Chapter 3 Vegas Rescue
Nell
Three Years Later
My best friend was about to marry the wrong man and I had to stop her.
Our friendship would not survive the news she needed to hear. Still, I couldn’t go through with being her stupid maid of honor, her roommate, and maybe not even her friend if her fiancé was going to remain in our sphere.
“What is it, Nell? You dragged me over here in the creepy hallway with your buzz-kill vibe, the least you can do is spit it out quickly and be done. It’s the night before my wedding. I’m supposed to be having fun.”
I stared at the woman who was once my ride or die bestie and wanted to vomit. I already knew what her reaction would be. It was written in the impatience, the snap in her tone, and the stiff way she held her shoulders.
“You already know,” I whispered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Elena sneered through those words even as her face bloomed red and her eyes refused to meet my own.
“You do,” I countered. “You know he’s slept with Ashley and Dawn at least.” The way she flinched back told me she may not have known about them - her other bridesmaids - but she knew about others before them.
“You even know, somewhere deep under all your denials, that he tried the same shit with me last night.”
I pointed to my busted lip that throbbed with every word I spoke. Makeup could only do so much to cover it. “This was his response when I turned his sorry, cheating-ass down.”
Elena shook her head as if that devout belief she held in the illusion of her relationship would make what I was saying untrue.
“He punched me in the mouth. The only reason he didn’t take it further was because another man saw what he did and beat his ass for hurting me. How do you think he got that shiner?”
“Bull riding,” she growled her response, defensive to the last.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Mechanical bull riding with his best man last night.” I was appalled that she doubled down on the excuse he’d obviously fed her.
The added bits she tacked onto her fiancé’s bullshit excuse were insulting. The fact that she thought it made his story more believable in the face of the abuse I had suffered was disheartening.
“I don’t know why you’re making up lies about him, but it is not okay, Nellie.”
I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. Tension leaked from my bones and ejected itself from my body in an audible growl. It had been building since I knew this confrontation would have to happen. It only bubbled over when she confirmed my suspicions, that she would take his side over mine.
“You know what?” I asked. Elena didn’t take the bait.
Rather than ask what was on my mind, she stood there with tears in her eyes and her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. “I can’t do this.
If you want to legally tie yourself to a man who sticks his dick in all your so-called friends, or attempts to force the ones who refuse him, then that’s on you.
You chose that over our friendship. I can’t and won’t be a part of it.
I truly wish you the best and hope you wake the hell up and save yourself before you become more of a victim.
I won’t stick around so he can try again with me.
I love myself too much to willingly be put in that position again. ”
I turned and walked away from the woman who had been my best friend for the past decade of our lives.
There were people on the fringes of the hallway we had wandered down to have that shit show of a conversation but no one really stood out as I choked back my grief over letting a years-long friendship slip away.
“That’s it? You’re throwing away our friendship over a misunderstanding?” Elena yelled at my back.
I stopped and only turned my head slightly, so my voice would carry but I wouldn’t be able to see her.
“Your fiancé attempted to rape me, and you’re still willing to marry him.
That is not a misunderstanding. You threw our friendship away when you chose the cheating rapist instead of leaving here with the one loyal friend you had left. ”
I put one foot in front of the other until I was swallowed up by the noises and general chaos of the casino floor once more. Before I could completely lose myself to the anonymity of the place, someone put their hand on my shoulder.
I flinched back on instinct and took a step to my left before I turned and saw the same handsome man from the night before. My rescuer.
“You,” I said, though the one word was probably lost to the noise of a nearby slot machine as it bleated an alarm signifying someone had just won.
He was decked out head-to-toe in dark denim and leather.
It seemed to match everything about him from his short-cropped black hair to his deeply tanned skin, and eyes that appeared black as night until the light hit them just right.
He had a beard and mustache that remained closely trimmed to his face, so I could still make out the incredible jawline beneath.
His lips were full but thinned just a bit on top as they pulled up at the corners into a smile that said he was pleased I recognized him.
