Unconventional

I hopped the bar and rushed straight through the curtain. No one stopped me. The last thing I heard was the high-pitched screech of Grant, screaming like a schoolgirl.

Fifty-Three

JULIAN

I’d been at the Normandy Inn for the better part of an hour before Noah walked in. It gave me time to assess. To figure out which people weren’t involved with this place, and which would require an ass-kicking.

And I was more than ready for a good ass-kicking.

It was easy, picking out the right table. Separating the locals from the live-ins, the ones who actually ran business for this place, and for their boss. It angered me, that the guy could be this arrogant. That he’d burn down a trailer over a couple thousand pound debt, and risk the lives of whoever might’ve been inside.

In short, he was a psycho. Which meant the guys who followed him were probably worse…

I drank two pints while sitting at the bar. If anything it would loosen me up. The bartender had brought drinks to the table I’d picked out at least four times, which was another big tell. She hadn’t brought anything out to anyone else.

I pegged the leader as the tough-looking guy with the big shoulders. He presided over the table, the way a king did over his court. The other two were smaller, and more wiry. I wouldn’t underestimate them, though. They had that scrappy, no holds barred look to them.

All three of them pegged Noah immediately, as soon as he entered. The bartender’s expression changed too. She was headed for the back room before he called her over, and ordered a beer. That’s when I noticed the other two guys at the far end of the bar, whispered to each other while keeping their eyes glued to him.

I only hoped he noticed them too.

Someone gave a signal. The bartender nodded. She went to the cash register, then ducked into the back. Right around the same time the other two got up…

Everything went down fast after that. It always did.

I saw Noah kick his first attacker hard enough — and in just the right place — to instantly end the man’s fight. He’d be struggling to breathe for the next two minutes at least. I couldn’t tell if he noticed the ‘friend’, but by then I had my own concerns. The three men at the table stood up quickly, and so did I.

“What the—”

There was a bone-jarring crack as my fist connected with the big guy’s jaw. He rolled with it. I was processing the pain in my knuckles when he came back right away with a snarl of betrayal and punch of his own. I ducked. Barely.

Shit.

In retrospect, I should’ve gone for the stomach. His head looked hard enough to split a rock, or at least dislocate some of my fingers. His friends converged on me, and that’s when they were taken down. The two guys on either side of me — who hadn’t said a word the entire time we’d been there — jumped the other table-sitters before they even had the chance to do anything.

The fight was over in seconds. Kyle had his man in a choke-hold, and was putting him to sleep. Fraser had his on the floor already, and was kicking him repeatedly with his steel-tipped boots. I heard the crack of ribs. The cries of surprise as these two complete strangers who’d sprung from their seats were suddenly whipping the shit out of Killian’s ‘crew.’

It was good to have friends.

“FUCKERS!”

The big-shouldered guy swung again, only this time I had all my balance. I weaved left, came in with a right cross, and followed that up with an uppercut to his exposed belly. He doubled over, just in time for his jaw to meet my knee. The force of the blow exploded his face with the sickening crunch of teeth.

My man dropped like the sack of shit he was, to the sound of shattered glass. Either awake or asleep, Kyle had shoved his guy through the nearest window, so hard that he disappeared entirely. He had a crazed look on his face; one of triumph and elation and something else entirely. Kyle was fucking crazy. It was the only reason I’d brought him.

“Look out!”

I whirled just in time to see the bouncer rush in — all two-hundred twenty pounds of him. It didn’t matter. Fraser kneecapped him mid-stride, with something that looked like a billiard cue. It was hard to tell really, because the weapon shattered into a thousand pieces… right along with the bouncer’s kneecap.

“ARRRGGHHHH!”

I turned back, ready to make my way over to Noah. Thankfully he was already done. His first attacker was still in the fetal position, trying to inflate his own lungs. The other was lying under the bar, his entire face a bloody mess.

I had to admit, I was a little impressed.

“AYYEEEEEEEE!!!”

The bouncer was screaming now, high-pitched enough that it grated my nerves. He didn’t sound like a man anymore. More like a dying animal, clutching his knee. Crying on the floor of the bar, while Kyle and Fraser made their way over to me, their faces all flushed with blood and adrenaline.