Kaleb (25 page)

“Y’all
are lucky any girl talks to you anymore. The ones you haven’t fucked, you’ve tormented
in some way.”

“They
keep coming back for more.” Brendon laughed. “They come
begging
for
more.”

Kaleb
knew the twins were popular with the women, always had been. He also knew they
were as promiscuous as they came. And yes, the women flocked to them, even
knowing they would only sleep with them if the two of them were there at the
same time.

“How’s
Zoey?” Braydon asked, looking serious all of a sudden.

What
the hell? Didn’t they just go through this? Kaleb cocked his head, trying to figure
out what his brother might be referring to. “She’s fine.”

“Yeah?”
Brendon asked, glancing over at Braydon and then back to Kaleb.

“What
the hell are you not telling me?” Kaleb asked, suddenly getting irritated.

“Nothing, bro.”

“Bullshit.
What the fuck is going on?”

“I
just happen to know that Jason Tribbons is back in town.” Braydon informed him,
and the hair on the back of Kaleb’s neck stood up. He didn’t know Jason
Tribbons, nor did he care to know the man. If what Braydon said was true, Kaleb
wanted to beat the living shit out of him just for the hell of it.

“Does
she know?” Kaleb asked, glancing between the twins. It was uncanny how fucking
similar they looked. Most people couldn’t tell them apart, which they happened
to find amusing.

“Not
sure.”

“What
do you mean you’re not sure? Does she or doesn’t she?”

“What
the hell does it matter, Bubba?” Braydon asked. “Are you worried?
Jealous, maybe?”

“Hell no.”
He wasn’t jealous. He just didn’t want the bastard anywhere near Zoey. “But you
two should be worried. If Zoey ever finds out the two of you ran her husband
out of town, forcing him to divorce her, she’ll have your hide.”

The
telltale gasp had every single one of them stilling.

Fuck
.

As
though they were all being pulled by a single string, the four of them turned
toward the back door to see Zoey standing there, complete and total shock on
her beautiful face.

“You
did what?” They barely heard her devastated whisper, but they all knew she had
spoken.

“Hey, Zoey.”
Leave it to Braydon to pretend nothing had happened. He sauntered over to Zoey,
throwing his arm around her like the woman wasn’t shooting daggers out of her
eyeballs. At six feet five inches, Braydon was significantly taller than Zoey,
but the look in his eyes as he glared back at Kaleb said he was terrified of
the woman.

He
should be.

“What
do you mean they ran my ex out of town?” Zoey asked again, her voice much
stronger.

Brendon
looked at the floor, and Zane looked at the wall. He probably didn’t know any
of what was going on, but he was smart enough not to chime in.

Braydon
pulled his arm from around her shoulders and took a step back, instinctively
covering his junk. The woman could be vicious when she wanted to and they’d all
seen it a time or two. Sweet and innocent, Zoey definitely was. But what Kaleb
had learned about her in recent weeks made that sweetness seem like a thing of
the past.

“Why?”
Zoey asked, turning to face Braydon.

Kaleb
held his breath, unsure what to say, if anything, and waiting anxiously for Braydon
to speak.

“You
heard me.” There was more conviction in Braydon’s tone. “We ran the bastard out
of town, Zoey.”

“You
forced him to divorce me?”

“Well,
if you mean did we hold a gun to his head, no, we did not. We were doing you a
favor.”

“
A favor
?”
The incredulity in her tone was evident. “You think forcing my husband to
divorce me was doing me a favor?”

“I
do, actually.” Braydon stated even more firmly, moving closer to Zoey.

Kaleb’s
natural protective instinct kicked in, and he stood from his seat. Normally the
instinct kicked in when his brother’s needed backup, but this time, it was all
about Zoey.

“And
how could you ruining my life possibly be a favor to me?”

“Me?”
Shocked, Braydon laughed. “Honey, that bastard had a baby on the way, and you want
to tell me that I’m the one who ruined your life?”

“A...”
Zoey staggered, and both Braydon and Kaleb reached out to catch her. Thankfully
Kaleb reached her first. Pulling her against him, he tried to turn her in his
arms, but she pushed him away.
Hard.

“Get
away from me.” Zoey stormed out of the office, leaving Braydon, Brendon, Kaleb
and Zane staring at one another.

“What
the fuck?” Zane asked, looking more than a little surprised. “He got some chick
pregnant while he was married to Zoey?”

“Yeah.”
Brendon said sounding defeated.

“Let
me at the bastard.” Zane pushed to his feet while the others just stood there,
mirroring their brother’s sentiment.

♀♂

A baby?

Jason
got some girl pregnant while they were married? How the hell did she not know
about it?

Zoey
tried to focus on the road, but she had a hard time with tears streaming down
her face. Oh, they weren’t sad tears because she’d gotten over the bastard
years ago. No, these were tears of rage, and once she got her hands on him, he
was going to be crying too.

Figuring
there was no way she could go home and be alone at the moment, she headed into
town. In desperate need of a drink, she set her sights on Moonshiner’s.

How
in the world had Brendon and Braydon known about this pregnancy and she hadn’t?
And why the hell didn’t Jason just tell her?

Well,
that question was probably a little easier to answer.

Zoey
had never been good with her temper when pushed. The man probably figured it
was in his best interest. Or his balls best interest.
Either
way.

Forcing
back the tears, Zoey scrubbed her face with her hands before heading inside.
She couldn’t help but wonder how many people knew about this and kept it from
her. Hell, she’d heard it straight from Kaleb’s mouth, so obviously he knew.
And he’d sat back all these years and let her look like a complete idiot.

