Vaughan

 FOUR, VERY UNHAPPY men, stared at me. I focused only on one.

Kenzi’s brows dipped into a frown while she yelled at her brothers. Her eyes welled with tears. I wanted to pull her close and tell her everything would be okay, but was afraid that if I did I’d be leaving the house in a body bag.

I’ve wondered how we got here, at how rapidly things went so terribly wrong, but knew the answer. We shouldn’t have kept our relationship a secret. We should have been open about it from the moment we realized that staying away from each other was next to impossible, and dealt with the fallout, however awful it may have been. Instead we snuck around like what we were doing was wrong, and that was my partly my fault.

Her brothers, Liam and Aiden, made it very clear to just about every guy on campus that their little sister was off limits, but even more so to their teammates – including me.

Their threats fell on deaf ears because meeting her was like running head first into a freight train. I was fucked, and unashamed to admit it. Kenzi’s reservations were more or less the same. She was afraid of how her brothers – all four of them – would react. She was also concerned over how her father – and my ice hockey coach – would feel about her dating me.

It shouldn’t have mattered but we allowed it to, and that’s what really landed us here. We were spending a romantic getaway at River Stone Resort when her best friend, Madison, called. After that everything went downhill.

“Daddy, are you listening to this?” screamed Kenzi, looking to her father for help.

Coach Davis pursed his lips. Until then he hadn’t said anything. We were standing in his kitchen, and had been for the last thirty minutes while Kenzi, Liam and Aiden, took turns to yell at each other. Jackson, Kenzi’s older brother and our head athletic trainer, was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, with a nervous looking Madison close to his side. He’d been staring at me since we walked in, but I could see he wasn’t surprised by the turn of events. I had a feeling he saw it coming.

“Don’t turn to Dad for help, Kenzi,” snapped Liam. “You got yourself into this, and now we want to hear you explain your way out if it.” He mirrored Jackson’s stance, folding his arms across his chest and straightening to his full 5’11 height. Aiden stood next to him, doing the same, both glaring at their sister.

“I don’t owe you an explanation!” cried Kenzi. Her voice hitched like it always did when she got frustrated, and the first few tears slipped over her eyelids. “What happens between me and Vaughan is none of your business!”

“The hell it’s not!” bellowed Aiden.

He stepped closer to Kenzi and out of instinct I moved to her side. I hated the way they were speaking to her, and it only made it harder to control my own anger. Both Liam and Aiden’s heads snapped up, fixing me with murderous green eyes, but I didn’t flinch. They might be my teammates, but when it came to protecting Kenzi I was not about to back down even if they were her brothers.

“How long has this been going on?” asked Liam. “How long did it take before you got into her pants?”

Kenzi gasped, and I tensed as Coach Davis spoke up. “Liam,” he warned. “That’s your sister you’re talking about.”

Liam snorted, but it was Aiden who responded. “Clearly this asshole,” he gestured towards me, “needs to be reminded of that.”

“Don’t call him that!” said Kenzi. I felt her move closer, tucking her small hand into mine. “You don’t know anything about us or our relationship!”

“We told him to stay away from you,” said Aiden, keeping his anger fixed on me. “Didn’t we, Vaughan? But you just had to make our sister another fucking notch on your bed post.”

“It’s not like that,” I ground out, trying to get the words out between every tick of my jaw. I’d remained quiet until now, out of respect for Coach Davis, but my patience was running thin.

“Boys!” Coach Davis’s voice bellowed through the kitchen, and a glance at his expression exposed his barely contained anger. I just wasn’t entirely sure who he was angry with, his sons or me. “That’s enough. I will not tolerate that language in my house, or such disrespect towards your sister.”

“You’re defending them?” asked Aiden, his murderous expression marred by incredulity. “You’re pretty much giving this dickface permission to bang Kenzi like it’s no big deal!”

Coach Davis took a step forward, but not before my fist came up and landed on Aiden’s cheek with a sickening crack. I admit I should have thought it through, maybe even allowed Coach Davis to handle the situation, but hearing Aiden speak that way about Kenzi was like cattle prodding a hellhound.

