“Thank you,” he told her, and although he smiled, Kennedy could see it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Something was up, and now she had to figure out what that was.
“Are you ready? Or do you want to hang here for a while?” he asked, once again looking around the room.
“I’m ready.” The only reason she’d come to Moonshiners was to see her father for a few minutes. Okay, so she’d hoped to see Sawyer as well, not wanting their only interaction to be in the bedroom. But, from what it looked like, that was his intention. Since she couldn’t resist him, no matter how hard she had tried, she figured it was best to give in to the inevitable now.
They had gotten to their feet when the front door opened and in walked Greyson. Kennedy noticed immediately that he didn’t look happy and his glare was directed right at Sawyer. Then, as though Sawyer’s tension wasn’t enough, his body tensed immediately.
When he reached for her hand, she was tempted to pull away, unsure what was going on, but then the next thing she knew, he was practically dragging her out of the bar. When they stepped outside, the cool night air chilled her, but so did the way Sawyer was acting. That was when the door opened and she turned to see Greyson following them out.
“What the fuck is your problem, man?” Greyson called after Sawyer.
Sawyer didn’t stop walking, continuing to pull Kennedy toward his car.
“I’ll drive myself,” she told him. She’d only had one and a half drinks over the span of nearly three hours, so she was fine to drive. More than fine actually.
Sawyer nodded, then led her toward her car. She had to tug at him when he began pulling her too hard. “What’s the matter with you?” she snapped, yanking out of his grasp.
“Sawyer, damn it, man. Fuckin’ stop.”
Kennedy spun around to see Greyson standing right behind them, his emerald-green eyes shooting fire. Sawyer didn’t respond, although his chest puffed up as he stared down his friend.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, man? So what? This piece of ass finally gives you the time of day and all of a sudden you can’t even fucking talk to me?”
There was a blur of movement and then Sawyer was slamming Greyson against her car, while she took a step back to get out of the way.
“Don’t do it, bro,” Sawyer growled. “You can be pissed at me all day long, but don’t you fucking dare disrespect her like that. You hear me?”
Greyson’s eyes narrowed, his chest heaving, but at least he had the good sense not to say anything. Kennedy had never seen Sawyer like this. She’d heard plenty of stories, but hadn’t personally witnessed this side of him.
She might not be privy to what had happened between Sawyer and Greyson, but based on Greyson’s out-of-character response, she’d dare to guess that it had something to do with her.
SAWYER WAS TRYING to rein in his temper, but it was quickly getting away from him. He knew Greyson was pissed, but the fact that he’d referred to Kennedy as a piece of ass had Sawyer on the verge of stomping his ass into the ground.
The fact was, Sawyer didn’t want to see Greyson. He didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t want to listen to his excuses. After what he’d learned from Gage earlier that afternoon, Sawyer wasn’t sure he could trust the guy. And at that moment, he knew he needed time to process the information he’d been given before he did something drastic. Like beat the shit out of the guy who’d been his best friend for damn near all his life.
He knew this was going to happen, which was why he had attempted to get out of there before Greyson showed up. The conversation they’d had earlier, when Greyson had cornered him at AI, hadn’t gone well. He got it. He did. Greyson was his lifelong friend and they’d spent years nailing women together, but seriously, for him to get that pissed because Sawyer informed him that he wasn’t looking for that anymore seemed a little over-the-top. Not to mention, if Greyson had actually done what Gage believed he had, there was nothing Greyson could do or say to make it better. And he damn sure wasn’t going to have the conversation in the parking lot of Moonshiners. With the sheriff inside.
Pushing back from Greyson, Sawyer released him and moved back a few steps. “I’ll see you later.”
Turning back to Kennedy, he reached for her hand, but she didn’t take it. She looked up at him as though he’d lost his mind.
Great. Just how he wanted his night to turn out. As it was, Greyson was livid, and on top of that, Sawyer was a little worried about Brendon. For the past couple of weeks, his brother’s mood hadn’t actually improved—if anything, it’d gotten worse since the last Sunday dinner at their parents’ house. Enough that Lorrie had called Sawyer to discuss what was going on with him. He hadn’t been able to get in touch with Brendon so that they could talk. He got the distinct impression Brendon was purposely avoiding him. Possibly everyone.