Chapter 24
The shots weren’t my idea and definitely not the tequila, but I also didn’t say no. I grimace when I bite into the lime. Fuck, that’s disgusting.
“Delicious!” Iris exclaims, seemingly totally unbothered by the sour and horrible taste.
“You like this shit?” I rasp before I wash the taste away with the water Jake offers me. “What’s wrong with you teachers nowadays?”
She laughs and throws her hair from one shoulder to the other.
“That’s how we make our teachers in Pearlband Beach,” Jake says with a shrug and a wink in Iris’s direction. She smiles at him and because of the dim light I can’t tell if I’m imagining it or if she’s really blushing.
“Well, clearly, I’m not teacher material then,” I say, chugging down the rest of the water.
“That’s the last shot for me tonight,” I add and mean it.
Yeah, it’s disgusting, but I also don’t want to repeat the incident from my first visit here, when I puked in the restroom in front of Benjamin.
The thought of him sets off something tingly in my chest, and I have to use all my willpower to ignore it. It’s hard. I kind of wish he were here.
“Wait, look this way,” Jake says, helping me pull out of my own head. “You two look too cute, I have to snap a picture.” He pulls out a Polaroid camera from under the bar and holds it up to his face.
Iris and I put our arms around each other and smile widely—and probably a little bit tipsy—for the camera.
“Perfect,” Jake says with a grin, hitting the button. With a quiet sound that is drowned out by the music, the camera produces a picture. He holds it up between his thumb and index finger, inspecting it before Iris snaps it out of his hand.
“Yup, we’re the cutest,” she says after one look. I peek over her shoulder and can’t help but cackle. We look so silly. But happy. And definitely a little bit tipsy.
Jake snaps it back from her hand. “Yup. It’s going up on the wall.”
I light up. “It is? We’re going up on the wall? I can be part of the wall?”
“Of course,” Jake says, rounding the bar to get to the photo wall, the one I admired on my first night here. “You’re a part of us now.”
My smile widens, and a warmth settles in my chest. I’m a part of them now. It feels . . . special. Good special.
I wince when I feel a hand on my shoulder. And just by the feel of it, I know it isn’t Iris’s. Two gray eyes meet mine when I turn on the stool. They belong to a dark-haired guy who looks like he was in a band during the 90s. A band that didn’t really break through.
I lean back to get rid of his hand, not at all liking the weight of it on me.
“Can I buy you girls a drink?”
“We’re good, thank you,” I say and do my best to sound not-annoyed. What is it with men interrupting women in bars? We rarely interrupt them, do we?
“You’re saying no to a free drink?” He looks like he’s trying to be charming. And failing. It’s something about him that I just don’t like. Maybe the way his eyes roam over us like we’re two pieces of meat.
“Yes. We like to buy our own drinks,” Iris says and gives him a look that he better interpret as a sign to get the hell away from us, because that’s what it very clearly says. But he doesn’t.
“Come on, don’t be boring. Guys hate boring girls. Let me buy you a drink. Which one do you like? Sex on the beach? Pornstar martini?”
We both stare at him before we look at each other.
“Is he for real?” Iris asks.
“He can’t be,” I reply with a head shake.
He takes another step, coming way closer than I feel comfortable with. “It’s just a fucking drink. I’m not asking you for a threesome.” His voice has changed. It’s colder now. Harder. Creepier.
“Which we would’ve said no to as well,” I say, leveling him a look and refusing to avert my gaze when he pins me with his icy stare. Something dark flashes in his eyes, and I feel a shiver run down my arms.
“Is this man bothering you, girls?” Jake’s voice is sharper than a knife’s edge.
“I was just offering them a drink, man,” the guy says, finally taking a step back and letting go of my eyes.
“If I see you talk to either of them again, I’m throwing you out. Got it?”
The man looks pissed, clearly not a fan of or used to being told off. But then he hides it behind a smile. “Take it easy, man. I didn’t mean any harm. I just wanted to buy two beautiful women a drink. But I’m walking away. I won’t talk to them again.”
We watch him as he walks back to his gang by the pool tables.
“Fucking idiot,” Jake mumbles, glaring after him.
“Yeah,” Iris and I agree in one voice.
We stay by the bar with Jake, who doesn’t seem to mind. He even serves us free food after asking if we’ve had dinner—which we haven’t. Burgers and fries have never tasted as good as they do after two shots and almost two glasses of wine.