I shoved Kenzi out of the way just in time for Liam to miss her when he launched at me. We hit the wall, fists flying, and I grunted when he his knuckles landed in my ribs. Kenzi, being the little firecracker that she was, jumped over Liam and flung herself into Aiden, stopping him from joining Liam and myself on the ground. Madison and Jackson grabbed Kenzi just as Coach Davis reached Aiden, shoving him out the way.

Liam threw his fist and it connected with my jaw, sending my head snapping to the side. Gripping the collar of my sweater, he lifted my head and brought us nose-to-nose. “Did. You. Fuck. My. Sister?” he bit out furiously, tightening his grip. “Did you?”

My eyes darted to a crying Kenzi, and I saw the worry etched on her beautiful face. This had nothing to do with her brothers, but they would know I was lying no matter what I said.

I looked back at Liam and grabbed his wrists, tightening my hold until he flinched. “It’s none of your business,” I told him, meeting his steely glare with my own. “It’s between me and – ” I didn’t get to finish my sentence. Liam’s left hand dropped my collar and reared back before he hit me again, this time landing the blow on my nose. Pain shot up between my eyes and the air left my lungs with a grunt.

Kenzi was screaming, and then Coach Davis was lifting Liam from me.

He struggled in his father’s strong hold, kicking his legs out. “Dad! Let me go!” he roared. “Let me kill the fucker!”

I stayed on the ground, focusing on calming my breathing as the pain slowly subsided. Kenzi shoved away from Madison and Jackson, coming to stand in front of Liam and Coach Davis. She slapped Liam across the face, shocking the hell out of everyone.

“I hate you!” she seethed, her face red and twisted in anger. “The only assholes in this room are you and Aiden!”

Then she was gone. I saw the flip of her blonde hair, heard the front door open and slam shut. I quickly jumped to my feet, ignoring the unsteadiness of my stance, and raced after her, running down the front steps.

It was cold outside with everything still covered in a light sheath of snow after a storm dropped ten inches of powder two days ago, but I caught a glimpse of Kenzi as she ran towards the curb where my truck was parked.

“Kenzi!” I yelled. “Let me come with you!”

She was either ignoring me or too upset to hear, because she climbed into the driver’s side without even acknowledging me. I turned around and when I saw Madison standing on the front porch, I shouted, “Maddy, give me your car keys!”

Before she could respond, the front door flew open and Aiden charged down the steps. “You’re not going anywhere!” he snarled over the sound of tires skidding across the damp road.

If he came at me again I was ready, and the four horsemen wouldn’t be able to stop me from going after my girl.

“Screw you!” I snapped. I parried Aiden’s hit with my forearm, countering with my fist to his stomach. He dropped to the ground, clutching his waist, and I bent down until I was right in his face. “I’m going after her.” My voice was calm despite the panic surging through my wired body. “You want to stop me? Then fucking kill me, because nothing is keeping me from the girl I love.”

I didn’t wait for Aiden to respond. I held my hands out for Madison and she tossed me her keys. I climbed into her Prius and wasted no time charging down the road.

My heart thumped loudly in my ears and only started to slow down when I caught up to my truck’s taillights. Kenzi stopped at a traffic light and I had no idea where she’s going, but I’d follow her all night if I had to – until she was ready to talk.

The light changed and just as Kenzi eased forward, I saw it – another vehicle careening precariously towards the intersection with no sign of slowing down. Kenzi kept going, oblivious to the impending danger. I’d jumped out the car right before my truck was hit. On the driver’s side.

“Kenzi!” I hollered, running toward the accident. My feet hit the ground; thump, thump, thump, and my breaths came out in uneven wisps; whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

I reached the truck but Kenzi remained unmoving, her eyes closed, her hair taking on a pink tinge on the side. I cried her name until my throat was hoarse, so hoarse my mouth tasted metallic. But it was useless. Even when they shoved me aside to get to her, I continued to yell.

It was never ending chaos around me.

But inside?

I was dead.