Chapter Forty-Three
Jake
Xavier smacks me on the back as he waves the bartender over. “Hey, man, what can I get you?”
“I’m good. I’ll just take a water.”
The place is booming compared to Rusty Nail. At the tavern, there were only a handful of customers. Even though it’s a weeknight, Callahan’s is packed. The dance floor is full of people jumping and singing along with the band. Rusty Nail hasn’t had a band in decades if they ever had such an event.
After the night I’ve had, I don’t need to add fuel to the fire. Seeing Emily so soon after she left my bed without so much as a thank you for rocking my world, my mood is in the toilet. Maybe I didn’t rock her world?
Fuck. I rake my hand through my hair. Just because it was life altering for me doesn’t mean she felt a thing.
“Sure thing.” He gives our order to the bartender and returns his attention to me.
The bartender moves smoothly from one end of the bar to the other, chatting, taking orders, and wiping up drinks.
He’s a large guy with tattoos and looks like he’d be more comfortable in a boxing ring than behind a bar.
After the bartender hands us our orders, Xavier turns to me. “I heard you were out on a date with Amanda tonight.”
I cough over the water I’m attempting to swallow and nearly spew liquid in his face. He jumps back as I swipe the back of my hand over my mouth and set down my drink.
“Seriously, warn a guy before you start saying crazy shit.”
He frowns as his eyebrows arch upward. “About what? Amanda is a good-looking woman. A bit high maintenance.” He shrugs. “If you’re into that kind of thing.”
I don’t have to ask what kind of thing he means. Easy. Amanda is known for not playing hard to get.
I shift on my feet to allow the woman beside me to return to the main floor with her drink in her hand. “I just wasn’t expecting that kind of question. I forget I’m back in Brookhaven and that every time you talk to a girl, there’s talk of wedding bells.”
“So, you didn’t take her on a date to Rusty Nail?”
“Do I look like the kind of guy who’d take a date to Rusty Nail?” At least he hasn’t heard about my night with Emily. If he had, that would’ve been his first comment. Not Amanda.
“Maybe.” He winks and raises the beer to his lips.
“Fuck you.” I glare at him and wish I hadn’t made the decision not to drink. “I’ve never taken a girl to a place that suspect before and never will. You know Edward, right?”
“Yeah, Amanda’s younger brother.”
“I was talking to her the other night at the fire. The one at Frank’s house.”
“Right.” His expression changes to quizzical as if he’s trying to track my rapid changes in topics.
“Anyway, she told me her brother was going to my alma mater for criminal justice and was interested in law enforcement. She wanted to know what classes he should take.”
“And you believed that?” A man with a goatee elbows Xavier in the back, causing him to swing around to face him. “Watch it, buddy.”
“Shit, guy, I’m sorry.” He holds his hands facing outward. “I didn’t mean to run into you. This place is packed tonight.”
“Yes, it is.” Xavier’s neck muscles are tense as he surveys the man at his side.
“I’m grabbing a drink for my girl and headed back to the dance floor. The band is killing it tonight.”
Xavier dodges sideways to give him room to approach the bar. “Go ahead, we can’t leave a lady waiting.”
The man smiles. “Yeah, this lady is plowed.” He winks, steps between us and leans across the bar, allowing us to return to our previous conversation.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. I told her I wasn’t interested. We talked about her brother, and that was it.”
Did Emily think I was on a date with Amanda? She knows me better than that. Doesn’t she? She should. She knew Amanda cheated on me and that I wouldn’t go back to a cheater.
My stomach drops. Did Emily see Amanda’s message and think I was going back to her? The message came in at the same time Emily left. It’s all starting to make sense. Emily left because she didn’t believe I was serious about her.
It doesn’t matter what I have to say, I’m going to convince her that she’s the woman I want. Not Amanda. Not anyone else.
He takes another swig from his beer. “Playing hard to get?”
“No. I’m not interested in Amanda.” I stretch in front of the new guy and grab my water bottle as the man’s thumb and first two fingers rub together over the glass. Did he drop something into the drink?
My heart skips a beat as my jaw ticks. “What was that?”
“What was what?” The man looks at me like I’m stupid.
“What you put in that drink?” I can’t be completely sure he dropped something, but I’ve seen that move too many times not to suspect something is up.
The guy’s chest puffs out as he squares his shoulders. “I didn’t put anything into the drink. I’m not the kind of guy who needs to drug a girl to get laid.” He thrusts his shoulder into mine. “Before you accuse people of something like that, you’d better be sure of what you’re talking about.”
After he shoves his way past us, Xavier watches his every move. “Did he?”
“I think he did.” I track his movements until he makes it to the edge of the dance floor and then lose sight of him. “I’m going to see if I can warn the girl. Maybe it’s nothing, but I couldn’t stomach it if something happened to this girl he was talking about and not doing anything to stop him.”
“Xavier!” Ruby waves at him, beckoning him toward her, and he’s gone.
Ruby…. My heart lodges in my throat. Shit. Did Emily come with her?
My gaze darts from where Ruby and Xavier are now talking at the bar, to the hallway leading to the bathrooms, and then to the dance floor.
The man with the goatee wraps his arm around a shorter girl in a lavender T-shirt. She’s swaying her backside from side to side and laughing at something he says. Son of a bitch. I’d recognize that ass anywhere. That’s my ass.
The man cups the back of her neck and lifts the drink to her mouth. Emily laughs harder as she dodges the cup, bats at his hand, and tries to step away from him.
