Vanishing Dreams: Vanishing Dreams (Devil's Bend #2) (9 page)

Not the case here. No fucking way.

Without preamble, Dalton leaned down to the guy and gripped him by the
front of his shirt, yanking him hard enough that he came up out of his seat.

“What the fuck?” one of the others shouted as he jumped to his feet.

“If I ever hear you say anything even remotely close to what just
spewed out of your nasty fucking mouth, I will beat you so bad your own momma
won’t recognize you. Are we clear?”

The guy glared back at him, and Dalton returned the sneer, daring the
bastard to say something else. He was hanging by a thread, and he just needed a
little tug before he went over the edge.

“Are we clear?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” the guy said, none too kindly.

Dalton released him with a shove, sending him back to his seat. He made
eye contact with each man at that table, memorizing their faces. This wasn’t
over, he knew that much. Small-town cowboys were filled with testosterone, and
when they got their asses handed to them in front of anyone, chances were they
were going to retaliate.

Not wanting to spend another second in their company, Dalton headed
back to the bar. That was when he noticed Jack staring at him.
Yeah, buddy,
I got your back
, Dalton thought to himself.

Jack might think he was safely secluded in that little closet he’d kept
himself holed up in all his life, but Dalton knew better. From the first time
they’d been introduced, Dalton got the impression Jack was hiding something. It
hadn’t taken him long to pick up on it, either. With the sheer number of women
who hit on Jack night after night, Jack never taking a single one of them home,
Dalton had figured either he was planning to become a monk or he was gay. And
when he’d seen Jack eyeing a few of the cowboys who’d come into the bar, Dalton
figured it was safe to assume the latter.

The guy was clearly in some serious emotional pain, keeping his secret
for so long. And now Dalton understood why. Living in a small town meant
dealing with bigots on an entirely different level. Due to the population being
so small, those assholes often filled the majority, and rather than stand up
for what people believed in, they gave in, whether they actually had an opinion
or not.

Well, Dalton had never been part of the in crowd, he’d never given in
to peer pressure, and he damn sure wasn’t going to start now.

“Can I get another beer?” Dalton asked Jack, taking his seat at the bar
once more.

If he had to guess, the night was going to get really interesting.

Good thing he didn’t have anything better to do.

Katie fell into bed later that night too exhausted to think. For having
woken up to such an incredible morning, the rest of the day had gone to shit,
which was why she found herself crawling into bed at ten rather than staying up
late to do her homework. For the first time in a long time, she just didn’t
give a shit.

She was tired.

And she wanted to spend a little time reliving the most wonderful night
of her entire life. The night she’d spent in Dalton’s arms.

Part of her wished she could just throw on some clothes and show back
up at his place, surprising him. But she knew she couldn’t. If she had any
chance of putting distance between them, she needed to start now. With
Christmas rolling up on them sooner than she expected, she had her chance to put
some time and space between them. He was going to his parents’ house in
Georgia, and she had her own things to deal with. Maybe she could get some
extra hours in at work. Heaven knew she needed it.

Just when she was drifting off, forcing her thoughts back to Dalton and
not on the endless responsibilities that she had, her cell phone chirped.

A smile curled the corners of her mouth before she even looked at the
screen. There was only one person it could be.

What she saw next had her sitting up in bed abruptly.

Get down to the bar. Urgent.

The text wasn’t from Dalton but rather from Tessa. Jumping out of bed,
she quickly got dressed, pulling on the clothes she’d discarded after taking a
shower earlier in the day. She pulled a hoodie over her head and stopped at
Sarah’s door on her way out. Knocking softly, she waited for Sarah to answer.
When she did, she pushed open the door. “I gotta run down to the bar.
Something’s wrong.”

Sarah’s eyes widened, but she didn’t ask for any details. “Okay. I’ll
be here.”

Katie nodded and then grabbed her purse and her keys before running out
the door, barely taking the time to lock it behind her.

Fifteen minutes later, Katie was pulling up to the bar, noticing the
parking lot was empty. It wasn’t unusual for The Rusty Nail to have fewer
people on a Sunday, but this was a little ridiculous.

