Violence wasn’t the answer, or so I’ve been told. I was feeling very violent after Jenna told me what that piece of shit said to her. The guy needed his head screwed on a little straighter. The things he said were way past the limits of my patience and I was pretty sure any decent member of law enforcement would make Aaron see how dangerously close he was to getting his ass locked up.

Regardless, Kevin and I hashed out what we hoped would be a reasonable solution. I much preferred a few hard, swift kicks to his face, but that wasn’t the best option. Again, their words, not mine. Today we were supposed to try and have a little discussion about the wrong way and the right way to talk to Jenna and other women in general. I had a feeling we were way too late to have a real impact on the miscreants that had been allowed to live this long without someone telling them how wrong they were.

If their parents didn’t do the teaching, I seriously doubted Kevin and I were going to make any headway.

“You ready to go see Jenna?” I asked Abby who was quietly playing in her room.

She jumped up. “Yes! I packed my dolls already.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

“I’ll wait here,” Kevin announced from his place on the couch.

“I won’t be gone long.”

He smirked. “Like yesterday?”

I shot him a look. “I’m dropping off Abby.”

He smiled. “I guess that’s one way to curb an extended visit.”

We knocked on Jenna’s door. When she answered, I could see she wasn’t happy.

“Don’t do this, please.”

I shook my head. “I’m doing this for you and every other female those idiots may ever meet in their futures, which if they don’t play their cards right could be very short.”

“Colton!” she scolded.

I shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not going to let them get away with it anymore. There is nothing their daddies can do to me. I don’t care what kind of empty threats they try to throw at me.”

“You’re so stubborn,” she said, stomping her foot.

I grinned. “As are you.”

I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss while Abby’s back was to us.

“Please, be careful. I really don’t want to see anyone actually hurt,” she whispered.

“We’re just going to talk. That’s it,” I said, my hands up in a pose of innocence.

She wasn’t buying it. “Remember, you’ll be in public.”

I nodded. “I know. They’re the ones that chose to meet at the diner. I think they’re actually a little worried, which is exactly what I want. I want them scared.”

I waved goodbye to Abby and made my way out the door, pausing and turning back to look at her.

“And Jenna?”

“What?” she snapped.

“We still haven’t had that conversation. When this is settled, we’re going to talk,” I said, not giving her any room to argue.

She closed the door in my face. I chuckled as I made my way back to my house, shouting at Kevin to move his ass.

“You think this is a set up?” Kevin asked, as we drove to the diner.

I shrugged. “What could they possibly do? They’re pussies who prey on women. I don’t see them opening fire on us when we pull up.”

We drove into the parking lot, scanning the area and not seeing anything alarming. Dealing with Aaron and his buddies would be like eating cake compared to what we had to face with Frank and his real thugs.

I walked into the diner first, Kevin right behind me. I saw one of the guys, Darren maybe.

“Where’s your pals?” I asked, pissed that we’d been stood up.

“We had a feeling this would get a little loud. They’re out back.”

I raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Really? That’s your story?”

Darren shrugged a shoulder. “Are you afraid?”

Kevin burst into laughter. “You boys are either stupid or clueless or maybe both. Let’s go. I’ve got shit to do today and educating little boys about how to treat women is not something I want to waste a lot of time on. I don’t know if guys like you have a chance at actually learning, which is great for guys like us. We’ll be there to take care of all the women who want nothing to do with your sorry asses.”

Darren glared at him. “Whatever. Are you here to settle this or stand around and yap like a bunch of girls.”

Kevin and I exchanged a look. We knew damn well we were walking into some kind of set up. Neither one of us was overly concerned.

“Lead the way, big man,” I said, with a dangerous smile.

He looked a little nervous. Good.

We followed him to the small alley behind the diner and were greeted by his two buddies and an extra guy.

“Oh good, they evened the odds a little,” I quipped to Kevin.

He was smiling. “Good, I’d feel guilty if it was just the three of them.”

“Oh ya, you guys like to run your mouth a lot, don’t you? Look around. You’re outnumbered,” the man he knew to be Aaron said, stepping forward, clearly feeling invincible with what he thought were odds in his favor.

“Look, we’re not here to fight you,” I said, raising my hands.

“Oh, really?” one of the guys snapped.

“What if we’re here to fight you?” Aaron shot back.

“Then that would be really stupid. We’re here to tell you to cut the shit. Leave Jenna alone. She wants nothing to do with you. She’s never going to hook up with any of you. None of you are man enough for her,” I said, with a grin.

Aaron and Bryce exchanged a look. “And you are?”

I shrugged a shoulder.

