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I moved to the sleepy town of Belden, Oklahoma a couple of years ago when I graduated from nursing school, because it was in the middle of five different states and yet near absolutely nothing at the same time. They were recruiting hard for new nurses at the ER and their sign on bonuses were big for a baby nurse, making it the perfect location for a new start.
And because it was as far away from Central California that I could get on the money I had at the time.
I didn’t have an end destination in mind when I packed up my entire life with my teeny, little baby and little sister who just newly graduated from high school, but Belden was going to have to do for a while longer, until Maddie decided what she wanted to do after she finished college. I was going to keep my nose clean and my ass intact in the meantime. Which meant I needed to get Taz off it.
“If I use my five-minute break on you, what am I going to do with the three minutes left over once you’re done?” I retorted to his offer with a smirk as I pulled drafts for the group. It wasn’t the first time he’d outwardly offered to fuck me against the building on my break.
Like it was a romantic gesture or something.
Jeers and snide comments flowed from the men surrounding him, alongside other offers, and crude looks. But I was immune to it all.
Nothing hit its mark anymore when it was aimed at me.
I was numb to life.
“Come on outside with me baby, and I’ll show you just how good I can make it for you.” Taz tried again and I shook my head.
“Thanks, but I’m going to pass, big guy.” I tried keeping it fun and light, because I knew guys like Taz didn’t take rejection well. “Though I hear big red is looking for a date tonight.” I nodded behind the crowd to the over six-foot-tall amazon of a woman named after her fire engine red hair who would willingly let a man like Taz take her home for the night.
Hell, she’d let him ride her in the parking lot if he asked right. But I wasn’t going to deflate his ego by telling him that.
Taz looked over his shoulder at her and flicked his tongue over his lip, “I’ll pass on that.” He grinned, showing off his one gold tooth, “I’ll wait for you to come to your senses.” He looked me up and down, “Something tells me you’ll be worth it.”
I shook my head and looked down at the bar, “Cut your losses while your ahead. I’m a nun.”
He laughed, as did his crew, “I can’t wait to see what’s under your robes, sister.” He joked.
“A dump truck’s under there, look at that thing.” One of his guys threw and they all laughed as they all looked down at my ass again as I walked away.
“Is it closing time yet?” I asked Lora on my way to the kitchen for a break.
“Only five more hours.” She smirked with a wink, and I flipped her off.
It was going to be a long fucking night.
“Have a good night, Delilah.” Bones, the bouncer at Cherry’s said as I walked out to my car six hours later.
“Night! See ya next week!” I called, clicking the unlock button on my car door to turn my headlights on to light the way.
My car was in the back of the lot, thanks to how busy it was when I got to work earlier, and I scanned the mostly empty pavement as I neared my run down Toyota SUV.
“Hey.” A man called from the darkness to my right, and I leapt a foot into the air swinging my arm wide and striking the surprise guest in the cheek out of fear. “Fuck.” He grunted.
“Taz?” I asked, recognizing the voice as he grunted again, holding his jaw. I clicked the flashlight on my key ring, pointing it in his eyes to double check before scanning it over the parking lot between us and my car to check for more of his crew. It was empty. “The fuck are you doing?” I snapped at him.
I slid my hand into my purse and wrapped my fingers around the can of mace I carried every day, even though I never thought about using it.
Even if he’d been mostly harmless before; I didn’t trust Taz.
“I was just making sure you got to your car safe, girl.” He said, rocking his jaw back and forth a few times. “Damn, you hit like a dude.”
I shook my head and started walking towards my car again, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He followed after me and my eyes rolled so far, I saw the back of my skull. “Ain’t you going to offer to kiss it all better for me at least?” He asked as he fell into step next to me. His heavy boots stomped across the pavement ominously.
“Something tells me you’ll be alright.” I countered, keeping my pace.
“Hey, wait up,” He put his hand on my arm and pulled me around to face him. “What’s the big hurry?”