That fucking son of a bitch. Rage pours through my veins as I shove people out of my way. I don’t bother saying anything to them as I plow past them. And none of them utter a word to me when they spin to face me.
I’m going to beat this asshole’s face until he can’t tell the difference between his nose and a package of ground beef. And then I’m going to take her over my knee and smack her ass for dancing with this prick when she should’ve been home with me.
The man’s face hardens as he grips her neck tighter, holding her in place. Emily’s smile drops as she wrenches her shoulder sideways, trying to relax his grip, but it does no good. He holds the glass to her lips as she attempts to jerk away again, but he’s too big for her to dislodge him.
“Excuse me.” I brush past a couple who’re so locked into each other, they don’t notice me.
When Emily stomps on the guy’s foot, his face turns red. That’s when he yells at her, but I’m too far away to hear what he says. Fifteen feet away. He fists her hair and holds her head back until she gasps.
Fuck. I’m not going to get there in time but there’s no way in hell I’m letting her go anywhere with him. I’m going to knock him the fuck out and take her home where she’s safe.
“I’m so sorry.” I grip the upper arm of a blonde-haired woman. When she sees my expression, she jumps out of my way. “Thank you.”
Emily’s eyes are wide as he pours the drink into her mouth. Seven feet. She gags and spits out the drink, spraying it into the crowd.
“What in the fuck?” A guy in a gray T-shirt smacks the man’s shoulder, causing the glass to crash onto the floor, shattering into a million pieces. Son of a bitch. So much for testing it to see what was in it.
Emily staggers away, rubbing her neck and wiping at her mouth. Her eyes are glassy as she sways on her feet. “What are you doing?”
I shove a burly man with a beer gut out of my way. Two steps and I’ll be at her side. “Excuse me. I need to get to my woman.”
“Sure thing.” The man nods and stomps out of the way.
She blinks at me as her mouth curves into a small o. “What’re you doing here?”
“I could ask you that same question.” I brace my hands on the guy’s chest and thrust–hard, pushing him back and away from her. I step between them, while surveying her face for signs that she’s ingested anything.
She squints at me and frowns. “What’re you doing here? I thought you’d be balls deep in Amanda by now.”
“Whoa, Pretty Girl, that’s some crude language there.” I cup her cheek and slide my thumb over her skin. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not okay. You took Amanda out on a date.” Her nose wrinkles. “To Rusty Nail Tavern. That’s pathetic on so many levels.”
Her head swings to the other guy. She dodges past me and slams her index finger into his chest. “And you. You tried to drug me, you asshole. I told you I was heartbroken, and you were going to use that against me.” She braces both hands on his chest and pushes. “You’re a fucking pig.”
“You’re a fucking prig of a bitch, and there’s no way you can–”
“Listen up.” I grasp the fabric of his T-shirt, twist it, yanking him off balance. “Stay the fuck away from my girl and be a man. If a woman says no….” I punch him in the gut. He gasps and folds inward, holding onto his stomach as I switch directions and shove my fist into his face. “She means no.”
The crowd around us stops, watching every move we make like we’re on the Maury Povich Show.
“Yes, she means no.” Emily uses her tiny fist and punches him in the face. “Fuck,” she whimpers and shakes her hand. “Shit.”
“You fucking cunts.” The jerkoff clutches his nose as blood trickles between his fingers. I must give her credit, my girl packs quite a punch.
A security guard shoves his way through the crowd on his way toward us. With each step, the crowd parts making room while enjoying the show.
The guy’s face is as red as the blood covering his skin as he lurches forward. “I’m going to–”
“Stay the fuck away from my girl, or I’ll beat your ass.” I shove his chest with both hands, knocking him off balance. I’m not looking forward to telling my boss about this incident tomorrow, but I’m not about to let this guy touch Emily again.
If we were in Brookhaven, I’d have him in cuffs on his way to the station, but we’re in the city where I have no jurisdiction. Nor any proof that he tried to drug her.
Xavier and Ruby bust through the crowd from the other direction.
“You’re a fucking pussy.” The nasal sound of his voice after getting his nose smashed makes him sound comical.
“You got hit by a girl.” I smirk and push him, slamming him backward. My girl. Who just admitted she was heartbroken because she thought I’d taken Amanda out on a date.
Now that I have my head out of my ass, it all makes sense. The night at the fire. She was fine until Amanda showed up. And the night she spent in my arms? She was molten lava.
Until my phone pinged, and she disappeared. Which was also Amanda’s fault. She had to have seen her message and thought something was going on between us.
“Emily!” Ruby’s face is white as she grabs Emily’s upper arm. “Are you okay?”
“No, my fucking hand hurts.” She shoves it in Ruby’s face. “See?”
“Yes, baby, I see.” She rubs her thumb over Emily’s knuckle.
“Dude.” Xavier slings his arm over my shoulders. By this point, the band has stopped playing and is also watching. “You sure know how to cause a scene for a cop.”
“A cop?” The guy raises his hands in defense and backs away. He bounces into a woman behind him, sending her off balance, turns on his heel and speedwalks away like he’s about to shit his pants.
“Is everything okay?” The security guard motions for the other customers to stand back.
“I’m fine and dandy, like a hard candy Christmas,” Emily says while staring at her knuckles like they’re the most fascinating thing she’s ever seen.
“Everyone, get back. We don’t want anyone cut.” The guard pushes the button on his handheld radio and calls for a cleaning crew.