Colt had his eyes on Stew and his face was set too and I knew he was willing to give it to him.

I felt the whole bar tense, watching this and waiting for the showdown.

Stew hit Colt’s end of the bar, settling in, standing right next to Colt.

Stew barely got an elbow down and his head turned to Colt before Colt bellowed, “February!”

It was a bellow, it was loud and it carried.

I was surprised by this. Colt wasn’t a man who bellowed. If Colt had a point to make, he did it quiet. Further, when he was with me and, although it pained me watching him all those years with Melanie, I knew he was gentle with his women. He could tease and be annoying in doing it and he had a temper, definitely. He would raise his voice if he got aggravated but there was never any danger there, not like what I felt from Pete when his temper would start to rear out of control. And I’d learned, watching Colt with Susie and feeling the hit of it myself, he could play dirty, but bellowing… not his style.

Also I wasn’t the type of woman to be summoned by a man. Not that I had many men to be summoned by but the last one I really had, Pete, taught me the valuable lesson that I should always be me. I might have lost hold of me for awhile but one thing was for certain after Pete, February Owens was not someone who was summoned.

However, looking toward the end of the bar, I had to be the February Owens that part-owned J&J’s and didn’t want trouble in her bar. I also had to be the Feb, of the brand new and improved Feb and Colt, and, for whatever reason, and whatever reason that was it was important, my man wanted me.

Darryl looked at me but I went right to Colt, Stew watching me move, Colt not tearing his eyes from Stew, Aaron hanging back.

I stopped in front of Colt. “Yeah?”

“‘Round here, baby,” Colt said but he was still looking at Stew.

Shit, what’d he want from me?

“Colt –”

Colt’s eyes finally came to me and one look at them I instantly scooted around, lifting the bar up on its hinges, sliding through the opening and dropping it behind me.

By the time I got there, Colt had turned. His heels were up on the stool’s foot rail, legs bent, knees pointed toward the wall but his torso was twisted toward Stew. The minute I got near, his arm hooked around my waist and he pulled me between his legs.

Stew turned to watch, his forearm on the bar, his upper body leaning into it, his eyes on my breasts.

“Ain’t that sweet?” he muttered.

“Stew –” Aaron started.

“Don’t you think?” Stew cut him off by asking.

Colt didn’t give Aaron a chance to answer.

“Which one of you wants to start?” Colt asked and this wasn’t a conversation meant just for the four of us. Colt wasn’t bellowing but he’d got folks’ attention and he’d kept it. They were listening and he was talking clear enough for those close to hear.

“Start what?” Stew asked.

“Colt –” I began but got a waist squeeze that told me to shut up. I decided, seeing the set look on Colt’s face, to shut up.

“Start apologizin’. For that shit you spread about Feb,” Colt answered.

“What shit?” Stew asked but he knew; he just wanted trouble.

“Heard it from your own lips you fucked her. Heard it from hers you didn’t. So I’m thinkin’, since you lied about her, you’d wanna take this opportunity to apologize.”

Yep, I was right about the trouble, but it was Colt wanting it and now I knew Stew would give it to him.

“She said I lied?” Stew’s brows went up, giving trouble to Colt just as I suspected. “Hmm…” his eyes trailed me, “maybe I did, maybe I dreamed it,” he turned and leaned both elbows on the bar before he mumbled, “great fuckin’ dream, so great, felt real.”

My body got tight, Stew was such an asshole.

“Stew –” Aaron began again.

Colt cut him off by saying to Aaron, “All right, you start.”

“Feb knows I didn’t say anything,” Aaron said to Colt.

“Yeah, though I remember seein’ you at Frank’s and everyone congratulatin’ you on your conquest, you didn’t say anything to the contrary either,” Colt returned and I hated with all my heart that Colt heard that shit.

I swung my gaze to Aaron and I knew it contained hurt and accusation. I knew this because I wanted it to.

Aaron took one look at me and shifted his feet.

Stew turned back to one arm on the bar and declared, right in front of me, “He nailed her.”

“Colt, this is useless –” I started.

“Quiet, Feb,” Colt murmured but to Stew he spoke louder, “So, you were there when Aaron fucked her?”

“Everyone fucked her, man,” Stew looked at me. “Too bad you changed, woulda been nice, you bein’ back, to –”

I interrupted him. “Stew, don’t be an asshole.”

“You like that?” Colt’s eyes were still on Aaron. “Would you like it for your girls? To hear someone talk trash to one of your girls like that? Say some dumb fuck got it in his head to spread rumors, say your girls were easy, sweet pieces. Spread it around that they gave it away to anyone who wanted it?”

