Riley’s Downfall(44)

Damn, this was fun.

“Yep.”

There was a long pause on the other end, and Chauncey just leaned against his truck, snickering to himself as he waited Riley out.

“Well, hurry back with my gloves and drive extra careful.”

“Sure, I wouldn’t want your gloves harmed in any way.” Chauncey couldn’t hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing, placing his free hand on his knee as he bent over, feeling tears stream down his face.

“You bastard. Wait until you get back here. I’m going to kick your ass.”

Chauncey stood, wiping at the tears, and then sobered when he saw Sterling pointing up into a very, very large man’s face, yelling at the guy.

“Oh, shit!”

“What!”

“Gotta go save your mate from getting pounded into the ground.”

“Chauncey!”

Chauncey tucked his phone into his pocket, racing toward the barbershop. Sterling looked pissed as hell, and the man standing in front of him looked downright confused.

Oh, hell. It was one of the new shifters, Kenway. The man was fucking bigger than Chauncey. Any other time Chauncey would welcome the challenge. But with his coordination being so off, he might swing at Kenway and accidently clock Sterling on the jaw instead.

And Chauncey would rather face a pack of hungry wolves than Riley when he was really pissed off.

“What’s going on, Sterling?” Chauncey asked as he stepped closer to the small human.

“This…This…man laughed at Bacon and called me a weirdo!”

“I didn’t mean any harm,” Kenway defended. “But you have to admit that carrying a pig around like a baby is stranger than hell.”

Chauncey hated to admit it, but he agreed with Kenway. But what could he do? Sterling was family. Right or wrong, Chauncey had his brother-in-law’s back.

“That’s because you are a big brute who wouldn’t know the first thing about loving something so special!”

Kenway’s features darkened as his fists curled at his sides. Somehow, Sterling had hit a chord in the guy. His deep blue eyes filled with hurt, and Chauncey knew he had to defuse the situation.

“Calm down, shorty.”

“Calm down?” Sterling huffed. “He calls me a weirdo and pokes fun at my pet and you want me to calm down?”

Chauncey didn’t think it was that big a deal. It would have been something he would have ignored. But it was obvious that Sterling was taking the strike against the piglet personally. Chauncey wasn’t sure why, but he knew he had to calm the short man down.

“Why don’t you go sit in my truck while I handle this?”

Kenway’s black brow rose, but Chauncey ignored it.

“I—”

All three heads turned when two trucks, filled with Chauncey’s brothers, came to a screeching halt in front of the barbershop.

Fuck.

Riley was going to hand him his ass for this. Chauncey was beginning to wish he had just continued eating his ice cream and kept his big mouth shut.





Chapter Ten




Riley’s heart was beating so fast that he feared he might have a heart attack when he spotted Kenway, the large buffalo shifter, standing in front of his mate. If that damn shifter touched his mate, he was going to tear the man apart with his bare hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Chauncey shouted, holding his hands up as Riley made a beeline straight for Kenway. Riley growled when Chauncey stepped between him and his target. He wanted blood.

“What in the hell is going on here?” his pa shouted as he climbed from the second truck, looking as if he were about to hand everyone in a ten-mile radius their asses. Riley didn’t care. His mate was in trouble, and he was going to make the bastard who fucked with his mate pay.

“It’s just a misunderstanding,” Chauncey said quickly.

“What’s to misunderstand?” Riley bit out as he pushed against the hands Chauncey held against his chest, stopping him from moving forward. “You said that Sterling was about to get pounded into the ground. It sounds pretty clear-cut to me.”

“Son, what’s going on?” his pa asked Sterling, pulling Riley’s mate aside.

Riley stood there glaring at Kenway, daring the man to say one single damn word. If the shifter so much as stepped one toe out of line, Riley was going to make the man regret moving here.

“I don’t want to say,” Sterling said quietly, his eyes snapping rapidly from Riley to Kenway.

“Did you threaten my mate?” Riley snarled, taking a step in Kenway’s direction, but Olsen grabbed him by the arm and helped Chauncey pull him back.

Kenway crossed his big, beefy arms over his chest, twisting his mouth to the side. “I would never threaten anyone smaller than me.”