The
damn tears threatened to spill once more, and Zoey ground her teeth together,
hoping the pain would ease some of her frustration. Without looking around,
Zoey went straight to the bar and ordered a vodka and 7-Up, telling the
bartender to go light on the 7-Up.

She
had just settled onto her barstool, drink in hand when she heard an all too
familiar laugh from somewhere behind her.

No,
no, no. This could not be happening.

Turning
around slowly, Zoey’s eyes grazed the room, sliding over each face until the
object of all of her current anger appeared before her. Sitting not twenty feet
away, Jason was talking with a woman, one Zoey didn’t recognize from this
angle, as well as a couple of guys she didn’t know, but recognized from town.
Not only was Jason apparently having a good time, he didn’t even seem to
realize that his ex-wife – wait, make that
oblivious ex-wife
– was
sitting behind him.

How
was it possible that he got some woman pregnant and was run out of town without
her knowing about it? Oblivious was an understatement. More importantly, how
could he have done that to her?

Granted,
she wasn’t as blind as she allowed people to think back then. Of course she was
aware Jason was stepping out on her, but to what extent, she didn’t know. He’d
been fond of the bars back then, and when she refused to go out all the time,
he wound up going alone. Or so she thought.

Without
thinking, Zoey launched up from her seat and stomped across the room, hell bent
on… hell, she didn’t know, but she was geared up for a confrontation at the
very least.

“Damn
it, Gage.” Zoey exclaimed when Gage stepped directly into her path,
successfully stopping her

“Hey.”
He greeted, tipping her chin up at him when she didn’t bother to look.
“Where’re you headed?”

“Don’t
tell me you know, too.”

“Know
what?” Gage asked, looking sincerely confused.

“Never mind.”
Figuring there was no reason to shout it to the
world,
Zoey took a deep breath but didn’t move. She’d much prefer Gage to get out of
the way so she could continue with what she was doing. Surely by the time she
reached Jason, she’d come up with a plan.

“Have
a drink with me?” Gage asked, easily turning her – physically – and ushering
her back toward the bar.

Definitely not the plan.

Once
she was reluctantly seated on her barstool yet again, Zoey quickly downed half
of her drink, doing her best to ignore both Gage and the bastard still laughing
from across the room.

“Where’s
Kaleb?” Gage asked.

“Who
cares.
” She didn’t care to see Kaleb – not right then,
and maybe not ever. How could he have kept this a secret from her? Glancing
around the room, she suddenly wondered whether there were other people who knew
what happened. How many more people had kept this from her and were whispering
behind her back?

“Care
to talk about it?”

Jerking
her attention back to Gage, Zoey let her eyes linger on his face for a brief
moment before glancing down at the nearly empty glass in front of her. With a
quick flick of her wrist, she made it definitely empty and then shook her head
to answer Gage.

No,
she didn’t want to talk about it. What was she going to say? Her current
romantic fling – also known as her former best friend – had known about her
ex-husband cheating on her and getting some girl pregnant. To top it off, he’d
never told her.

God,
she must look like an idiot.

Turning
to look behind her again, Zoey noticed the blond woman beside Jason turning…
Tiffany Folsom, seriously?
Was Tiffany the woman Jason got
pregnant and ran away with? Or was she just another of his conquests?

“Ok,
then don’t talk.” Gage grinned, glancing down at his phone.

“Who’re
you texting?”

“No one.”
He was obviously lying because his fingers were still flying over the keyboard
on the phone.

“Bullshit.
You’re texting Kaleb. Well, you can tell him to go take a flying leap for all I
care.”

Another
booming laugh sounded from behind Zoey, and she wanted to scream. Right after
she punched something. Realizing her glass was still empty Zoey motioned for
the bartender who acknowledged her with a subtle head nod.

“So,
does your attitude have anything to do with the jackass sitting across the
room?”

“How’d
you guess?” Zoey bit out.

“I’m
lucky like that.” Gage laughed. “So, what’d Kaleb do to piss you off?
Seems to me like you have more than enough to be mad at right here
in the room.”

“Did
you know that the twins ran him out of town?” Zoey asked, figuring she might as
well ask.

“Who?
Kaleb?”

“No.”
With her frustration levels reaching critical mass, she took a deep breath and
exhaled slowly. “Not Kaleb. Jason.”

“Out of town?
What do you mean?”

Shit.
The question in Gage’s pretty brown eyes told her that he had no idea what she
was talking about.

“Speak
of the devil.” Gage grinned, looking toward the door.

What
the hell? All seven of the Walker brothers filed in, turning damn near every
head in the room, including Zoey’s. She had to admit, watching Kaleb, Braydon,
Brendon, Zane, Ethan and Sawyer walking in, all big, strapping and so damn good
looking… it nearly hurt to look at them. Pulling up the rear, none other than
the eldest of them all, looking like a total badass with his black Stetson
pulled low over those gleaming blue eyes.

Good
Lord.

When
the bartender set the drink in front of Zoey, Gage handed over money to cover
it, and she quickly downed it, not tasting a thing but feeling the burn as her
sinuses caught fire.
Damn it.

She
wasn’t about to give any of them the satisfaction of letting them know what
they had the power to do to any female within a fifteen mile radius, so she
pretended she hadn’t seen them by turning to face the bar, her hands clasped
tightly around her now empty glass.

She
was both surprised and a little irritated when Kaleb came to stand directly
behind her, successfully boxing her in so that she didn’t have an escape route,
even if she wanted one. That insanely delicious scent of him overwhelmed her
senses and nearly made her eyes cross. When the warmth of his breath teased her
ear, a body wracking shiver ran down her spine. When the hell was her body
going to get onboard? She was mad at him, dammit, so now was not the time to
get all hot and bothered by his nearness.