“Are you okay?” he asked. His dark eyes scanned me up and down as if looking for more injuries. The smile he wore moments before dropped as he took in my busted lip. The distance between us was lost as he took a step closer and held his hand out as if to touch that tender spot.
“I’m good,” I offered quickly as my body leaned back away from him. “Thank you again for helping me last night.”
“You should never have to thank someone for kicking a rapist’s ass.
He deserved worse and your choice always matters.
” Something in the way his eyes blanked and his body shivered led me to believe he had a more visceral reaction to the act than most people would.
It didn’t really matter if there was a story behind the way he reacted.
This man was a stranger who I would probably never see again.
I shrugged and the movement allowed the strap on my shoulder to slide down my upper arm. “Like I said, I’m good now.” I quickly pushed the strap back up and then dropped my arm to my side so he wouldn’t see how badly my hand shook.
The man tipped his head back toward the hallway where I’d left Elena. “Didn’t seem that way back there.”
“Are you following me?” I snapped.
The question was somewhat rhetorical considering I had the sudden need to be anywhere else but there.
I scanned for the nearest exit or security guard, but saw neither within a decent proximity.
I had felt safe with this man before. I had allowed him to walk me to my hotel room the night before to be sure I got there without Johnny “Slicer” Culver coming back for more.
“I was taking a piss,” the man said as he raised his hands at his sides in a movement that said he meant me no harm. “I caught the tail end of your conversation with your friend.”
“Former friend,” I corrected without thinking.
“Gotta say, seems like that’s for the best.”
“Yeah, well, doesn’t make it any less painful when you lose a friend.”
“You have anyone else here you can trust?”
My shoulders slumped in defeat the minute the true impact of his question hit me.
I didn’t. Worse, I had ridden to Vegas with my former best friend, so I wasn’t sure how I would manage to get back home.
Elena was also technically still my roommate.
So, I had the added worry about what state I would find my things in after I figured out how to get there.
I remembered that there was a question that needed an answer and shook my head as I wished for a miracle to save me from my former best friend’s bad decisions.
“Come on, my club brother is here for his bachelor party before he marries his amazing woman. How about I introduce you to her before I head out so you have someone around to lean on and help take your mind off everything?”
“Not sure I’m up for making new friends just yet.”
“Okay then. How about you come hang out with me then? You know I have a mean right hook and I’m not afraid to use it if anyone gives you trouble.
I will keep you safe -as if my life depended on it- and I already know your particular brand of drama, so I won’t be surprised when you cry into your beer later. ”
I couldn’t help the little peel of laughter that he’d inadvertently drawn from me. His smile returned until I winced and held my hand up to the wound on my lip that split open again as I laughed.
“Dammit,” I cursed at the same time liquid oozed from the wound.
“Sorry about that. Let’s get you some ice.”
“I don’t even know your name.” It was a weak protest, or maybe a way to justify myself when I inevitably followed the strange man. Oddly, though, I felt comforted by his presence.
“Baffle,” he said and then winced and shook that off. “Patrick.”
“Which is it?” I teased.
“Both, but you can call me Patrick or Rick.”
“Rick, not Pat?” I questioned as he guided us over to a table in the corner and handed me a cocktail napkin. I used it to dab at the spot on my lip that still oozed a bit of plasma.
His shoulders bounced as he answered. “Pat was my grandfather. Going by Rick gave me my own identity until I earned my road name.”
“Road name?” I questioned as my eyes ran back down his body and took in the fact that he wore the same style clothes as the biker trash Elena’s fiancé hung around.
“Don’t look so worried. We’re not all that bad - bikers that is.” I nodded, though his answer only made me more nervous. “I’m the Vice President of the Kings of Anarchy MC’s New Mexico Chapter.”
“Kings of Anarchy?” I questioned while trying to remember the name of the club that Johnny wanted to be a part of so badly.
“Yeah, you heard of us?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so, but I live in Arizona.”
“What part?”
“Flagstaff.”