36. Cody

THIRTY-SIX

"What the fuck happened to your face?" Rage jumped into Ryder's demeanor the second he saw me.

Yeah, I knew that one was coming.

"What the hell, man?" Ezra wheezed it when he turned around, his hand cinching down on the can of beer he held.

I took off my cap and anxiously squeezed at the brim. "Had a little run-in with a punk after I left Time & Tap Tavern after I met you the other night." I issued the words in Ryder's direction.

Ezra jumped in, spitting with enraged disbelief. "Looks to me like you had a hell of a lot more than just a run-in. From where I'm standing, looks like you landed somewhere in the area of getting your ass beat and needing an ambulance. And this went down in my town, and you didn't think to tell me?"

Unease wobbled through my consciousness. "I had it handled."

Incredulity pulled into Caleb's expression, and his attention swept between me and the steaks he was flipping. "And what's the other guy look like?"

I blew out the strain. "Don't know. He took off before I could get a look at him."

Ezra hissed. "I'm not sure that I'd describe that as having it handled. You didn't get anything on him? And he just took off? Did he rob you?"

I could feel Ezra spinning, the badge he wore coming out, dude Sheriff through and through.

I scuffed my palm over the top of my head, and I warily glanced at where Hailey was being introduced to the kids. Joy emanated from her, the girl so fucking stunning where she stood beneath the shade of the trees with the little flecks of light making their way through.

I turned back to my crew.

"Think it's more complicated than that."

A disturbance rolled through them, and I saw the second Ryder came to awareness. His mind traveled right back to what I'd told him that night. When I'd warned him about what Hailey might be up against.

"Hailey's ex?" The two words ground to dust. In an instant, my best friend was a toil of turbulence.

"Like I said, I didn't get a look at the bastard, but I'd bet my life it was him, or at least someone he sent to shake me down. Scare me off. Whoever it was said I had one chance and said he'd recommend I use it to run."

I couldn't tell them there was another option.

That this might be on me.

Karma finally swooping back to end that borrowed time I'd been living on.

"Fuck." Ezra rubbed a massive paw down his face before he planted his hands on his hips. "Why the hell didn't you come to me?"

"Hailey is trying to figure this shit out for herself right now, and I didn't want to get in the way."

"Figure it out for herself? That's dangerous, Cody. You know that."

While I agreed with Ezra, I had to respect her wishes.

She was the one who'd told me to stay away while she was dealing with this bullshit, and I was the one who'd insisted I wasn't going anywhere. But at the base of it, I wanted her safe. I hated the idea that motherfucker might be out there lurking. Waiting for an opportunity to hurt her.

"We discussed it, and she said she needed time to decide what she was going to do. I can't blame her for that."

"Because she's afraid of him?" Ezra pushed, his own protectiveness swelling high.

Fury coiled my insides. "Maybe…but she's working a plan. She said she wants to get him out of her life rather than making the situation messier than it already is."

Ezra stared across the space where our girls had gone to watching the kids play. "I don't fucking like it."

"I don't like it, either. But we're holding right now. Besides, I'm not one-hundred-percent it was that fucker, anyway."

Intuition screamed that was a lie.

Ezra took a single step toward me. "If anything else happens—even a fucking whiff of the guy—I want you to call me. You can't ignore this, Cody. It's reckless."

I hesitated, and he pressed, "Promise me."

"Yeah, man, I promise."

"That, or Cody and I can handle that bullshit together." Ryder vibrated with hostility.

Ezra pointed at him. "Don't even think about it. Everyone here has been through enough bullshit—enough danger. You all have families to worry about, so don't go and do something stupid." Then he cracked a grin. "Though I know with the two of you, not doing something stupid is basically impossible."

I let go of a chuckle. "You wish, asshole. You just can't wrap your little head around mine and Ryder's special brand of brilliance."

Ryder laughed, and Ezra shook his head as he mumbled, "Dicks. The lot of you."

Then he was back to studying me in contemplation. "And here you show up with the woman and her little girl. Hand-in-fucking-hand."

There was a question behind it.

"That's right." Exactly where I wanted to be.

Ryder let go of a dark chuckle. "Told you, Ezra…fucker's whipped."

