Craving Hawk (The Aces' Sons 3)

“Nah, I’m good,” I said, shaking my head. I kept pacing, though. Back and forth.

“Come on, fucker,” Will said, taking off his cut and setting it on the table. “You know I’m not leaving your ass like this.”

“Said I was fine,” I mumbled in irritation. I could get it together. I didn’t have a choice. My mom was still inside and I knew how she got when I lost my shit. It brought back everything for her.

“Just a friendly sparring match,” Will said, pulling off his t-shirt. “You got me or Dad. No one else is comin’ near you.”

“Get the fuck outta here, Will—” I didn’t even finish his name before his fist clipped me in the jaw.

“Fucker,” I growled, barely staying on my feet.

Both my brothers had gotten their size from my dad. They were huge. I took after the other side of the family and was built more like my mom’s brother Casper. I wasn’t tiny by any means, but I wasn’t built like a goddamn tank either. Any fight between me and Will was a joke. Even fighting with Mick had gotten my ass handed to me.

“Come on, baby brother,” Will goaded. “Swing back, ya pussy.”

I ripped off my cut and threw it on the table next to his, then acted like I was going to take off my shirt, too, but swung at him instead. My fist connected solidly with his jaw. He laughed at the sucker punch, but shook his head as if to clear it.

Then it was on. He was bigger, but I was faster and had a whole lot of rage to let loose. Even so, neither of us went full out. I wasn’t out to hurt him, and he sure as hell wasn’t there to hurt me. Big brother was giving me the outlet he knew I needed. And fuck, had I needed it.

We were sweaty, dirty as shit, and rolling around in the gravel when the crowd started to gather. I knew my dad would have kept my mom inside, so I ignored them. It wasn’t the first time they’d seen a fight outside. It wasn’t even the first time they’d seen us rolling around in the dirt.

Will had me in a headlock and I was punching him in the kidney when I heard her voice. Everyone was talking. It was loud as hell, but I still heard her above the others.

“Stop it! What the fuck! Someone stop him!”

Will’s arm tightened around my neck, and my vision started to get spotty when I felt him jerk and then let me go completely. I dropped to the ground, landing on one arm, then was up again. And I couldn’t fucking believe what I saw.

Will was kneeling, his chest heaving, and on his back was Heather. She had her arm around his neck, squeezing as hard as she could, and I was pretty sure she was trying to make him pass out. My brother’s neck was thick as fuck with muscle. There was no way it would work, but she was still trying.

I met Will’s eyes and he was smiling at me in amusement. He wasn’t even trying to stop her. He’d just dropped his arms limply to his sides and was waiting for me to take care of it.

“Sugar, what’re you doin’?” I asked as I pushed myself painfully to my feet. I was gonna feel that fight for the next week.

Heather didn’t even look at me. She was so focused on what she was doing that she was completely oblivious to the fact Will had let me go.

“Heather,” I murmured gently, touching her shoulder.

She let out a feral scream and jerked at the arm around my brother’s neck before she realized who I was. Her breath was coming in short pants and I could barely see the blues of her eyes because her pupils were dilated so huge.

“Come here,” I said softly, reaching for her. Before I could even grab her, she was off my brother’s back and practically crawling up my body.

“He,” she stuttered. She was shaking like crazy and her fingers gripped frantically at my ripped t-shirt. “He was—he.”

“We were just messin’ around, baby,” I said, glancing around the crowd for her sister as she started to cry. “Come on, you’ve seen me sparrin’ with Mick a bunch of times.”

“That wasn’t—” she stuttered.

I lifted her up until her legs were wrapped around my waist and felt her tears against my neck as we started moving away from everyone. We didn’t need to give them a fucking show.

“Sorry, man,” Leo called out quietly. “Tried to keep her back, but thought she was gonna hurt herself.”

I ignored him as I reached up and pushed Heather’s face deeper into my neck, winding my fingers into her short blonde hair. She could’ve gotten really hurt if we hadn’t realized she was there in time. It was total fucking luck Will hadn’t thrown her off as soon as he’d felt that arm around his neck. I wasn’t sure how I would’ve reacted if she’d jumped on me.