Page 81 of Double Dare
“Storms fucking with the cell service, but I think she’s at her place with Freya. Wants us to come.”
Hardin starts for the door, not even saying thank you. What a fucking dipshit. I grab his arm to stop him and narrowly avoid a random punch he throws. “Let me fucking go, Kade.”
“Just slow the fuck down, Hardin. We’ll get Jed and go together. We’re gonna get stuck there for a few days with this storm, so we have to make sure we have everything we need. Stop being a spaz.”
Hardin groans so loud and so long he draws the attention of a few guests. I roll my damn eyes at his dramatics, and the guests all smile like they’re in on some joke I said.
“Kade, I’m losing my mind a bit right now, okay? I’m going. I just need to go.”
“Alright, shit. I’m coming with you. I don’t trust your ass to drive right now.” I look at Amy, one of the front desk staff. “You okay if I go?”
“Yep!”
“Don’t drive home if it gets shit. You can stay at the house or in one of the lodges, yeah?”
“Your dad already offered, thanks. Have a good night.”
“You too.” I head outside with yet another panicked brother. New Year’s is in a few days, and I’m hoping all this stress stays in this year and doesn’t come into the next.
After hitting a few stores to stock up on supplies while Hardin bitched the whole time, we find Jed at his gym. But things aren’t going to plan.
The snow is already coming down like crazy, and through the windshield, I see Jed locking the door of his gym, but he’s getting harassed by a group of guys.
“Fuck, that’s Isaac.” Hardin reaches for the handle.
“Freya’s brother?” I ask, turning the truck off.
Hardin is already out and on his way over, so I follow him, ready to step in if they need it. I don’t even know what’s going on, but Isaac has three buddies with him, and it looks like they’re giving Jed a hard time.
“What the fuck, Isaac?” Hardin shouts. “What are you doing here?”
Isaac turns on Hardin, clearly pissed off and willing to do something about it. “What did you do to my sister?” Isaac marches toward Hardin, grabbing the front of his coat. “What the fuck did you do to her?”
Jed and I close in, ready to have Hardin’s back if he needs it. Jed looks at me and I shrug because I still have no idea what is going on with Har and Frey. Hardin isn’t much of a scrapper, but he can hold his own if he needs to. Not against four guys bigger than him, so I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.
“She’s fine, man. Just calm down.” Hardin tries to shove Isaac away.
Worst thing to do is to tell someone who is not calm to be calm. “She’s been crying for two days!” Isaac snaps. “Did you hurt her?”
“I’d never hurt her,” Hardin hisses through his teeth. “She’ll talk to you when she’s ready. Fuck.”
“If you laid a damn finger on her, I’ll kill you, Dare,” Isaac says. “I swear to God.”
“I’d never fucking hurt her!” he screams, losing his temper.
“Back off, Isaac. Let him talk,” Jed says, trying to keep the peace.
“You know he’d never lay a finger on Freya,” I add because it’s the truth. Hardin is a lover, not a fighter, and he has way too much respect for Freya to harm her like that. Plus, Freya is tougher than he is.
“You did something, you fucking prick!” Isaac accuses. “Tell me!”
Hardin tries to shove Isaac away. “Fuck you. It’s not my fault she hasn’t talked to you. Maybe if you were a decent prick instead of an asshole brother, she’d have come to you by now.”
Bad move.
Isaac punches Hardin right in the face, and all hell breaks loose. We try to pull Hardin away so Isaac can calm down, but his buddies step in. A fucking street brawl in front of Jed’s gym during the start of an epic storm wasn’t how I planned my afternoon, but here we are. Isaac gets another blow in against Hardin, and then Hardin goes apeshit. Jed’s fighting off two friends, and I’m trying to knock this asshole out so I can pull Hardin away. Fighting Freya’s brother isn’t going to be good for whatever relationship those two have, and I don’t want this adding stress on top of the stress they’ve already got. I get hit in the mouth, blood spilling from inside my cheek, and then Isaac throws Hardin to the ground.
Jed knocks a guy out and I land a punch to this guy’s stomach. I kick him in the ribs while he’s down, and then the two of us are rushing Hardin, pulling him back and stepping between him and Isaac.