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“Listen, I’m not sure where you’re from but here we don’t treat or talk to ladies like that. So why don’t you just walk away now. As you can see, we’ve already got a foot out the door. Come on sweetheart,” I said, taking Jules’ waist.
“Nobody walks away from me, especially a four,” he said eyeing Jules.
“You’re a joke dude,” I scoffed.
We started to walk away again but this time he grabbed her so harshly around her shoulders it nearly knocked her to the ground. That’s when I snapped. I charged at him and wound my arm behind my head. It came crashing down with all the strength I had, punching the guy square in the jaw. I raised my fist again, preparing myself to block the return hit, but it never came. He went down with the one punch like a sack of potatoes. I thought it was over and straightened up but out of nowhere came three friends of his I didn’t know he had with him, waiting in the wings for just such an occasion to grace us with their presence.
Two immediately grabbed and held my arms while a third began punching me in the gut and face. Let me tell you, it was painful but not as painful as the fact that Jesse just stood and watched without so much as a twitching thumb in interest of helping me.
“What. the. hell?” I asked him, between punches.
I looked over at Jules mid punch and saw the terror on her face. She felt every single punch that landed and her face twisted in pain. I knew she felt the nausea. I felt that she had and it was the first time I hated our shared connection. She rose above it and started to grab at the one who was punching me and pleaded with tears in her eyes for Jesse to help me. No one listened. Taking matters into her own hands, she sprung her leg back and delivered a knee to my attacker’s groin.
This stopped him before he could hit again and gave Matthew Tanen enough time to come through the back door with James Cappelli to discover me getting beat. They grabbed the three goons and Craig on the floor and started hauling them toward the door.
“Get them the hell out of here Taylor!” Matthew said.
She ran out the front door and we heard them struggling to get to Taylor’s car.
“What the hell happened in here?” James asked me. “We were gone two seconds and you get into a fight Elliott? Why didn’t you wait for us?” He joked.
“Ha, ha,” I sighed, out of breath, trying to stand up straight.
“You’re bleeding,” Matthew said. “Come on.” He grabbed my arm. “I’ll help you to the bathroom. Get you cleaned up.”
“No. No, thanks,” I insisted. “I need to take Jules home.”
“It’s okay Elliott,” she said, unable to disguise the terror in her voice. “I’m fine, really. Let’s just clean off the blood and see what damage there is.”
Her hand shook when she brought it to my face and tenderly brushed a lock of hair stuck to a bloody cheek.
“It’s but a flesh wound,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s okay,” I said, turning to Matthew. “Thank you but I would prefer it if we just left. Thanks for helping me out man.” I turned to James, “Thanks.”
They both nodded and helped me to my truck. Jules ordered me into the passenger seat, refusing to let me drive. I complied only because I knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The drive home was exceedingly quiet. I wanted to touch her so I could see what she was feeling but was afraid of what I’d find out. The expression on her face was like nothing I’d ever seen before. At times, I thought she looked angry but she also looked to be on the verge of tears. She was trying to be brave.
We arrived at her parents’ house just after one-thirty in the morning but they weren’t home.
“Where are your parental units?” I asked.
She helped me inside and took me to the over sized bathroom attached to her bedroom.
“They’re in New York City for the weekend. It’s their anniversary.”
She signaled that she wanted me to sit on top of the counter so she could tend to me and I obeyed.
“Cool. So.......I can’t believe you almost floored that guy,” I teased, referring to the guy she kicked, trying to make the situation lighter.
It didn’t work. Tears began to flow and she buried her face into my chest. I ran my fingers up and down her back. She pulled away quickly, obviously not wanting to be comforted, only wanting to be the comforter. She wiped the tears from her eyes but she wasn’t fooling me. Her eyes were still glassy trying to hold them back.
“Jules. This is nothing babe. Trust me, I’ve been in a lot worse scraps than this.”
She didn’t say anything but tried to smile. She grabbed three washcloths from a drawer and waited for the water to get warm before soaking them and wringing them out. She helped me remove my shirt and I twisted in pain from having to contort my sides and chest. The bruises had already started to show which made her gasp.
“Yikes,” I said standing up in front of the bathroom mirror. “Oh well. Remember that two hundred and fifty pound lineman that Reggie couldn’t block me from? This isn’t much worse than that.” She nodded.
I grimaced as she took a damp rag to the blood on my face and neck. When I was blood free she had me lay back in a chair in her living room and then went to the kitchen sink to wash as much blood as possible from my t-shirt. Several minutes passed in silence.
