Page 43 of Mountain Grump Protector

I glance down at the stack of cash before sliding it into my back pocket. “Thanks for grabbing that for me, man. Appreciate it.”

“Not a big deal. I was in the city anyway.”

My friend raises a brow. I know him well enough to know there’s a lot more he wants to say.

I sigh and lean back against the bench, crossing my arms over my chest. “What?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Bull shit.”

Luke chuckles and drops his head for a second before looking at me. “You really need me to say it?”

I shake my head, not that it’s going to stop him.

I know exactly what he’s going to say. I’ve been thinking it, too. Probably every second since Willow walked out of the Rusty Nail with me.

I’m in too deep.

And if I thought that before I took her to bed, then now I’m really fucked. Because as much as I’ve tried to keep distance from her, any chance of that has been blown out of the water now.

Way out.

“You know what you’re doing, Cal?”

I open my mouth to give my friend a sharp retort. Instead, I close it and shake my head. “Not a fucking clue.”

Luke answers with a low whistle.

“Thought I did,” I continue. “But…”

“Been a long time since you’ve gone for the damsel in distress, hey?”

He doesn’t say it maliciously, and I nod, because we both know exactly how long it’s been. He was there. He saw the fallout of that decision and everything that came after it.

“It’s okay, you know?”

My head snaps up. “What’s okay?”

“To let yourself feel,” he says simply. “History doesn’t have to repeat itself,” he continues. “It won’t.”

“You don’t know that.” I turn away and walk toward the truck I’ve been working on, pressing my hands on the hood and dropping my head. “I mean…I know it’s different now,” I say without turning. “We’re not at war. This isn’t a mission. But…”

“But?”

“Hatch.” It’s the easy answer, but it’s not the whole truth. The part I don’t say is how I saw Willow's home. I saw with my own eyes what she’s come from. The battle she’s been fighting all on her own. I took her away from it all yesterday, but could I save her from it? Could I keep her safe from her family’s choices and the life that threatens to pull her under?

"I have my opinions on using your money to pay for someone else’s debts,” Luke says behind me. “But it’s your money, and you can do what you want with it. If paying off that asshole is going to keep her safe, then I support it. This will be over soon.”

If only it were that simple.

I inhale another deep breath and finally straighten, so I can look at my friend. “Maybe you’re right.”

I’m full of shit, and he knows me well enough to know it.

Thankfully, he also knows me well enough not to call me on it right now.

“Take care of Hatch,” Luke says, clapping me on my back and squeezing my shoulder. “Then you can figure out the rest.”