Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Stop his beating heart.
I was going to end him.
22
EMMA
I knew he’d rescue me.
No man had ever defended my honor before, but the second that drunk guy blocked my way, I’d known Johnny would show up and fix it.
What I hadn’t known–but maybe should have–was how scary he’d look while doing it. He was mad. His eyes had a crazy glint, his teeth were bared, and he hadn’t stopped to see if I was okay after he threw the guy.
“You don’t fucking touch her,” he growled, even though the guy was ten feet away from me now. Ten feet.
I was rooted to the spot. Stunned. A little freaked out, but I was trying to process what I was seeing. Johnny going completely ape shit.
He stalked after him, who was scrambling up on the other side of the gated area that housed the mechanical bull.
“Johnny, no! Stop him,” I heard one of the ranch guys yell.
That was my clue-in. What reminded me of his story with his sister–how he said he’d taken things too far. I also remembered the grief he had over what he’d done.
I needed to stop him before he did something he regretted again. I didn’t like a drunk guy hitting on me, crowding me, and not grasping the word no, but I was in a public space. The girls were there. So were the Wolf Ranch guys. Cody, the bar owner, too. A roomful of non-drunk, not-jerky guys to help. I could’ve screamed. I’d been a little angry and a little scared, but I hadn’t really been in danger.
Except it didn’t seem like Johnny saw it that way.
Clint shoved his way forward. The other ranch guys were all pushing through the growing crowd, too.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Willow came up to me and eyed me closely.
I shook my head and followed Johnny, also trying to push my way through the close-knit crowd to get to him.
Was there going to be a brawl? The drunk guy’s friends were shouting now, and one of them threw a punch at Johnny. I swear to God, it bounced right off his muscled abs like he hadn’t felt a thing. He just kept stalking toward my attacker. The guy had picked himself up from the floor, but he was staggering, like he didn’t know what had happened.
Johnny leaped through the air–more than five feet–and tackled the guy again. They both went down to the floor, rolling.
Colton and Clint finally caught up. Johnny drew his arm back to punch the guy, but before he could swing, his friends hauled him off.
“Get him back. Get him out of here.” Rob snapped. He was right behind the other guys.
I didn’t like the way they were strong-arming Johnny. I knew they were his friends and were doing it for his own good, but I didn’t like that he had to struggle against their hold.
“He hurt her,” Johnny snarled. “He was going to–”
I threw myself in front of him, my hands on his chiseled chest. “I’m okay.” I tried to catch his eyes. They looked wild, the irises glinting almost yellow instead of brown, and his teeth were clenched.
“Johnny,” I said again, this time more forcefully.
His gaze jerked to mine.
I reached for his face and held it between my palms. His skin was hot. Sweaty. “Johnny, I’m not hurt. You stopped him. It’s okay.”
He went still. “Lyssa?”
I never hated hearing my sister’s name on his lips more. I really wanted it to be me he was looking at with one part desperation, one part relief.
“You lost it, kid. You just caused a world of problems,” Rob said sharply. “Instead of looking after your m–female, you were out for blood.”
I wanted to tell Rob to shut up. To stop lecturing Johnny.
But it was okay because Johnny only had eyes for me. “Fuck, Lyssa. I’m sorry.”
His buddies released him, no doubt realizing he was back in control. Beyond the tight circle they made, the drunk guy and his friends were still trying to fight, but the Wolf Ranch guys ignored them.
Johnny swung me up into his arms, lifting me into a honeymoon carry.
“Yeah, get her out of here,” Rob said.
Johnny was already moving, like he needed to get me out of there before the place exploded. “Lyssa…I–I lost control again. I left you standing there.”
“You have me now,” I murmured.
The crowd parted for us, whispering and watching. Some slapped Johnny on the back, some called him asshole and other names. He ignored them all and carried me outside and directly to his truck. There, he set me down by the passenger door. “Lyssa…” He stroked his hands down my arms then held the one the guy had grabbed and examined the finger marks he had left.
His face turned murderous again and an eerie growl came from his throat.
“I’m okay,” I said firmly.