a reason to live(54)

“Pfft, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got tits and ass enough for the song.”

The bar erupted in laughter and our whole table turned toward the door. A group of men ranging in size from big to huge walked in. Five in all. Two were very good-looking in that lumberjack sort of way, with dark hair and beards. And three needed dental work along with a good scrubbing behind the ears. They were wearing matching T-shirts with the name Juggernaut across the chest.

“Who are they?” I asked Mia.

She shrugged. “Beats me.”

“Oh, Lord,” Maxine gasped. “Juggernauts.”

“What’s a Juggernaut?” Mia asked.

“Asshole logging company two counties over. A couple of years back, Max kept having equipment break down and tools come up missing. He put up security cameras and caught the guy in the act. It was some flunky from Juggernaut. The man said he was instructed to make sure Max couldn’t meet his quota for the lumberyards so they could win the contract.”

I looked back at the men and then toward Max and Shane. Both were standing at attention, arms crossed over their chests, staring the Juggernauts down.

“Think Max and Shane will fight them?

“God, I hope so,” Maxine replied, distracted, as she dug in her purse. “Yes,” she hooted, pulling out her phone. “I thought I left my phone at home, now I’ll be able to record my boy when he beats the shit out those assholes.” Maxine was holding up her phone trying to swipe it open when she noticed we’d all gone quiet at her outburst. She paused her actions, and looked around the table, saying, “What? Can’t a mother dream?”

One of the men from the Juggernauts made his way toward the bar and Max. He stopped in front of Max, looking smugly at him from head to toe, mumbling something none of us could hear. Max didn’t respond; he stared blankly at the man as the other four Juggernauts surrounded their apparent leader.

“This doesn’t look good,” I whispered.

“Maybe we should do our song now. It’ll take attention off the tension in the room,” Mia said, standing.

I watched her approach the man who handled the karaoke machine, then point out the song we’d chosen. When she was done, she turned to the table and jerked her head toward the stage.

Joanne and Suzy got up immediately and I followed. I looked over my shoulder as I approached the stage at Shane and Max, and found them leaning against the bar, watching the Juggernauts. Once on the stage, Mia handed us the mics, told me what part I was supposed to sing, then we stood silently waiting for the music to begin.

I kept my gaze down until the music started, then I lifted them and looked out into the crowd. When my eyes landed on Shane, he saluted me with two fingers, and I rolled my eyes.

What was I thinking?

Mia started the song off. She had a great voice: deep and husky. She had no problem grabbing Max’s attention away from the Juggernauts as she wiggled across the stage, singing about not being a size two. The girls and I sang back up as she handled the song like a pro. Then she turned to me and I sang the chorus about bringing booty back. I’d no sooner finished my line than I saw Shane lunge and throw a punch, sending a Juggernaut to the floor.

The girls and I stopped singing and watched in shock as the other four Juggernauts lunged toward Shane and Max. The whole bar erupted then as other men jumped into the action, no doubt wanting to protect Max, the biggest employer in town.

“Should we do something?” I shouted at Mia.

“Like what?” she shouted back.

“Call Chester?”

“He’d join in,” she answered, then pushed me back as a man came flying onto the stage followed by Max.

“Are you having fun?” Mia asked.

Max drew back his fist, landed a punch to the guy’s gut then grinned at her. “Stay on the stage,” he ordered.

One of the other Juggernauts was trying to sneak up behind Max, and Mia shouted, “Behind you,” in time for him to turn and block a punch. Then he grabbed the guy by the shirt and launched him back five feet.

“Again,” Maxine shouted. I turned my head to find her standing on a chair filming Max.

Scanning the room for Shane, I found him with his arms locked around a Juggernaut’s neck in a chokehold. The man was trying to pry Shane’s arm from around his neck. When the logger stopped fighting, Shane let him go and watched him slump to the floor, shaking his head. When another man was shoved into Shane’s back, he turned, drew back his fist, but stopped mid-punch and smiled.

“They’re having fun,” I shouted at Mia as I watched the chaos.

“Of course they’re having fun,” Suzy answered. “Men are just boys with bigger dicks. When a bully comes into their playground, they’ll protect their own.”