Read Online PRIDE: A Bad Boy and Amish Girl Romance (The Brody Bunch#1) by Sienna Valentine - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sienna Valentine
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distract me. I never saw the punch coming until it landed.
Sarah shrieked and moved out of the way as I stumbled backward, a series of brilliant nebulas collapsing in front of my eyes. I was hurtling through the darkness of space, gravity a thing of the past as I struggled to maintain my footing on solid ground. Bastard had got me right in the jaw, right where that nerve is that’ll knock your lights out. But I wasn’t about to let myself collapse in front of Sarah, never mind this crowd. I wasn’t about to go down on account of some cheap-ass sucker punch.
While I breathed through the urge to faint, the crowd closed in around us. I could feel Sarah’s breath against my ear, soft and sweet as she whispered, “Reid? Reid, are you okay?”
I steadied myself and raised up, blinking away the last of the flashing lights. Doucheface was gone.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered. I hadn’t felt the pain quite yet, but I could tell my jaw was swelling. The words came out a little rough, a little slurred. My heart was pounding in my ears and the adrenaline in my veins made my hands shaky. My eyes darted over the crowd, but I couldn’t find that piece of shit who’d put his hands on Sarah. Either he’d high-tailed it out of the fairgrounds completely, or he knew how to blend in. Asshole.
Beside me, Sarah flinched. Gingerly, she brushed her fingertips over my face. “That looks bad…”
I pulled away from her. “What’d you expect? I had everything under control, Sarah. Right up until you started defending the jackass who tried to…” My anger waned just a little, replaced by confusion. “What the hell was he trying to do to you?”
“I… I don’t know,” she admitted, looking way more shaken than she’d been just a minute ago. She’d been ready to get between us before I’d gotten hit, but that bravery had departed once she’d seen what a well-placed punch could do. “He grabbed me around my waist, and…”
“Do you think he was trying to cop a feel?” I asked, still surreptitiously looking for any sign of her assailant. “Looked kinda like he was trying to drag you away.”
Sarah’s gaze grew distant. She refocused on the ground and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know, Reid. I was scared. I didn’t know what he was going to do to me.”
I watched her wring her hands. Something about this didn’t seem right to me, but it also looked like Sarah had no idea what the hell was going on. A naïve little Amish chick like her wouldn’t have had enough life experience to cultivate a poker face good enough to fool me. That bewildered look was genuine. Huffing out air through my nose, I said, “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have stopped me. Who knows what he would’ve done to you if I hadn’t pushed him away? Assholes like that only understand one language: violence. You gotta beat the bad out of them.”
“That’s not how things work, where I’m from,” she whispered softly. “The Amish… we don’t do things like that.”
I snorted. “Like what? Try to molest people, drag them off to a white panel van?”
Sarah nodded. “Yes. And we don’t strike one another, either.”
I shook my head at her and turned away. Christ, it was like she thought she was better than me. Like her whole “community” was. She didn’t understand how dangerous it was out here, how sometimes words weren’t enough. It was dog-eat-dog in the real world. That “turn the other cheek” shit didn’t play.
I was about to tell her so when I noticed her eyes were gleaming. They were wet—she hadn’t started crying yet, but if I didn’t do or say something to stop her, she would be soon. And just like that, all the anger in me faded away, and I realized that maybe Sarah wasn’t trying to pull some holier-than-thou shit. Maybe she was just trying to explain to me how new this all was. How fucking terrifying.
“Hey,” I said gently, laying my hand on her shoulder. She trembled, but did not pull
Sarah shrieked and moved out of the way as I stumbled backward, a series of brilliant nebulas collapsing in front of my eyes. I was hurtling through the darkness of space, gravity a thing of the past as I struggled to maintain my footing on solid ground. Bastard had got me right in the jaw, right where that nerve is that’ll knock your lights out. But I wasn’t about to let myself collapse in front of Sarah, never mind this crowd. I wasn’t about to go down on account of some cheap-ass sucker punch.
While I breathed through the urge to faint, the crowd closed in around us. I could feel Sarah’s breath against my ear, soft and sweet as she whispered, “Reid? Reid, are you okay?”
I steadied myself and raised up, blinking away the last of the flashing lights. Doucheface was gone.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered. I hadn’t felt the pain quite yet, but I could tell my jaw was swelling. The words came out a little rough, a little slurred. My heart was pounding in my ears and the adrenaline in my veins made my hands shaky. My eyes darted over the crowd, but I couldn’t find that piece of shit who’d put his hands on Sarah. Either he’d high-tailed it out of the fairgrounds completely, or he knew how to blend in. Asshole.
Beside me, Sarah flinched. Gingerly, she brushed her fingertips over my face. “That looks bad…”
I pulled away from her. “What’d you expect? I had everything under control, Sarah. Right up until you started defending the jackass who tried to…” My anger waned just a little, replaced by confusion. “What the hell was he trying to do to you?”
“I… I don’t know,” she admitted, looking way more shaken than she’d been just a minute ago. She’d been ready to get between us before I’d gotten hit, but that bravery had departed once she’d seen what a well-placed punch could do. “He grabbed me around my waist, and…”
“Do you think he was trying to cop a feel?” I asked, still surreptitiously looking for any sign of her assailant. “Looked kinda like he was trying to drag you away.”
Sarah’s gaze grew distant. She refocused on the ground and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know, Reid. I was scared. I didn’t know what he was going to do to me.”
I watched her wring her hands. Something about this didn’t seem right to me, but it also looked like Sarah had no idea what the hell was going on. A naïve little Amish chick like her wouldn’t have had enough life experience to cultivate a poker face good enough to fool me. That bewildered look was genuine. Huffing out air through my nose, I said, “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have stopped me. Who knows what he would’ve done to you if I hadn’t pushed him away? Assholes like that only understand one language: violence. You gotta beat the bad out of them.”
“That’s not how things work, where I’m from,” she whispered softly. “The Amish… we don’t do things like that.”
I snorted. “Like what? Try to molest people, drag them off to a white panel van?”
Sarah nodded. “Yes. And we don’t strike one another, either.”
I shook my head at her and turned away. Christ, it was like she thought she was better than me. Like her whole “community” was. She didn’t understand how dangerous it was out here, how sometimes words weren’t enough. It was dog-eat-dog in the real world. That “turn the other cheek” shit didn’t play.
I was about to tell her so when I noticed her eyes were gleaming. They were wet—she hadn’t started crying yet, but if I didn’t do or say something to stop her, she would be soon. And just like that, all the anger in me faded away, and I realized that maybe Sarah wasn’t trying to pull some holier-than-thou shit. Maybe she was just trying to explain to me how new this all was. How fucking terrifying.
“Hey,” I said gently, laying my hand on her shoulder. She trembled, but did not pull
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