my teeth, I sat up so I could
be face to face with her. Maybe that would reassure her I wasn’t about to be
drug off to hell after taking my last breath. “Look at me, Josie. In the eyes.”