Two #2
Grunts and high?pitched sounds come from behind the barn. Two black pigs run around me and one shoots out from wherever it was hiding, running straight for me.
“You guys are hungry, huh? This better hold you over for the remainder of the night.” Leaning down, I pet one on the snout and exit the way I came in, walking toward the feed.
Lydia is pulling in through the front gate as I’m filling up the large black bucket on the other side.
The pigs rush over, shoving each other out of the way, and their sounds grow louder.
Lydia honks her horn, rolling down the window and calling over to me. “You aren’t reading in the barn before a night out, are you?”
“No,” I shout back, setting the cup I used to scoop the food back in the barrel. “I don’t do that anymore.” Or haven’t had a chance to revisit the idea. My dad always hated when I fell asleep out here, and how he had to come out and drag me back inside, eyes half shut.
“Too bad. I always dug the hay in the hair look.”
Looping around the car, I laugh and climb into the passenger seat. “I really doubt anyone misses that look.”
“Why? It was you. Always needing to be outside and around nature.”
“Nature’s much kinder than people.” I strap myself in and hang an arm out the window.
“You clearly need to watch more Animal Planet,” she teases.
I snort, leaning back in my seat as she pulls onto the road. The drive is shorter than I remember, and Reese is already at the club on his second beer by the time we join him. I order two drinks for me and Lydia, looking for a place to sit as we wait for the bartender.
Everything’s going great. We laugh and chat with the people around us, some I know from school who I’d never talked to much before today, and others who’d moved here after I left.
Music plays and Lydia talks me into dancing with her when no one else volunteers.
We all grow quiet when a man steps on stage to introduce the line up tonight.
The back of my shoe is stepped on as we all squeeze together to get a better view of the stage, and Reese shouts with the rest of the crowd as the announcer says the name of the band I’m assuming we’re here to see.
I didn’t think anything could mess tonight up until a beer can is tossed at the back of my head.
I ignore it, keeping my eyes forward as Lydia whispers something I can’t fully make out.
Another can hits my back, followed by a bottle breaking at my feet. “What the hell?” I step around it, lifting my shoe.
Reese glances behind us, wearing a scowl. “What’s your problem?”
“Your friend is,” the man shouts, and as the club’s lights make the area around us brighter, Hayden’s face comes more into focus. “He’s blocking our view.”
“Then move somewhere else,” Lydia bites out.
“We don’t want to,” Hayden snaps. “We like it here.”
“Just ignore him,” I say. “We can go stand near the exit. It’s closer to the stage anyway.”
“This is bullshit,” Reese mutters under his breath as I steer him through the crowd, not wanting to let this asshole ruin the show for us. Didn’t he get it all out of his system last night?
“I can’t believe this shit,” Lydia gripes. “We can always go somewhere else. I’m sure these guys will be playing somewhere close by again soon.”
“Yeah.” Reese, steps between us. “Maybe it’ll be hours away from here and we can roadtrip.”
“As fun as that sounds, guys, we’re already here, and leaving will only give Hayden what he wants.”
Lydia blows out a breath. “You’re right. Fuck that asshole.”
Reese and I grab more drinks before the first band steps on stage.
Holding our spot, Lydia reaches out for her beer and starts shaking a fist in the air when the man at the microphone starts singing.
Two songs later, Hayden is standing behind us again, merely inches away.
He steps on my shoes, and when I move forward, so does he.
I grind my teeth as he chews his tobacco in my ear.
There’s nowhere else for me to move so I stay where I am, my friends too into the show to notice what’s happening behind me.
The moment he spits in my hood, I turn around and my fist connects with his face.
Eyes bulging, he lifts his hand, and I hit him again, my next jab sending him sprawling to the ground.
People move back, staring down at a bleeding Hayden on the floor.
Another man helps him to his feet and he rushes toward me, being yanked back before he can get too close.
“Don’t,” Blake says, pulling at Hayden’s arm and fliting his gaze at him.
“Just let it go, Hade. You’re the one who started it, after all,” he shouts over the music, close enough for the both of us to hear.
