A crowd had gathered to watch the show.
Carson rested his hands on his knees, trying to breathe through the pain. Fuck. His ribs, his back, his head all throbbed. When he looked up, he saw three more guys rolling in the dirt and Cal and Charlie looming above them.
Then Casper took an elbow to the gut, which spurred him to tackle the guy and whale on him until Charlie tapped him on the shoulder.
“Anyone else?” Cal shouted, spinning in a circle.
“The McKays starting fights,” someone yelled from the back. “Big surprise.”
“And we always finish fights,” Charlie snapped back. “Come up here and say it to our face, coward.”
No one stepped forward.
“Anyone else wanna have a go at us? We’re ready.”
For a moment Carson thought the entire crowd might rush them. But then they slowly backed away.
“Not that it matters, but you wanna tell us what the f**k that was about?” Cal asked.
Carson bent down and picked up his hat. “I was walkin’ by Bob and he made a crack about the McKays. Couldn’t let it slide.”
Charlie said, “Dad is gonna rip into us when he hears about this.”
“Let him.” Casper sneered. “Wasn’t like we had a choice. He’d yell at us just as bad if he found out we let the number one son get a beatin’ and we didn’t step in to save him.”
“Fuck you, Casper,” Carson said. Even when Casper wasn’t being an ass**le, he somehow managed to turn into one.
“How bad you hurt this time?” Cal asked.
“I’m fine. I just need to walk it off.” Sleep it off would be better. But even in his boozed and beaten state Carson knew the second he closed his eyes, he’d see Carolyn’s face. The torment in her eyes when she noticed he had his arm around another woman. The way she seemed to shrink into herself when she believed he’d used her and was discarding her.
Rage roared inside him again. His fist might’ve connected with the metal hood of the car behind him if not for Cal lunging and knocking him sideways. “What the hell, Carse?”
“He’s drunk,” Casper said.
Not drunk enough. He didn’t know if there was enough booze in the world to numb the pain.
“Leave him alone,” Charlie said. “Let’s go back into the dance. See if any of the ladies wanna get with us.”
“Fine, but you ain’t drinkin’, pup.”
They disappeared.
Cal positioned himself across from Carson as they leaned against the doors of somebody’s cars. “You wanna tell me what’s really goin’ on?”
“I can help with that.”
Carson faced the guy, recognizing him as another one of Carolyn’s f**kin’ brothers. “If you’re gonna hit me, you’d better make sure you knock me the f**k out with the first shot. ’Cause I ain’t goin’ down easy.” Especially not for a West again.
“Yeah. I saw that.”
“Who’re you? Cal demanded.
“Thomas West. Carolyn’s brother.”
Cal snarled, “What the f**k do you want, West?”
“To talk to Carson.”
“You gonna talk to me like your brothers talked to me?”
Thomas stepped closer. “What’d they do?”
“Harland slammed me up against the barn and tried to choke me. Darren stopped by and said he’d drop a couple of diseased sheep into my cattle herd. Marshall said sparks from the railroad are known to start grass fires in prime grazin’ land. Stuart was the least creative but the most to the point. He said he’d beat me to death with a hammer if I ever came near Carolyn again.”
“Jesus.”
“When the hell did this happen?” Cal asked, dumbfounded.
“Last two days.” Carson reached for his flask, but remembering he’d left it in his truck, he dropped his hand. “Don’t bother warnin’ me off your sister. I’m done with her.”
Thomas roared and grabbed the front of Carson’s shirt. Then they were nose to nose. “Just like that? You walk—hell, you f**king ran away from my sister because they told you to?”
Carson pushed him back. “Shut up.”
“I saw what you did to her tonight. Acting like you were with someone else. I just hope she made it home okay because she was crying so damn hard—”
“I said shut up.” Carson stared at him, seething, thoughts of Carolyn driving into a ditch flashing in his brain.
“So it is true. What my dad has always said. The McKays are scared of the Wests.”
Cal got in Thomas’s face. “Bullshit.”
“There’s your proof.” Thomas pointed to Carson. “Your brother is running scared. Being a jackass to my sister, breaking her heart because that’s what my older brothers want. What about what you want?” He gave Carson a sneering once-over. “I saw you beat the crap out of five guys tonight, McKay. Because you thought some guy insulted you. But you’re just gonna lay down like a whipped dog for my brothers after they gave you the ultimate insult? They told you that you aren’t good enough for Carolyn? So you’re going to prove it? You won’t take them on and fight for my sister?”
“Why do you care? I thought you’d be happy. Ain’t you the one tryin’ to get her to move to Denver or Chicago instead of bein’ stuck livin’ here?”
“I never wanted to make that decision for her; I just made sure she knew she had options.”
“So I’m an option?”
Thomas stared at him. “You were.”
Fuck this “were” shit.
“You screwed up bad tonight,” Thomas said. “You hurt her. I wanted to bust your balls for that alone. But I’m not like my brothers. Beating the crap out of you and threatening you…that’s not what Carolyn would want. And I’m only doing this for her.”
“Doin’ what?”
“Helping you. And before you get that ‘fuck you I don’t need your help, you piece of shit West’ look, listen up: you do need my help. You want to be with her, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Prove it. You’ll have to grovel, bare your heart and soul and all that embarrassing, romantic crap women love, and f**king mean it for her to even talk to you. Words can only go so far.”
Probably not a good idea to say that getting her naked would be the best way to prove it.
Cal said, “So he’s supposed to march up to your front door and say, ‘Fuck you all, I don’t give a shit what threats you made or what you think, I’m takin’ Carolyn out on a date and you’d better get used to seein’ me around’?”