Wilder (The Wild Ones 3)

“Don’t!” Vick shouts just as the argument escalates quickly.

They both ignore him when Porter tackles Eric at the waist, and it knocks Tate into Hunter. Hunter and Tate proceed to shove at each other, and that bumps someone else into someone else…

The domino effect takes hold like a quick plague, and axes go flying out of the way, as most of the competitors quickly devolve into all-out brawlers.

Fists fly, and some of them even laugh as they start wailing on each other like this is good fun.

More axes fly…

Sally screeches as she runs away, screaming as she covers her stomach like her child’s life is in danger. The axes didn’t get that close…

Or maybe I’ve just gotten desensitized to all of this.

I’m suddenly yanked out of my seat, just as two guys crash into it, never letting up as they fight like barbarians over nothing at all.

Reese scrambles away, and Hale grabs her, tugging her out of the way of another set of stray brawlers who’ve gotten carried away.

“Every damn time! Every! Damn! Time!” Vick shouts, throwing his hat, stomping his feet, and then…he takes a deep breath and starts massaging his temples.

“Too many Wild Ones in one place for too long!” someone shouts like they’re explaining the problem to him.

“Fuck off, Chester!” Hale shouts, as…Reese hurriedly slips away while he’s distracted.

Hale looks around, and his shoulders sag with defeat. I feel sorry for him, but…I think he actually broke her heart when he blindsided her with that abrupt breakup.

She won’t even talk about him to Sally. Now I know she’s hurting worse than she let on, just because I see her wiping her face as she goes like no one is looking.

She’d be pissed if I saw her like that, so I look away, giving her the space I know she’ll want if she’s upset even a little bit.

All he did was touch her long enough to pull her out of the way, and that made her cry.

Shit.

Kai pulls me out of my thoughts as he threads our fingers together and starts dragging me away from the fight that makes zero sense.

Someone starts playing Born to be Wild very randomly over a set of speakers, and the brawl seems to intensify as Nila starts cheering for Killian and her brothers. Krysta starts cheering her brothers on.

Mrs. Nickel starts singing over the music, her voice ridiculously loud. “Blood and sweat and tears and joys! We all love rain like we love our boys! Rain! Rain! Bring on the rain! End our struggles with cold wet pain!”

Vick shouts, “Turn off that damn fight song or they’ll never stop!”

Instead, Born to be Wild only plays louder, drowning out most of the chaos as we get farther and farther away.

We pass Sally, who is wide-eyed and clutching her heart.

“I get it now,” she says on a weary breath, sagging against a tree. “I get it now,” she repeats.

My lips curl up in a grin that seems to dumbfound her, as I continue walking away with Kai.

“The axes just get thrown to get them out of the way before they hurt someone,” Kai tells her like that’s the only issue at hand, never slowing down as he drags me away.

I glance back to see her gawking at him like he’s sprouted a second head.

Born to be Wild gets even louder.

“Turn it off!” Vick shouts through what sounds like a megaphone. “Who’s playing that damn song?!”

My fingers tighten on Kai’s, as he guides me through the woods, and I struggle to keep up, even with my new, practical boots.

There’s a small shack just up ahead, and he quickly guides me into it, shutting and locking the door behind us. Then he pushes me against the door as his mouth finds mine, and I drink him in as I scramble to undo his jeans.

It’s bitter cold, but I don’t care as I push his jeans down, and then shove his shirt off his shoulders.

I never thought I’d call such a small, incredibly crazy place my home with so much pride.

Wild Ones Tip #5

We don’t ask you to take the stick out of your ass, so don’t ask us to be normal.

Epilogue

KAI

*******

“They’ve spent all winter together! I don’t think it’s right to look the other way every winter just because it’s too troublesome to take action!” Chester Perkins gripes as he turns that traditional red-face angry color he turns at every town meeting.

Piper leans against me, eyes bouncing around like she’s intrigued by the whole setup.

Vick drops his head to his arm.

“I need a vacation,” Vick says on a tired breath.

“You can’t take a vacation! No one else will do this job,” Chester argues.

“That’s the only thing I will ever agree with Chester about,” Bill states with a firm nod, crossing his arms over his chest.

Vick glares at him. “Of course that’s what you agree on.”