“Bullshit. This is our town. You guys are nobodies. Pack up and leave, go back to wherever it is you came from. Around here, we don’t appreciate guys like you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“Well that’s too bad, because you’ve messed with me and now it is my business. I told you to back off several times. You kept pushing me. Now, here we are, standing in a back alley like a bunch of teenagers. In the real world, this is not how grown men act,” I said, with a sneer.

“Oh, really? We’re men. We handle our business anyway we see fit.”

“From your mommy’s basement?” Kevin teased.

That hit home for at least one of them.

“Look, we don’t need to get into a fight over this. Leave Jenna alone. Stay away from my house, my rig and me in general. We don’t want any trouble, but you are really pressing the limits of my patience,” I told them all.

They broke into laugher.

Kevin sighed beside me. “You know how this ends, right?”

I nodded. “I think I do, but I had to try, right?”

“Oh, is that supposed to scare us. Look around you. There’s four of us, two of you. Why don’t you run on back home to Jenna?”

“Look, this can go one of two ways. You boys just take a step back and I’ll just head on over to the police and show them the footage from my security camera, the one where you shattered my window, or we take care of this little problem once and for all. Either way, you’re going to pay. I know for a fact that once we’re finished here, you won’t be a problem for me again and you definitely won’t be a problem for Jenna,” I said, in what I thought was a very calm and rational tone.

When Jenna asked me, I could honestly say I tried to handle the matter peacefully.

The four guys exchanged a look and the next second, they attacked. Kevin and I managed to stay on our feet, fending off blows while delivering rather soft hits. I didn’t want to kill them. They weren’t small, but they were no match for us. We did this for a living. It was like sparring with some of the high school kids that used to go into the gym back in Boston.

The ‘boop boop’ of a police siren brought the fight to a halt. The four guys were on the ground, with me and Kevin standing over them in our fight stance. I knew it didn’t look good for us.

“Don’t move,” a voice shouted.

“Well shit, I didn’t see it going down like this,” Kevin mumbled.

“Jenna is going to be so pissed,” I replied, feeling sweat dripping into my eyes.

“Turn around, slowly, with your hands up.”

Kevin and I both turned around, our bloodied hands in front of us. There was a sheriff with a gun pointed at us and another man standing next to the car, hands on his hips as he stared us down.

“I want them arrested,” the man demanded.

I heard one of the guys moan on the ground behind us. “They attacked us, Dad.”

I rolled my eyes. This must be the head honcho of Beatrice, Nebraska. He certainly didn’t look like much to me.

“Shut up, Aaron,” the man who looked like he had enjoyed one too many of his diner’s cheeseburgers snarled.

I heard movement behind me and glanced back to see all four guys getting to their feet. They were bloodied and bruised but none of them had been hurt all that bad.

“You two, step forward,” the sheriff commanded.

“Lock them up. I’m pressing charges for assault and battery!”

The sheriff put his gun in his holster. “Frank, when I need your statement, I’ll let you know. Right now, it’s best you take yourself back inside.”

He leaned his head to his shoulder and spoke into the walkie-talkie, asking for backup. Aaron started to follow his dad when the sheriff stopped him.

“What?” Aaron pouted.

“You’re all going in,” the sheriff announced.

Frank spun around, stomping back toward the car. “What the hell are you talking about Adam? You saw who attacked who. My boy got his ass kicked! He needs a hospital, not a jail cell.”

The sheriff looked at Aaron. “Sir, are you requesting to be seen by a medical professional?” he formally asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Aaron muttered.

The sheriff turned to look back at Frank. “You heard him, he is declining my offer of medical attention.”

“Bullshit! Look at his face. He got the shit beat out of him!”

“I did not, Dad.”

“Boy, shut up. You’re an embarrassment.”

“I don’t know what went down here. I got a call about a fight taking place. That tells me, they were all involved. Too bad your boy didn’t learn how to fight a little better.”

“You better watch your tone, Adam. Remember who put you in that job you love so much.”

The sheriff laughed as he opened the back door of his patrol car. “I remember just fine, Frank. Now, go back inside before I haul your ass in for impeding an investigation.”

I looked at the man who was as round and red as a tomato, and felt like warning him about giving himself a stroke.

Backup arrived within minutes. Kevin and I were put in the back of the sheriff’s car while the other four were divided between two other cars. None of us were cuffed. I got the feeling by the smirks on the faces of the cops that no one was all that surprised by the situation, or the least bit bothered. I knew they couldn’t get me for much more than a misdemeanor and I was willing to take it. It had felt too good to bust them up just a little bit. They were certainly deserving of that and more.