“Colt, it was a long time ago,” Aaron said quietly.

“So, that’d be okay with you?” Colt pressed.

“Of course not,” Aaron said then looked at me. “It was a fuckwad thing to do,” he told me. “Stupid. I shoulda told folks they got the wrong end of the stick.”

“So you didn’t nail her?” Colt asked.

Aaron looked to his boots and mumbled, “No.”

Colt looked at Stew. “But you did. Asshole like you, can’t get a woman unless you pay for it, you tagged a sweet piece like Feb?”

Colt sounded incredulous and there was a snicker from somewhere close but I was too focused on what was happening to see who did it.

Stew had caught the insult, forgetting or not caring that he was lying through his teeth about me and not willing to take that kind of hit to his manhood, he pushed away from the bar. “Fuck you, Lieutenant Colton. I don’t gotta pay for it.”

Colt leaned back a bit. “I don’t know. I heard you did. Must be true.”

Darryl slid around the bar to position himself at Colt’s back.

“Shut your mouth, asshole, you didn’t hear that,” Stew clipped.

“I didn’t?” Colt asked, feigning surprise. “Might just talk to a few folks about it, see if they heard the same thing. They heard it, it has to be true.”

Stew straightened away from the bar and leaned slightly toward Colt. “That shit’s not funny, motherfucker.”

“No, guess it wouldn’t be, havin’ someone say shit about you others might believe,” Colt said. “Then again, Angie Maroni was known for doin’ everyone. Good woman, bad taste. Not so bad she’d give you a shot, though. Saw you my damned self, dozen times at least in this very bar, tryin’ it on with her. Even Angie wouldn’t give it up for you.”

“I nailed Angie,” Stew announced.

Colt’s eyebrows shot up. “You did? Like you nailed Feb? In your dreams? Or was Angie real?”

I watched Stew’s face, already set, grow rock hard and Aaron saw it too.

“Stew, let’s go,” Aaron said, his voice held urgency now.

“You think you own this town,” Stew spat. “Cop. Untouchable.”

“I’m off duty now, Stew, private citizen havin’ a drink at my woman’s bar.”

“You’re not untouchable.”

“That sounds like a threat.”

Darryl got closer. I sucked in breath. Colt waited.

He wanted it, wanted Stew to make the move. He was itching to wipe the floor with him and the bar waited with Colt, probably itching just as bad to watch him do it.

“Stew, come on, man, let’s go,” Aaron repeated.

“I should teach you a lesson,” Stew said and this was definitely a threat.

“I’ve always been a good student. Whatcha got for me?” Colt taunted.

Stew moved in closer. Colt let my waist go and then moved me aside. Darryl grabbed my upper arm and pulled me behind him.

That’s when Morrie showed out of the blue with Dee behind him.

“What’s goin’ on?” Morrie asked, the shiner Colt gave him the day before having moved toward darker and uglier, which was what it’d do for another day or two before it started to fade. He was positioning Dee well away and getting close to Aaron.

“Stew here’s gonna teach me a lesson,” Colt said.

“‘Bout what?” Morrie asked, his eyes never leaving Stew, he’d read the situation and he was on alert.

“‘Not sure, think it’s about pickin’ vulnerable women, spreadin’ lies about ‘em, sayin’ you fucked ‘em when you didn’t. Stew here says he fucked Feb and Angie, when I know he didn’t do either. Maybe it isn’t a lesson, maybe he wants to convince me,” Colt answered, not talking to Stew but not taking his eyes off him then he started to address Stew. “Angie, she can’t speak for herself. But Feb, now February tells me you’re a liar. What I want to know is, did you lie about my woman?”

Stew’s eyes were moving from Colt, to Darryl, to Morrie, not, I suspected, assessing the fact that he was fucked but, I suspected, deciding which one to try to take on first.

“Colt, man, stand down, it was years ago and she wasn’t your woman then,” Aaron waded in, trying to play peacemaker.

Colt still didn’t look away from Stew. “Honest to God, was there ever a time Feb wasn’t my woman?”

“Yeah, when she was bonking me,” Stew pushed it, “then she was all mine.”

Colt stood and got close, he had three inches on Stew but Stew didn’t back down.

Morrie and Darryl got closer too.

Morrie spoke. “Colt, dude, this guy’s not worth it.”

Colt ignored Morrie and called to me, “Feb, you got anything to say?”