She heard the sound of the music blaring before she opened the front
door, and when she stepped inside, she realized just why no one was there.

The place was in shambles, tables turned over, chairs askew, glass
broken all over the floor, and beer spilled everywhere.

“What happened?” she asked when she saw Tessa using a broom and a
dustpan to clean up some of the broken bottles near the bar.

“Some assholes attacked Jack and Dalton.”

“Oh, my God. Are they okay?”

Tessa nodded her head toward the stairs that led to the office on the
second floor.

Not knowing just what she was supposed to do, Katie made her way around
the bar, placing her purse on the shelf and grabbing a rag. She continued to
glance over at the stairs, but she managed to keep herself from running over
there.

“Go check on him,” Tessa insisted. “I’m supposed to be out on a date,
but since that didn’t happen, I can manage this. I didn’t call you down here to
help clean up. He was asking for you.”

Katie’s heart leapt into her throat, and she tried to swallow around
it.

“Jack’s out back with Cooper. Dalton’s alone.”

Katie nodded in understanding and then tossed the rag on the bar before
heading to the back. They’d had plenty of fights break out at the bar, but
she’d never seen this much damage done. She didn’t know what had prompted this,
but from the looks of the place, she had no idea what to expect from Dalton.

Rather than walking in, Katie rapped her knuckles on the door, waiting
for Dalton to invite her in. A second later, his gruff voice instructed her to
come in, so she did.

“Oh, crap,” she said on an exhale when she saw Dalton sitting on the
couch, holding an ice pack to his eye.

“You should see the other guys,” Dalton said with a smirk. His lip was
split, his eye swollen, and there was blood on his shirt.

“What happened?” she asked, walking in and closing the door behind her.

“Some fucking bigot was talkin’ shit. Apparently, he didn’t like me
reprimanding him. Rather than take me on like a man, he and one of his friends
jumped me from behind. The other two took on Jack. They’ll probably need to go
to the hospital.”

Holy crap. Katie tried to imagine what the other guys looked like as
she lowered herself to the couch beside Dalton, studying every mark on his too
handsome face. Funny how he could still be so beautiful even when he was all
dinged up.

“I’m gonna be fine, darlin’,” Dalton told her, reaching out and taking
her hand.

“Then why did you need me down here?”

Dalton’s eyebrows scrunched down as though he were trying to translate
her statement into English. When it was obvious he didn’t know what she was
talking about, she clarified. “Tessa texted me. Told me to come down here. Just
a minute ago, she told me you were asking for me.”

“I think that was just Tessa interferin’,” he told her with a tilt of
his lips. “But I’m glad you’re here.”

Katie nodded, not sure what to think. Why would Tessa do that? Why
would Tessa call her in like that? Granted, she was glad she had, because
seeing Dalton, Katie wasn’t sure he needed to be left alone.

“What prompted the argument?” Katie asked, squeezing Dalton’s hand when
he tightened his grip on hers.

He leaned his head back against the cushions and closed his eyes before
he spoke. “They were talkin’ shit.”

“About you?”

“Nope,” he said simply.

“I’m not sure I understand what’s goin’ on here, Dalton.”

He peered at her through one eye, smiling. “You don’t need to get in
the middle of this.”

Clearly, she wasn’t going to get any details from him, which meant she
would have to talk to Jack. Watching him for a moment, Katie decided he’d be
fine alone for a few minutes. “Stay here,” she told Dalton. “I’m gonna get you
more ice.”

Dalton nodded, his eyes closing once again.

Shutting the door softly behind her, Katie went back downstairs and
down the narrow hallway that led to the back exit. She stepped outside to find
Cooper talking to a furious-looking Jack. She’d seen Tessa’s brother pissed
before, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him like this. Whatever had
happened, it was clear that Jack was taking it personally.

“You okay?” Katie asked Jack as she approached him slowly.

“Never better,” he grumbled.

“Hey,” Cooper greeted, rolling his eyes at Jack. “Tessa call you?”

“Yeah,” Katie replied. “Texted me. Told me to come down.”

Cooper nodded, glancing back at Jack briefly. “He’s gonna be fine. Once
he calms down. You check on Dalton?”