"That's right," I told him, too.

No longer was denying it.

Flipping a steak, Caleb glanced our way. "Called it Saturday night. Dude was sporting a heart on the entire time."

My brow shot for the sky. "A heart on?"

"Yup." He smirked. "For the first time you weren't just thinking with your dick."

"Oh, I've been thinking with that, too."

"But it's that other beating part that counts," he pushed with a jut of his chin.

And I said the same thing I'd been telling all of them.

"That's right."

Darkness rained from the sky, covering the earth in a quiet, stilled peace. Stars were tossed across the expanse, so thick out here in the middle of nowhere that it created a silvered haze that twisted through the heavens, like glittering vapor that swirled and coiled into a beauty unlike any other.

I glanced over at Hailey.

Well, all except for her beauty.

Hers was unrivaled.

It was the kind that kicked me in the gut and knocked me upside the head. The way this woman had infiltrated every fiber of my being.

Shifted it around.

Knitted it into something better.

She had drifted to sleep about ten miles back, which I was pretty sure had a whole ton to do with the fact that I kept her up 'til nearly dawn every night.

Sweet little Maddie had fallen asleep basically the second we'd strapped her into her seat, her day spent playing on the ranch, running and chasing and laughing.

I'd even taken her for a short horseback ride out on the land, Hailey at our side on her own horse, the three of us exploring.

We'd come back and shared the delicious barbecue dinner that Caleb and Paisley had prepared, and my sister had capped the night off with one of her chocolate cake concoctions that had nearly melted my mind it was so damned good.

But this was what really melted my mind.

Obliterated everything I thought I knew.

The two of them with me like this was exactly where they'd always belonged.

At my side.

My family.

The arrow of truth speared through me.

So fucking staggering I struggled to get the next breath into my lungs that felt like they'd just collapsed.

But it was the truth.

That's what they'd become.

My family.

My reason for breathing which was a complete mindfuck considering it hadn't been that long ago I'd been promising I'd never give myself to anyone.

Not when my past lurked like phantoms behind me. One misstep, and they'd catch up. That shady agreement I'd made that I'd carried, and here I was, breaking that oath that I'd made to myself.

That time stamp on my chest that was meant as a reminder of where I could never go.

But she was worth it.

She was worth it.

Didn't care what it cost, even though I was going to give it my all to end the mess I had myself in. To find a way to fully give myself to the two of them because they deserved all of me.

Not the twisted, mangled pieces that at any moment could completely splinter apart.

I made the last turn into Time River, and I pulled into the gas station off Manchester and stopped in front of a pump. There wasn't a soul around, that stilled quiet hovering.

Hailey stirred when I shut off the engine, and those crystalline eyes flickered open to look across at me, though she was clearly still out of it.

"Just going to fill up before we make the trek to Hendrickson. Go back to sleep."

She gave a small nod and curled back up, a contented sigh slipping from between her plush, full lips. I couldn't stop myself from reaching out and tracing them, though I saw no point in resisting when touching her was the only thing I wanted to do.

My spirit clutched.

God, what had she done to me?

Blowing out a sigh, I cracked open my door and pushed out, and I dug into my back pocket to get my wallet when a black car turned into the lot.

Its headlights were blinding as it wound around the pumps and pulled in by the curb near the air compressor.

A prickle of unease skittered across my flesh, lifting the hairs at the back of my neck into spikes.

I didn't know what it was, but I was instantly on guard, watching it in my periphery while I swiped my card, flipped the lid and unscrewed the gas cap, then situated the nozzle.

The car just sat there idling, while a rash of shivers rolled. I stuffed my hands into my jeans' pockets and leaned against my truck, all casual like, though I kept watch.

A minute later, the door to the car finally snapped open, so fucking slow.

Agitation blistered, and I straightened in the same second the bastard rose from his car.

Wearing gray slacks and a light blue polo and this expression on his face that claimed he had the right to be there.

Tall and thin, but Pruitt didn't vibrate with the kind of power Ryder did, and I was surer than ever that he wasn't the actual one who'd attacked me on Tuesday.

Still, rage thundered, a ferocious pounding that licked through my veins.

A firestorm.

An eruption.