“This is delicious,” I say with my mouth full.
For some reason it makes me think of my ex, Justin.
I’m pretty sure he would’ve died if he saw me talking with my mouth stuffed with food.
Just the thought of it makes me chuckle—the first time Justin has ever made me laugh except for the accidentally toe-tickling. Well, better late than never, right?
Iris takes charge of the music, and it’s a mission she takes very seriously. Meanwhile, I do my best as a crowd warmer and good friend—cheering as soon as I hear Justin Bieber, Madonna, or Bonnie Tyler.
“Don’t you just love this?” she screams at Jake when Justin Bieber’s “Baby” comes on for the second time in a row.
“I really do,” he replies with a small smile that Iris mirrors happily.
“I need to pee,” I declare when it dawns on me that my bladder is about to burst. Apparently, I’ve forgotten that peeing is something you need to do. I’ve had too much fun to remember that.
I slide down from the stool, testing my legs to see if I’m steady. I am. Thank you, Jake, for all the water.
There are more people here now, and I wave at some locals I pass on my way to the restrooms. It’s a nice feeling, knowing people like this. And being recognized with a warm smile and a wave in return.
And it’s freaking nice to release the pressure in my poor bladder. Wow, peeing is a really great thing.
I wash my hands carefully and check myself in the mirror, wiping away some fallen-down mascara before I walk back out.
He’s there so fast. Before I have time to react. I don’t even have time to close the restroom door behind me before he has me pushed up against the wall. The icy gray eyes are piercing their way into me. His warm breath stinks of alcohol, and I instinctively turn my head away.
“What the hell are you doing?”
It’s darker in this part of the bar, making us hard to spot from where Jake and Iris are. The only people here are his friends, who don’t seem to care much about what he’s doing.
His grip on my arms hardens, fingers sinking painfully deeper into my skin. I try to shake them off, but nothing happens.
“If this is some fucked up way to flirt with me, I can tell you right away that it isn’t working. Let go of me.”
“You think the whole world is flirting with you, don’t you? I think I should teach you how to be a bit nicer. You know how I teach girls to be nicer?”
“Let me go,” I say again, trying to squirm out of his grip, but I get nowhere.
He comes closer, pressing me harder against the wall behind me and lowering his head to my ear. I strain to get my head as far away from him as possible.
“I asked you a question—do you know how I teach girls to be nicer?” He stares at me, his eyes glinting with threat.
And it’s something about his voice that makes a chill run up my spine.
Somehow, I just know that this man is capable of things I don’t want to know about.
I swallow, doing my best to ignore my own heart kicking with sudden fear against my ribs.
“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me.”
He halts, maybe surprised that I’m not backing down. I don’t know. But I feel his spit on my face when he starts laughing. I wince before quickly looking in both directions. We’re isolated here from the rest of the bar. No one has noticed us.
He has a new look on his face when he turns his gaze back to me. It’s dark, almost evil, like he’s done playing now.
“I’ll show you how to be nice . . .”
I understand that something is about to happen—I can see it in his eyes, and I know I have to act now before it’s too late.
He bats my legs apart with his thigh the same moment as I take a deep breath to scream for help when . . . he’s gone.
In a haze, I watch a fist hit the man’s face, followed by the sound of a crunch. The man stumbles back, blood pouring from his nose. And that’s when I realize who the fist belongs to—Benjamin.
Relief hits me so hard I have to lean back against the wall for support. Familiar arms snake around me as Iris hurries up to me.
“June,” she breathes, looking completely panicked.
But I’m too worried about Benjamin to pay her attention. I turn back just as he grips the man by his sweater and shoves him up against the other wall. “If you ever come near her again, I swear I’ll fucking kill you.” He doesn’t wait for an answer before he lets his fist fall again. Another crunch.
Jake catches Benjamin’s hand as he raises it a third time.
“Enough. He’s not worth it. Focus on your girl instead.
I’ll take care of this for you.” Jake turns to the man who’s crumpling on the floor.
He lifts him like he weighs nothing, dragging him away as he yells at his friends, “Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops. I never want to see any of your ugly faces again.”
The guys start to protest, but Jake cuts them off. “Get the. Fuck. Out of here. Now.” His voice is calm, but his face has changed. It’s dark and so full of threat that the cocky guys, one by one, drop their beer bottles and pool sticks and leave.