Is he coming to my defense? Was I also hit and now am hearing shit that isn’t real. Blinking my eyes, I glance between them, and it’s like I’m all Hayden can see with the way he’s narrowing in on me.
Wiping his face with the back of his hand, he spits between us and stands taller. “I think the fucker broke my nose. I should at least return the favor first.”
A man in a black staff shirt starts our way and Blake whispers in Hayden’s ear. His attention finally moves from me to all the worried expressions, his shoulders dropping. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Everything okay over here?” The security guard finally reaches us and we both nod.
“Yeah.” Hayden’s jaw twitches. “It was just an accident. This one’s a terrible dancer and didn’t see me behind him.”
“Yeah. I don’t get out much and it shows,” I say, shifting my feet.
The music’s still going, and the people around us go back to enjoying the show as the security guard looks us both up and down. “As long as you two are sure. I don’t have to worry about any bad dance moves leaving anyone with a black eye, do I?”
“No.” I quickly shake my head, letting out an awkward laugh. “I’ll be more careful and aware of my surroundings this time.”
“Good,” the man in uniform says, hand on his belt, as he moves to stand only a few feet away.
“How about we get out of here?” Reese says loudly in my ear.
“We can stay if you two really want to.”
Reese glances back at Lydia, and the next thing I know they’re both dragging me toward the exit. I shoot them a questioning glance. “You guys sure you want to go? You were both really excited about coming out.”
“Yeah, we were, but we care a lot more about you than some band. They’ll come again.” Lydia smiles, swinging the door open.
“Yeah.” Reese tosses an arm around me, leading me out the door. “We can go shoot some pool or go hit up the bowling alley. The one twenty minutes from here is open until two a.m.”
“Sure. I haven’t been bowling in forever, though, so don’t be surprised if I throw the bowling ball into the wrong lane.”
My friends laugh, walking along with me on the sidewalk. As we’re approaching the car, we all freeze when Blake jogs our way, waving. My friends have uneasy looks on their faces, and Lydia jumps in front of him when he tries to reach where I am.
“I think you should go back inside,” she barks.
“Look.” He runs a hand through the back of his platinum?blond hair as he bites on his lower lip.
No way is this man nervous. Blake and that term don’t even fit together.
He’s usually confident and sure of himself, but now his eyes are .
. . full of remorse? “I’m sorry, okay. I guess I still worry too much about what people like Hayden think of me.
It’s dumb, I know, but it’s pretty much the only way I’ve known how to survive in this town, you know? ”
“As if you know anything about having to survive.”
He lets out a short puff of air. “Yeah . . . you’d think that, but life hasn’t always been easy for me either, and I guess I saw what I did to you as pushing it onto someone else to release my frustration.
Not that it’s right, but it’s how it’s always been in my house.
Dad took his anger out on my mom, and Mom took it out on me.
Then you were always just there and . . .
fuck, I’m not really helping myself here. ”
“You’re right. You’re not.” I agree with his last statement.
“For what it’s worth, I really am sorry.”
As much as I want to believe him so I can move on with my life, there’s a pesky nudge inside my gut and it sets off alarm bells. I did say I’d give him another chance, didn’t I? “Why did you really follow me here?”
“I told you,” he stammers. “To make some fucking amends or a truce. I left town for a bit too, and it did make me realize how exhausting it can be, being here, trying to always be someone others expect me to be. Even if I didn’t want to be that way or hated myself for it later.
” His eyes lock onto mine, and if these are all lies, nothing about them is giving him away.
“So, I’m supposed to do what?” My brows bunch together. “Feel sorry for you? Oh, the poor little rich boy. He has so much pressure from being loved by everyone and purposely choosing to treat people like shit.”
“I don’t . . . no. I’m only trying to explain my side of things, but it’s not coming out as well as it did in my head.
And people forget, I’m not the one who’s rich.
My parents are. I have to work like the rest of the world, and let’s just say Daddy hasn’t been too happy about my new modeling career. ”