Cowgirl Up (36 page)

Harley took his time to line up each shot with precision and ran the table sinking the rest of the balls to take game one.

“Great job,” she told him, delivering a high five while the losers racked the balls for the next game.

“Thanks,” Harley said as he drained his PBR.

“You ready for a fresh one?”

“Not just yet, maybe after this game,” he said.

Coal broke the next rack and sank two balls before missing a cut shot. As she walked back to Harley, she noted the song had ended and Gene and the woman were walking back to the table. But instead of following Gene, the woman dropped down in Stormy’s lap. “Could be trouble brewing,” she whispered to Harley.

†

“Welcome back,” Mary Leah said.

“This is Lana,” Gene said as he took his seat.

“Is everyone ready for a fresh round?” Lucas asked.

“Sure,” Del said. “Come on I’ll help you.”

“What do you drink, Lana?” Lucas asked.

“I’ll take a shot of Patrón,” she said with a wink, and then turned back to Stormy, playing in her hair. “So why haven’t you called me?” she said in a pouty voice.

“Lana, you knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t call you.”

“I know you’re only a one-night stand woman, but I hoped you’d be different with me,” she said, placing a kiss on Stormy’s cheek.

She grasped Lana’s hands, removing them from her hair. “If you’d like a chair to join us, I’m sure Gene can find one,” she said rather coolly, embarrassed by Lana’s flirtations in front of Del. She had finally found someone special and she’d be damned if she’d screw it up tonight.

Lana stepped off her lap and followed Stormy’s eyes to the bar where Lucas and Del were ordering their drinks. “So is that your newest woman?” Lana purred.

“I hope she will be,” Stormy answered honestly.

“I’ve never seen her before. Have you already slept through the rest of the women in town?”

Mary Leah could see the anger rise in Stormy. “What is it you do in town, Lana?” she asked.

Lana barely glanced at Mary Leah, refusing to take her attention from Stormy. Stormy had been the best romp in bed she’d had since she hit town almost a year ago. “I work at the bank as a teller.”

“That must be interesting work,” Mary Leah said.

“Not near as interesting as Stormy,” she said as she reached over to play in her hair.

Stormy again caught her hands. “You can stop now, Lana, I’m not interested,” she said as Del returned to witness the exchange.

†

Coal wasn’t the only one watching the exchange between Stormy and the Latina woman. Ronnie was also playing close attention, his knuckles turning white from the grip on his cue. He was due to follow Coal, and when she missed her shot, his anger was evident in his shot. He struck the cue ball so strong it flew off the table, further infuriating him.

Harley quickly moved in to run the table and end the game, giving them the win in the tournament. Harley reached out to offer his hand to Ronnie, but his focus was on Lana flirting with Stormy. He stormed past them to rush to the table with Don, Coal, and Harley hot on his heels.

†

Stormy looked up to see Ronnie barreling through the room toward them and her heart caught in her throat. She had worked with the big man and he could be a brute when angered. He surely looked very angry now.

Lana also looked up to see Ronnie rushing toward them. She blanched and leaned closer to Stormy. “Oh shit, this isn’t going to end well,” she said.

When Ronnie reached the table, he looked at Lana then turned his glare toward Stormy. “What the hell are you doing with my woman?” he sneered between clenched teeth.

“Nothing, she joined our table on her own,” she growled back. “She was not invited.”

Lana made the worst possible comment she could have made. “Well, you didn’t turn me away last time.”

The realization of Lana’s words struck deep into Ronnie’s brain. “You slept with this trailer trash?” he yelled.

Stupidly Lana looked up at him and smiled. “She’s more of a man than you are.”

“Oh, dear Lord,” Coal said as she caught up to Ronnie. She saw the panicked look on Stormy’s face as Lana incited Ronnie to attack.

“I think that’s enough,” Coal said as she stood beside Ronnie. “Will you take your woman and leave our party?”

Ronnie tore his eyes away from Lana and whipped his head around to glare at Coal. “Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?”

“Someone who just wants to drink a few beers with her friends without any trouble,” she answered.

“Aren’t you the dyke who kicked out Bubba Brewster’s teeth?”

“Yeah, Bubba was being stupid, and he met my boot heel up close and personal, but we’ve worked through that incident.”

“Well, I ain’t Bubba, and I can’t stand carpet munchers who prey on the women of this town, especially this piece of trash. It’s not surprising she ended up with the likes of y’all.”

“Wait just a damned minute,” Gene said as he jumped out of his seat.

“Relax, Gene, I’ve got this,” she said. “Please just take the woman and be off.”

“There’s no way in hell you are telling me what to do,” Ronnie said, taking a swing at Coal.

She easily dodged the strike and caught Ronnie’s arm, wrenching it behind his back.

“Take it outside,” the bouncer yelled from the door.

