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And Steve knows it.
“Is that what this is? You’re going to leave me,” he pauses and focuses on Billy, making sure I see where he’s looking, “for that drunk?”
“You don’t even know him. Something happened with you two and you’re not telling me.”
This isn’t the place to do this, and Steve is itching to cause a scene, but I refuse to be that girl.I refuse to be my mom.
Taking a breath, I straighten my spine, bracing myself for what may happen next as I calmly say, “You know what? I don’t need to know what you did or didn’t do. I don’t need to know if anything actually happened. What I do know is I won’t be bullied into something I don’t want.”
“Bullied?” He laughs a bit too loudly, a bit too intentionally. “Adley, I don’t need to bully anyone into being with me.”
Bingo.
“Hm. So I’ve heard.”
I turn away from him, moving to walk away from him, but I don’t get far before I feel his hand on my arm, and he squeezes painfully and yanks me back so my front is pressed against his and he drops his head down, forcing me to meet his eyes as he snarls, “You heard what?”
“Ouch!” I yelp, struggling against his hold. “Let go of me!”
“Yo! Take your hands off her!” Billy appears right by my side, shouting at Steve, his face red with anger.
“This doesn’t involve you, lover boy. Go find another line to snort.”
“What the fuck?” Billy pushes between us, getting right into Steve’s face as he asks menacingly, “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
“Billy! Please. Just stop.” I yank on his arm, but he doesn’t budge, not hearing me at all as he continues to stare Steve down.
“What the fuck’s going on here?” Adam asks as he jumps into the middle of them and pushes them apart. He then looks back at me, doing a double take as he asks, “Adley, what happened to your arm?”
I look down at the red marks Steve’s fingers left from being wrapped around my upper arm so tightly. It definitely pained me when he grabbed me, but I’m surprised by how much they stand out so quickly.
“He grabbed her,” Billy grits out through clenched teeth.
Adam swings his eyes back to Steve. “You what?”
Steve shrugs, like having Billy in his face is no big deal. “What can I say? She likes it rough.”
And then Steve is on the floor, Adam having swung so fast and so hard, it knocked Steve right off his feet.
Billy doesn’t hesitate, he pounces on the fallen man and pummels him. Tables and chairs tip, people scream, and then after a minor struggle Adam, Al, and Frank manage to pull Billy off of him.
Chelsea moves me out of the way, but it’s total chaos in the room, people scrambling and yelling, blood splattered on the floor.
Steve’s nose appears to be broken, and his eye is swelling, and Billy is pulling against Adam’s hold. “You better leave this town and never look back!”
Adam tries to quiet him, but Billy is so out-of-control right, nothing is working. It’s almost scary, like he’s a completely different person, sweating and spitting with every word. “That’s the last time you’ll ever hurt her. I know what you did! She doesn’t deserve that. And she still gave you a second chance. You dumb fuck, you don’t deserve it.”
“Yeah? And you do? You’re nothing but a drunk. A coked-out drunk,” Steve spits out, his tone turning even nastier as he adds, “Surprise, surprise. Your favorite Casanova has a drug problem, everyone! You didn’t know? I caught him in the bathroom earlier, just look at his manic behavior!”
He scans the people mulling around, his lip curling up in disgust as he snarls, “This ridiculous town is so blind.” He pauses and points at me. “You decided this. I gave you an out, but you chose to throw it away. For what? To live here with your sister?” He spits the word, scoffing at us. “Another one who can’t commit.” He shakes his head. “You two are so damaged.”
Steve heads for the door and Billy makes a move to charge him again, and I shout, “Billy! No!” as Adam and Frank manage to get in his way, stopping him from escalating the fight any further.
My body begins to shake, likely from shock, and Francesca and Farrah sit me down and Chelsea grabs my hand, sliding the ring off my finger. I don’t question what she’s doing as she follows Steve out the door, and a moment later, she returns and motions for me and the girls to follow her to the bathroom.
Chelsea runs a rag under the cold water and places it on my arm where Steve grabbed me, and I wince, whispering, “Where’s Billy?”
“He’s in the office with the guys,” Chelsea answers. “They took him there to cool off.”
