What the actual fuck?
Standing on the snowy sidewalk, not fifteen feet from the front door of his salon was Manning Grove’s one and only beloved gay hairdresser, Teddy Sullivan… Well, now Teddy Bryson, since he married one of those Bryson pigs.
Teddy was taller but not as bulky as the men surrounding him. Worse, he was outnumbered. Five to one.
And that right there wasn’t fucking fair.
Nope, not fucking fair at all.
Rook growled as he witnessed one of the men rip the snow shovel out of Teddy’s mittened hands and toss it out of his reach.
Oh no they fuckin’ didn’t. Son of a bitch.
Rook jerked the wheel, crossed the opposing lane of travel and ran the two left wheels of the pickup truck onto the sidewalk, almost striking one of the assholes who had begun to push Teddy, while laughing and shouting at him. He was being shoved from one man to the other like he was a goddamn ball bouncing off the bumpers in a pinball machine.
Rook shoved the shifter into Park with more force than necessary and kicked open the driver’s side door in time to hear a shrieked, “I’ll have you know, my husband’s a police officer!”
“See? Told you he was a fucking fag!” one of them crowed, shoving Teddy so hard he stumbled and, with a painful cry, landed on one knee onto the snow-covered concrete.
“What the fuck’s goin’ on here?” Rook shouted, drawing their attention away from the man trying to get back onto his feet. Before he could, Teddy took a boot to the face, instead, and was knocked backward onto his ass.
The five men who weren’t steady on their feet, either, turned toward him.
“You a fag, too?” one of them asked.
“Sure the fuck am, got a problem with it?” Rook answered, squaring off his shoulders and stepping closer.
“This town must be full of ‘em,” one of the drunks said.
Now that Rook was standing on the sidewalk at their level, he could see just how drunk those fuckers were.
They were not townsfolk, for sure. No citizen of the Grove would dare lay a finger on Teddy. Not one. They might say shit about him behind closed doors, but that was usually where it stayed.
No, these motherfuckers were tourists or in town to visit family for the holidays. These assholes were not local at all.
Because no one, no one dared touched Teddy.
“Asked you a fuckin’ question,” Rook growled, his fingers curled tightly into fists. “You got a problem with me bein’ a fag?”
“Didn’t know this town was a magnet for buttfuckers,” one of them said, squaring off to face Rook.
“We got a thing for assholes around here, so you came to the right place,” he told them.
One of the drunks chuckled. “The faggot’s got a sense of humor.”
Rook glanced past him to Teddy who was still down on the sidewalk, his face as white as the snow he sat in. “Adam comin’?”
The hairdresser shook his head, his mitten pressed to the corner of his eye where it was bleeding. “They took my phone and ripped the earbuds out of my ears. All I was trying to do was shovel the sidewalk.”
Christ. “Which one of you motherfuckers got his phone?”
Another one squared off with him. “We didn’t see a phone. He’s a liar.”
“Known this man almost my whole goddamn life. Never heard him lie once,” Rook growled. “Unlike the lie that just came outta your fuckin’ mouth.”
“You think you’re tough, but you’re stupid. If you haven’t noticed, you’re outnumbered, dumbass.”
Rook slipped his phone from the pocket of his leather jacket and tossed it to Teddy. “Call Adam now. You can’t get him, call Dutch and have him send the rest of the guys.”
Rook didn’t watch to see if Teddy did as told. Instead, he kept his eyes on the men who now formed a wall between him and the fallen hairdresser.
“Go inside, Teddy,” Rook ordered him.
“I’m not leaving you out here alone.”
Rook’s gaze quickly flicked back to him to see his phone to Teddy’s ear and his lips moving. “Don’t fuckin’ worry about me. Go the fuck inside.”
One of the assholes shouted, “Oh, tough guy here thinks he can take us all on.”
“You don’t think I can?” Rook asked him and grinned. That brought him a few amused chuckles. “Teddy, go inside.”
“I said I’m not leaving you out here alone and Adam’s on his way.”
Somebody must not be hurt too badly if he was slapping Rook back with attitude.
But with Teddy’s hubby on the way, it meant Rook needed to do what he needed to do before the pig got on scene and maybe brought the rest of the piglets along with him. He had no idea if Adam was working and would arrive in uniform or if he was off-duty.
It didn’t matter either way. Adam Bryson was a pig through and through, just like the rest of them.