“Mike, I see the way you’ve been looking at her,” Jake says. “C’mon, I’ll give you a deal because we’re friends. What do you say to half off? Only two-hundred and fifty bucks, you won’t regret it.” I glance up just enough to see that Mike doesn’t turn away. If anything, with that horny expression in his eyes and the way he’s ogling me in the creepiest way ever, I think he might actually be considering my so-called boyfriend’s offer. How could he?
For a moment I meet his gaze with a glare that could kill, challenging him to fuckingtry it. If he so much as lays a finger on me, I’ll scratch his eyes out. The daggers I’m throwing at him with my eyes seem to be getting the message across. He hesitates, then looks away and is about to walk off when Jake steps between us. “Tell you what, I’ll sweeten the deal. She’ll even show you her perky tits—no extra charge.”
It’s like my boyfriend, the man I gave my heart to, just hit me in the face with a softball bat. I think his comments sting more than if he had. At least I know one thing for sure—he’s definitely not joking.
“No,” I say, staring at the ground. It comes out as a soft whisper. It’s all I can manage.
Jake whips around, fire in his eyes as he grabs my arm so hard the pain releases a new wave of tears I was desperately trying to hold back. His grip really hurts as he puts his nose to my ear. Through clenched teeth, he growls, “Look, last night I lost my entire paycheck playing poker, and it was all because of your dad. I should never have listened to a broke-down fucked-up loser like him, but I did because I was desperate, and he took advantage of that. Now I’m totally fucked, so here’s the deal. I owe some dangerous people a lot of money, and if I don’t pay, it’ll be bad, real bad, so you’ll do what I say, and tonight, honey, you’re going to do this. Do you hear me?”
I try to pull away. “You’re hurting me,” I whimper as tears continue to flow. I struggle, but his wiry hand tightens, his fingernails digging into my skin, sending a new wave of agony through me. I stifle a scream that ends up a low groan through clenched teeth as I bite down trying to deal with the pain. He looks around and sees everyone staring at us. I think that makes him nervous because reluctantly, he lets go. It’s a relief,but he’s still glaring at me with a tense jaw. There’s evil in his eyes, a meanness I’ve never seen before, and I don’t know what to do. What’s gotten into him?
I look around. Why isn’t anyone coming to help? How can they all just stand there and stare at me with their phones up, gawking at this crazy insanity like it’s the best show they’ve ever seen? Jake has to be aware of all the phones too, but if he’s sober enough to realize what a total ass he’s making of himself, he isn’t showing it. On the contrary, I think he’s still hoping to get paid at my expense.
Part of me wonders what he’s talking about and what will happen if he isn’t able to pay what he owes. Will they hurt him? Will they do something worse? How bad is this mess he’s gotten himself into? I certainly don’t want anything to happen to him. I love him, but as much as I care for him, as much as he means to me, there has to be another way because this isn’t something I can do. “No,” I whisper again.
Something in him changes so fast it’s terrifying. In a split second, the way he turns on me with his lip twitching, I already know this is going to be bad. He’s boiling over, and I’m afraid he’s going to do something even more embarrassing. Whatever is going on with him and these people he owes, I’m sure we can work it out. He just needs to see that.
He drops the bottle of whiskey. As it falls on its side and begins to pour its contents onto the ground, the look he’s giving me is louder than words, and I know. There’s no coming back, not for him. He’s made up his mind. I can see it in his eyes. He’s going to end it and break up with me right here, right now infront of all these people and the pain in my chest is unbearable. I feel so desperate to try to hold on, to somehow fix this. If I can, if there’s a way, tomorrow he’ll apologize and we can—
Pain explodes in my jaw. I hit the ground hard with my nose in the dirt and the taste of blood in my mouth. God, it hurts.
Jake has never hit me before. The agony is so intense I can’t even think.
It takes a few seconds to catch my breath. I cough and look up, expecting him to realize what he just did and tell me how sorry he is, and how he didn’t mean to. But the look he’s giving me isn’t regret, it’s threatening. Is he going to hit me again? My heart races as I raise my hand defensively, like this small gesture will somehow stop him. He’s too big, and I don’t know what to do if he…
Suddenly his eyes dart from me to something else. Through watery eyes I follow his gaze to Zane Shackler who’s swaggering over in his boots, black Stetson cowboy hat, and worn Wranglers. All cowboy, he’s made quite a name for himself as a champion bull rider. He looks calm as a summer’s day, sporting a sly grin, and anyone who knows Zane also knows that’s not a good thing.
I can’t take my eyes off him as he saunters up like he’s about to pat Jake on the shoulder with, “Now that’s how you get a bitch to behave,” but I know better. Jake puts a hand to stop the bull rider and in a defiant tone he spits at the cowboy, “I’m not leaving, Zane, so don’t even—”
It happens so fast it barely registers. Jake’s feet literally fly six inches off the ground. It all seems to happen in slow motion, and before my soon-to-be ex-boyfriend lands, I hurl, vomiting everything in my stomach.
Jakelands in the mess I just made, in the mess that I’m still making, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. When I’m finally done gut-wrenching all over him, I blink a few times to bring the scene into focus and almost forget about my own pain when I see it.
Something is horribly wrong. Covered in the contents of my insides, a sour odor filling the air, Jake’s jaw looks out of place, like it’s broken. He looks terrible. His eyes are closed, and he’s not moving. Is he unconscious… or dead?
Zane turns to the other guys and zeros in on Mike and Dan. “If any of you even think about touching Maddie, you and I will have a serious problem!” He grits his teeth and slowly looks each of them in the eyes. He’s downright terrifying. “You want a piece of this?” he shouts with his chest puffed out. It’s all Zane in his true alpha mode. Then, just to drive his point home, his eyes narrow at each of them. “Go ahead and give it a try. I fucking dare you.”
It's like watching sheep suddenly finding themselves face to face with a two-ton grizzly. If I could laugh I would as each asshole turns and walks away, Mike and Dan faster than the others.
It’s taking every bit of control I can muster to keep from vomiting again as pain radiates from my jaw to my left ear. I still don’t know what condition Jake is in, but relief washes over me when he groans. At least he’s not dead.
Zane drops to a knee with kindness in his eyes and rests his calloused hand on my shoulder. “I’m real sorry this happened to you, Maddie. Wish I could’ve gotten here sooner. You okay?”
In a bit of a daze, it’s hard to process everything that’s happening. Am I okay? He doesn’t wait for my answer as he lifts me by my shoulders in the gentlestway. Once I’m on my feet, I can’t hold it in anymore and let out embarrassing sobs that make my whole body tremble. “Not really,” I manage to whimper.
Zane looks around, then calls out to his sister. “Lizzy!” She’s on the arched stone bridge with Cody, another cowboy we went to school with. If those two are dating, it’s news to me.
At the sound of his voice, she and Cody come rushing our way. She’s two years younger than Zane and me, and like her brother, she’s a cowgirl, a rodeo barrel racer and she’s always had a good heart.
“I missed the whole thing,” Lizzy huffs. “What happened?”
“That horse’s ass just clocked Maddie, and good. Can you take care of her, make sure she gets home, okay?”
Jake groans, rolls over, and starts to get up.
“Stay down!” Zane barks. “You hear me, boy?” There’s no mistaking his tone. “You can get up when Maddie is gone. I’ll let you know when.”
Jake does what he’s told and quickly flops back down, landing with his face in the dirt.
