Free Owned for Christmas by Willa Edwards Page B

Grant’s shoes. “You fucking asshole.”
    “She was—” Before Grant could get the whole sentence out, Daniel punched him in the face. Grant let out a grunt, automatically stepping backward. Anger and shock covered his features.
    Daniel stood shocked too. He’d never hit anyone before in his life. He hadn’t even thought about it. He’d just reacted. And surprisingly, it had felt good. Really good. Except for his knuckles.
    “What’d you do that for?” Grant gingerly touched his eye.
    Daniel remained in position, his body tensed, ready to strike again. He kept his hands up, waiting for the retaliation he knew would come. “You kissed my girlfriend, you dick. You deserved it.”
    “She was my girl first,” Grant whispered.
    “Fuck you.” Daniel launched at his brother, his fist flying.
    Grant responded in turn. He cocked his arm back and pounded his hand into Daniel’s stomach. Daniel grunted, fazed only for a second before he returned the same.
    Grant snared Daniel’s neck, holding him steady, and slammed his fist into his midsection—one, two, three times. Daniel retaliated, throwing his hands wildly, only a few of his punches landing. A slight pain rocketed up his side, but he ignored it.
    Pain was nothing compared to what Grant had done. He deserved to pay.
    Daniel squeezed his arm around his brother, yanking him down with his weight into the snow. Grant thudded into the wet pile, tugging Daniel into the icy slop with him. Dirty snow filled his eyes, blurring his vision. He continued pounding on his brother, not caring where he hit. All that mattered was that Grant hurt too.
    “Stop it, both of you,” Kate screamed.
    They ignored her.
    This needed settling—and now. Daniel couldn’t take it anymore. The pain and distance Grant had already put between them, the hurt he’d caused Kate, before Daniel had even shown up, was inexcusable. And now he had the audacity to sniff around his girl as if he wanted her back.
    It made his blood boil and he’d fucking had enough—of all of it. He was fucking sick of hearing how Grant had given up his life to come back to the ranch. That wasn’t Daniel’s fucking fault. Grant had chosen to do that.
    Daniel leaned up on his knees, cocking his hand back to launch another punch, when freezing cold water showered down his back. It had dropped to the lower thirties that day and the forecast predicted snow tomorrow. Wet, it felt twenty below.
    Daniel screamed out, rolling over, away from his brother, trying to escape the cold spray. Beside him, Grant bellowed, and Daniel smiled as the cold water drenched his brother too. He deserved it—and then some.
    Grant shook his head, droplets flying everywhere from his long strands. “Why the fuck did you do that?” he shouted at Kate.
    The urge to choke his brother rose up in Daniel’s body. He barely managed to push it down. How dare Grant yell at her like that! At least Daniel’s rage helped to raise his temperature a little.
    “I don’t want any of this,” she declared, motioning between the two of them. “I don’t want you fighting, certainly not over me.” Her lower lip wobbled and her eyes glistened.
    Daniel didn’t want to push her.
    She sniffled then seemed to get control of herself. “If I’m coming between you two, then it’s better if I just leave.” She dropped the hose to the ground.
    The thunk of the nozzle hitting the frozen ground reverberated through Daniel’s heart.
    She turned tail and ran back toward the house, wiping at her eyes as she left.
    Daniel lay there for a moment in the cold, dirty snow, stunned into stillness. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a door slam, but he didn’t register anything else.
    She couldn’t leave. He couldn’t lose her. He’d never cared about anyone the way he cared about her. She was special, and he wasn’t about to let her go without a fight. Even if it was his brother Daniel was fighting.
    “There are some towels in the barn.” Grant stood, heading