“Do you really want to continue this?” she asked through gritted teeth. Her patience was gone and if the brute wanted an ass kicking, she would gladly deliver.

Ronnie saw the glare of anger in her dark eyes and for a second a flash of fear crossed his face. He was doomed. A woman had called him out. Ridicule and humiliation would haunt him forever if he didn’t rise to her challenge.

“Yeah, bitch, I do. This one obviously is used goods, but I’d love to see you groveling at my feet,” he sneered.

“That’ll never happen, but let’s go,” she said and pushed him toward the door, finally releasing her hold on his arm.

“You don’t have to do this,” Stormy said as she rose to stand beside her.

“Yes, Stormy, I do. No one treats my family like that.”

“Let me fight him then,” Gene said.

She smiled at Gene. He had beefed up, but strength to strength, Ronnie still had him by an easy fifty pounds. “I got this, but keep an eye on his buddy Don for me.”

“Will do,” Gene said as his chest swelled with pride.

Her eyes fell on Mary Leah. “I’m sorry for spoiling your night out.”

Mary Leah smiled. “I’m getting used to your brawling, but please be careful.”

“Always.” Coal grinned and stalked toward the door, Gene hot on her heels.

“Drink up, folks, this night is over,” Harley said.

The group pushed back from the table and headed for the door with a small group of onlookers.

“I hope you’re pleased with yourself,” Stormy growled at Lana.

“You really should have called me,” Lana said.

“You can forget that ever happening,” she said. She took Del’s arm and left the bar.

†

The cooling night air enveloped Coal as she stepped from the bar and the pounding beat of country music faded, replaced by the sound of crickets. She looked to her left to see Ronnie standing in an open area of the parking lot, Don right beside him. She stepped off the sidewalk and the gravel crunched under her boots.

“You sure about this,” Gene whispered.

“Have some faith,” she said.

The crowd gathered in a circle around them as Coal stepped onto the gravel and approached Ronnie. Stormy placed her hand on Mary Leah’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry about this.”

Mary Leah turned to face her. “This isn’t your fault. You didn’t invite her to join us. Coal can handle herself, so don’t worry.”

“I just hope she doesn’t hurt him too bad,” Harley said as he rocked on his heels.

“I’m beginning to wonder if I should change fields and go into dentistry,” Del surprised them.

“Oh, that’s priceless,” Mary Leah said with a chuckle.

†

She blocked out all sound and focused on Ronnie as he approached her, fire burning in his eyes.
 

The crowd watched as Ronnie growled and rushed at Coal. She sidestepped his path. His momentum prevented him from changing direction and her knee drove into his midsection. Her elbow slammed between his shoulder blades as he bent over attempting to regain his breath. Ronnie dropped to his knees in the gravel, gasping for air.

She spun to face him, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she watched him slowly regain his feet. Ronnie shook his head and approached her, slowly this time, as he measured Coal’s strength. He expected a punch from her, surprised when her boot landed a kick to his left jaw. He staggered to the side barely keeping his footing in the shifting gravel.

“Enough?” she asked.

His answer came in the form of a roar as he punched wildly, failing to make contact with Coal. Her quickness allowed her to nimbly step out of his reach, further infuriating Ronnie who crashed into a parked truck.

He wheeled again with surprising speed and finally landed a glancing blow to her left eye. She grinned at him and landed a punch to his jaw, her knuckles raking painfully against his bared teeth. She followed the punch with a powerful kick to the side of his head and Ronnie went down to the ground. He clawed his way back to his feet and rushed directly into the path of another kick. Ronnie went down for the final time.

Coal turned to Mary Leah. “Take us home, please,” she said and walked away from Ronnie. Don had rushed to his side and was attempting to rouse his friend.

Don looked up at her with vengeance in his glare.

“Don’t even think about it,” Gene said as he filled the path between Don and Coal.

“This ain’t over,” Don snarled.

“Oh, I think it’s plenty over for now,” Gene said and turned to join his family.

†

Once in the car and on their way back home, Del turned to Coal. “How’s your hand?”

“It’ll be fine, just some skinned knuckles.”

“The boys are making a stop for beer and wanted to know if we’ll join them for a party of our own back home,” Mary Leah said.

“I hope you told them yes,” Coal said with a grin. “We didn’t get our buzz on.”

“I am so sorry about that drama,” Stormy said.

“Will you stop? What happened was not your fault,” Coal said.

“Coal’s right. Ronnie was begging to have his butt kicked,” Del added.

“I think I’m done with the Stockyard,” Coal said. “It’s too easy to get into a brawl.”

“Coal mentioned finding a gay bar in Austin next weekend. Would you enjoy that?” Stormy asked Del.

“That sounds like fun. Maybe we could have a good time without being harassed.”

“Let’s do it then,” Mary Leah said.

Coal checked the time. “I wonder if Melissa is still awake.”