I barely kept myself from storming across the space to snap his neck when I spat, "What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

That was right when a stir of energy blasted through the air, and the passenger side door of my truck swung open and Hailey flew out.

She rounded to the front of the truck so quickly I had no chance to stop her before she was halfway across the lot, though I did my damned best to get there.

I'd made it to her by the time she stopped midway, and I stood a foot behind her, ready to attack if this motherfucker even inched in her direction.

Hailey's hands clenched and unclenched, her breaths ragged, her horror palpable.

She angled his direction, her words shards of animosity and hate. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Pruitt? Did you follow us here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"You need to talk to me?" Her voice was half frenzied, an accusation and incredulity. "Here? At the gas station? Twenty minutes from my house?"

"You're never alone for me to find a better opportunity." He sneered it, glance cutting to me.

A growl got free of my chest. "Guess what, asshole, she isn't alone now, either."

The scrawny prick scoffed, lifting his chin, tossing his arrogance all over the place. "I'd advise you to stay out of this."

Scorn ripped up my throat, and I took a menacing step forward. "Yeah, well that's not going to fucking happen."

Hailey put a hand out toward me, asking for a minute, before she turned the full force of her revulsion on him. "I want to know how you knew I was here. Did you follow us all the way to my friend's house?"

"My daughter is in that truck."

It wasn't lost on me that the asshole didn't answer the question.

Derision whipped from Hailey's mouth. "Don't use her as an excuse. You and I both know she doesn't mean anything to you, and I will no longer let you use her or myself for your selfish purposes. Just leave, Pruitt, leave while you still can."

She lifted her chin in what was a clear warning.

A gauntlet thrown.

Questions and dread spiraled through my being. I wanted to demand that she tell me what the hell that meant. What she was holding over him. If it put her in danger. To trust me.

But this definitely wasn't the time or place to do it.

So I remained towering off to her side, leaving no question for this bastard what was going to happen to him if he even thought of trying to get to her.

"Don't make threats you can't keep, Hailey." He issued it like she was pathetic. One to be manipulated.

"You said the same thing when I told you I was leaving you." She lifted her head higher with the challenge, and damn it all, if I didn't want to give her a high-five and celebrate because my girl was fierce and strong and so goddamn brave, but it was clearly not the time for that, either.

Disdain filled his voice. "I chose to let you go to give you space. To give you time to come to your senses. You took it too far, Hailey."

"No. You are the one who took it too far, Pruitt." She tried to keep the trembling out of her voice. "You sent someone to attack Cody? I want to know. I want you to tell me the truth."

The sound he let go of was mocking. "If only I could take credit. Now get our daughter and get in the car before you regret it."

"You can be sure I regret it." Her words tremored. "I regret every moment I've ever spent with you. Every day. Every hour. Every second. You won't get one more."

The scumbag's jaw clenched, and I could feel his fury sizzle in the air. His eyes darted between her and me, his overinflated ego unable to accept that she was standing up to him.

I stepped closer and casually tossed an arm over her shoulders, even though I was shaking like a bitch, so goddamn close to cleaving apart. "That'd be your cue to get the fuck out of here. If you hadn't noticed, she doesn't want you any longer."

I raised my brows, taking him back to that day when I'd kissed the hell out of her.

A show that had changed everything.

Wrath quivered through his body, so violent I could feel it rupture the air. He warred like he was contemplating coming at me, though the asshole finally thought better of it and stepped back to jerk open his car door.

He stood on the inside of it, glowering at us, his jaw so tense I didn't know how it didn't crack. "I'm finished playing games, Hailey. This was your last warning."

He slipped into his car and slammed the door shut, and he left a trail of squealing tires as he sped across the lot and out onto the road.

I curled my arms around Hailey as we watched him go, holding her close while the night pulsed around us in hot, sticky coils.

His car roared as he flew down the street, and I held her like that until his taillights disappeared and the sound of his engine faded away.

It wasn't until then that Hailey sagged against me, fisting those sweet hands in my tee. "I'm so sorry." She whispered against the spot where time was stamped in the middle of my chest.

I pulled her even closer and murmured against the crown of her head. "You don't have a thing to be sorry for, Hailey. It's my honor to stand for you."