Read Longing For Langston (Mavericks of Meeteetse, Novella Book 1: Brody & Liv) Page 3

Brody stumbled out the door and into the parking lot with his brother on his heels. Rod shoved him with each step, ushering him farther from the bar until they reached Brody’s vehicle.

  “You want to explain what the hell happened in there?”

  Brody finally pushed back and spun to face the side of his truck. He leaned his forearms on the bed and caught his breath. He couldn’t blame his brother for throwing him out of the Wagon Wheel. He knew Rod only wanted what was best for him and didn’t want to see him in trouble with the law.

  On the flip side, he was mad as hell at him for it. Rod had made a complete fool out of him in front of everyone, not to mention that dickhead, Carlton. He recalled those who remembered his days of being a nuisance teen and how disappointed they looked at him now. He hated that the folks of Meeteetse still saw him that way, but he was only trying to do what was right. Surely, they’d agree that no woman should be treated that way. Maybe they hadn’t seen what happened to her. Maybe they thought he was trying to start trouble again.

  “Well?” Rod asked, smacking Brody upside the head.

  Brody withdrew his head and caught Rod’s wrist, throwing his brother’s hand back at him. “I was trying to get the guy to apologize to Liv. He refused. He mouthed off. I got mad.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Same old story, Brody. When are you going to learn that you can’t fix everything with your fists?”

  “You saw him, Rod. There’s no talking to guys like him.”

  “And there’s no talking to guys like you either. All you want to do is pound someone in the ground. Over what? A girl you’ve got the hots for but don’t have the guts to tell her?”

  Brody quickly scanned the parking lot and the front porch of the bar for Liv, hoping she wasn’t around to hear their conversation. “Will you shut your mouth, Rod? She can’t know how I feel.”

  “Why? Why won’t you tell her? I don’t get it.”

  “It’s not for you to understand. It’s how I feel. It’s my prerogative. Not yours.”

  Rod removed his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his hair, pacing between the vehicles. “That may be so, Brody, but you’ve got to pull it together. If you don’t have the balls to make a move on Olivia, then you can’t get mad at every dude who does.”

  “The douchebag slapped her on the ass and practically shoved his goddamn hand between her legs, Rod!”

  “Tell me you haven’t thought about doing the same thing. Fuck, every red-blooded male in Meeteetse wants to. Including me.”

  Brody launched himself at Rod, grabbing his brother by the shirt. “Don’t talk like that about Liv.”

  Rod chuckled in Brody’s face. “See? There you go again. Defending her as if she’s yours. Protecting her like you’re her knight in shining armor.” Rod broke away from his brother’s hold and poked his chest. “What are you going to do when she falls in love with someone one day? Hmm? What are you going to do when that someone isn’t you? You going to kick his ass? Bloody his nose? Go to jail—again? ’Cause that’s what’s going to happen. One of these days you’re going to wind up back in jail because of your temper. And this time it’ll be because you messed with the wrong guy.” Rod pointed toward the bar. “Like that guy in there who has connections. Who has weight behind his daddy’s name, who can get charges to stick. Is that what you want?”

  “No. But I’d do it. For her.”

  Rod scoffed. “You’d do time for her?”

  Brody smirked at his brother, knowing he was only trying to get to him. “I’m not afraid, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “You’re not afraid because there’s always been someone to save your ass. Always been someone in Meeteetse who knows and pities Mama for the hell she’s been through since Daddy died. Always been someone who’ll come to your rescue because they’re hoping maybe this time you’ll change.”

  Brody looked out at the distant Absaroka Mountains. The wide, majestic, snow-capped range reminded him of the times he and his father went fishing in the Greybull River. A time when he remembered being happy. A time when there wasn’t such a thing as a huge chasm within his family.

  Since his father’s passing, Rod had stepped in to fill the void and take care of things as the man of the household, including watching out for Brody. He knew Rod made it his responsibility to keep him on the straight and narrow.

  “You don’t have to watch out for me anymore. I’m a grown man.”

  “Well, I’ve got news for you, Brody. One of these days, I’m not going to be around to save your ass. Or maybe one day…I decide you’re not worth saving.”

  Rod could’ve hacked him with a chainsaw and it would’ve hurt less. The wound his hurtful words left behind gaped open. His legs trembled. Weak and shaking, he stood there bleeding. Rod might not have said the words, but Brody knew he meant he would be done being his brother.

  Olivia called Brody’s name, and, until that moment, he’d had no idea she had stepped outside. Her pace quickened once she located him in the gravel lot with Rod. Her face was full of concern and questions that he wasn’t ready to address. He drew in a much-needed breath and cleared his foggy brain. He needed to get away. To be alone with his thoughts. To distance himself from the brother who cast a shadow too large for Brody to be seen.

  Without so much as a good-bye, Brody ducked around his truck and climbed inside. Unable to face her, he turned the key. From his peripheral vision, she laid her palms on his passenger-side window and rapped on it.

  “Where are you going?”

  Without even glancing her way, Brody knew there was panic in her eyes as she looked to his brother for answers.

  “Rod, where’s Brody going?”

  Rod pulled her out of harm’s way as Brody revved the engine. “He’s all right. He just needs some space.”

  Brody’s jaw hurt from grinding his teeth so hard. He threw the shifter into drive and pulled out, leaving a wake of dust behind him.