Read Running in Place (Mending Hearts) for Free Online

— idiot — I see the headlights from Trace’s truck turning toward all the commotion while Tatum yells from behind me, “Happy One Fucking Year Anniversary, Asshole!” The sound of glass shattering all over the place follows with Sadie screaming her head off nearly drowning it out.
    I turn back towards Tatum, who’s now laughing while tears are running down her cheeks. Blood begins to trickle down her arms and legs from where shards of glass have embedded themselves into her skin. While my natural instinct is to run to her, protecting her is my first priority. So, instead, I immediately hook my arm around Cash’s neck when he tries to pass by me and drag his ass towards the bar.
    “I’m going to fuckin’ kill you! Bitch!” he yells over my shoulder at Tatum while I force him backwards. Once we’re at the back exit, I throw him against the building, moving my forearm into his throat directly under his chin and pinning him about three inches above the ground. After a couple of futile seconds of him resisting me, I clench my teeth as I deliver my warning.
    “You will not touch her. You touch her, and so help me God, your gap-toothed mouth will lose all of its poorly spaced teeth. That’s a fucking promise.” He glares at me with his beady ass eyes and starts to say something. I press my arm further into his windpipe, cutting off any words he thinks he needs to speak right now. “What you will do, is turn your ass around, go into the bar, and chill with your little hooker friend until this has all been resolved. Then you are going to get your ass into your truck and drive home, minus the back window, all without touching a single hair on her head. Do you understand me?”
    Lessening the pressure on his throat, I continue to stare him down until I’m sure he grasps my threat. When I feel he understands, I release my hold on him entirely. His feet hit the ground, and he doubles over, gasping for breath.
    Pussy.
    I stay put, waiting for him to regain lung function, just to make sure I didn’t do any real damage. Once he’s able to breathe again, he places his hands on his knees and looks up at me. “That’s my cousin , dude,” he says between breaths. “That bitch just broke out my window because of my goddamn cousin.”
    I attempt to maintain an apathetic facial expression, but my eyes widen slightly in response to his disclosure and I shake my head in disbelief. This guy is as backwoods as they come if that’s an acceptable way to walk with your cousin in his family.
    So…Tatum just blew her lid and busted out Dickhead the Douchebag’s window because he walked into the bar with a family member. Granted, the entrance was entirely unacceptable and, depending on which cousin, against state law.
    The back door to the bar creaks open, pulling my thoughts away from this whole incestual debate going on in my head. “Noooooooah! Hellllooooo!”
    My head drops into my hands and I simultaneously scrub my face while exhaling loudly in defeat.
    Drama-free is just not in the cards for me tonight.

 

     

     
    Wiping the remaining moisture from the tears running down my face, I look around at the remains of Cash’s back window surrounding my feet. Little pieces of glass reflecting the lights overhead are everywhere. I release the bat from my grasp and involuntarily flinch as it clatters loudly against the bed of the truck and shards crumble under my boots as I make my way to the end of the truck in a daze. Lifting my gaze from beneath me, I’m met with a pair of light blue eyes matching my own. And they’re furious.
    “Jesus Christ , Tatum! What the hell is wrong with you?” Trace slams his truck door, tucking the back of his blue button down shirt into the back of his dark Diesels as he stalks up to me while I make my somewhat graceful exit off of Shithead’s truck. Balancing myself against the taillight, I find myself suddenly amused with the sections of red and yellow. The light bulbs behind them are so