“Yeah. I need to get him more ice for his face.”

“He okay?” Jack asked, looking at her for the first time.

“Seems to be,” she told him honestly. His
never better
statement
from earlier didn’t qualify as a legitimate answer as far as she was concerned,
so she repeated her question. “How ’bout you?”

“Fine,” Jack retorted. “Thanks for comin’ down.”

Katie nodded, watching both men closely. They’d obviously been talking
about something when she’d interrupted, and neither of them were going to tell
her what was really going on, so she decided to leave them be. “I’ll be inside
helping Tessa if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Cooper said as she opened the door and stepped back into the
bar.

She found Tessa continuing to sweep things up, putting chairs back on
all four legs. Katie figured Dalton could wait a few minutes, so she helped her
boss, grabbing a mop and a bucket. For the next hour, Katie followed Tessa
around, mopping where Tessa had just swept, until finally the place looked
relatively in order.

“What’s goin’ on, Tessa?” Katie asked as she was putting the mop back
in its proper place, following Tessa into the storeroom.

“Dumbass people,” she mumbled.

Just when Tessa would’ve passed her to go back into the other room,
Katie stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Why won’t anyone tell me what
happened?”

Tessa stopped, looking Katie directly in the eye for a brief moment
before she finally answered. “Some assholes were talkin’ shit. Threatenin’ to
beat some guy for being gay.”

Katie’s mouth opened and her hand came up to cover it. “Oh, my God.
That’s awful.”

“Yeah, well…” Tessa began, letting the sentence drift off.

“What?” Katie asked, knowing there was more to the story.

“Dalton threatened the guy and he retaliated.”

That made sense. That was usually how fights broke out around there.
But she knew there was something that Tessa
wasn’t
telling her, so she
waited for her to continue.

Tessa sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling. “They were talkin’
about Jack.”

“What?” Katie exclaimed, surprised by her own response.

“Yeah. I don’t think they were intentionally targeting him, but turns
out they hit a sore spot.”

“Is Jack…?” Katie kept her voice low.

“I’ve suspected it for a while, but he’s never openly admitted it,
Katie. Please don’t say anything.”

“I wouldn’t. Oh, my God. Why would someone do that?”

“No idea. Stupid people, I guess.”

“Is he gonna be okay?” Katie asked.

“I’m sure he will,” Tessa told her. “My baby brother doesn’t let much
get him down.”

No, he didn’t. Katie knew him well enough to know that Jack was
resilient. Considering all the shit he’d gone through in his life, he would
easily bounce back from this. But she had to wonder whether his secret would
now be out. And worse, would those guys who’d targeted them tonight return?

“Thanks for helpin’ me clean up,” Tessa said, touching Katie’s hand
briefly.

“Sure. Anytime. I’m gonna check on Dalton.”

Tessa nodded and left the room while Katie followed her to the bar,
remembering the ice she’d promised him earlier. After scooping some into a
plastic bag, she returned to the office where Dalton was resting. She didn’t
bother to knock on the door, instead opening it to find Dalton staring up at
the ceiling.

“How’re you doin’?” she asked, once again closing the door behind her.

“Better. Thanks for comin’ down here.”

Katie held out the ice bag for Dalton to take. He took it from her hand
and set it on the arm of the couch before holding up his hand to her. When she
reached for him, he pulled her down beside him, wrapping his arm around her.

“This doesn’t usually happen,” he explained.

Katie smiled. “If you think I’m upset that you beat up some asshole,
you’re wrong.”

“Then what are you upset about?” he asked.

“It just freaks me out to see you like this,” she told him truthfully.

Katie looked up at him, and he turned his head so their eyes met. He
leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead briefly. “I’m sorry.”

She had no idea what he was apologizing for, but Katie didn’t respond.
She couldn’t. Because if she did, she would probably blurt out that she loved
him, and that was the last thing she needed to tell him. She was supposed to be
putting space between them, not getting closer.

Seemed the universe wasn’t onboard with her plan just yet.

She hoped like hell that it would get there soon, because Katie wasn’t
sure how long she’d be able to convince herself that walking away from him was
the right thing to do.