Black Horse (Breaking Black) by Addison Kline Read Free Book Online Page B

cross that bridge when we come to it.”
    “C’mon, let’s get this over with,” said Tim as he pushed the door of the bar open.
    Randy had a dangerous look in his eye. Worse than usual.
    Somebody better carve Jimmy Hearns a box.
     
    ***
    “Make it a double, Shelly!”
    “How about a zero, Jimmy!”
    “Why you gotta be like that?!”
    “You’re a fucking low life Jimmy. You don’t pay your bar tab… You put your hands on my friend… and I just don’t like you.”
    “Your bouncer ain’t here tonight… You better watch your tone…” said Jimmy with a nasty look on his face.
    “Pay off the rest of your tab and you can have a double. Til then, fuck off!” yelled Shelly.
    Tim walked through the door with a nonchalant look on his face. He scanned the crowd and spotted Jimmy at the bar harassing Shelly. He knew Shelly as his little sister’s best friend. They’ve been friends since they were little kids. Tim approached Jimmy and tapped him on the shoulder while he gave Shelly a wink.
    “Problem?”
    Jimmy turned around and immediately backed off seeing Tim Ford in his face.
    “No… no problem…”
    After his years in the Marines, Tim had a short stint as an MMA fighter. His reputation was well known. He was a gentle giant, with a vicious choke hold that he reserved for assholes like Jimmy.
    “Sure seems like a problem to me.”
    “I was just leaving.”
    “No you weren’t,” said Randy with a venomous look on his face.
    “Oh, Randy… Hey, I’d love to have a few beers. Maybe another time though…”
    “Fuck the beers. You lied to me.”
    “No… No I didn’t…”
    “Yes, you did. Averi, along with about ten other guys who were at the bar the other night said it was you who put your hands on my sister. Not Black Horse.”
    “No… That’s not true…”
    “I can pull the tape. You know me and the owner Danny are like this,” said Tim as he crossed his fingers and held them in the air for Jimmy to see.
    “You can’t really be that stupid to think that I wouldn’t find out…”
    “And to lie about it… C’mon now, Jimmy. People talk around here.”
    “Yeah, I did it. But she led me on…”
    “Yeah, okay. Let’s pretend that’s the truth,” said Tim as Shelly handed him a beer.
    “Thanks, gorgeous,” Tim said as he winked at Shelly.
    Jimmy looked Randy in the face. He knew what buttons to push. Especially with Randy, whose buttons were begging to be pushed.
    “Don’t it piss you off that she’s fucking the son of the man that offed your mother?”
    Suddenly Jimmy had grown some balls. Randy grabbed him by the throat.
    “Stay the fuck away from my sister!”
    “Or?”
    In between swigs of his beer, Tim said with a smirk on his face, “Well, you have one of three options. One, we let her rabid boyfriend take a bite out of you. Two, I sic my twisted fuck of a brother on you. Or three, I handle it quick and easy and you won’t wake up for a couple months. ”
    Randy pressed tighter into the flesh of Jimmy’s neck.
    “She’s off limits. Leave her alone.”
    Suddenly Randy threw Jimmy back sending him crashing into a pair of bar stools.
    “Fuck! Fine! You know what… fuck this! Staying with him, she’s just going to wind up dead like your mother! Just watch!”
    “What the fuck did you just say?!” yelled Tim, the calm one, from his bar stool. All calm was removed from his usually serene personality.
    Randy watched as his brother bolted after Jimmy out the bar door. His brother, who was usually so calm and relaxed, looked fit to be tied.
    Shelly yelled out, “That’s right, Tim! Get ‘em!”
    Randy could do nothing but shake his head. He ordered a beer and told Shelly that he’d be right back.
    “Better make that two.”
    Jimmy sped across the gravel parking lot kicking up a cloud of dirt in his wake. Tim was right on his heels but he wasn’t quite as fast. Randy caught up to Tim, and held his brother back in a bear hug around his heaving chest.
    “Let him go!”