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“Fuck you!” Raegan yells. Garrett grabs her by the waist and tries to calm her down. She’s on fire, and I’m surprised she hasn’t thrown a punch yet.
Travis points his finger before thrusting it into my chest. “Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. My girl.”
The crowd that began to form moments earlier starts egging us on with their comments. I can hear some of them beginning to chant fight, fight. I ignore them, wishing they would get out of my business.
Travis just crossed another line, and I can’t hold back any longer. I ball my fist up and throw the first punch. My fist connects with his jaw and his eyes widen as he takes in what just happened. Hilary clasps her hands over her mouth as her eyes expand with fear. She looks like she wants to ask him if he’s okay, but she doesn’t say a word. Travis shakes his head, then storms at me. I fly backward, crashing into a table and some chairs. Damn, this shit hurts. I get up, and push him back just as hard. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Raegan grab Hilary by the arm and get her out of the way.
Garrett yanks me away for a minute. “Stop it, man, his pathetic ass isn’t worth it.”
Travis tries to punch me again but misses and hits Garrett. Yeah, big fucking mistake. Garrett turns around, his face angry and red. He balls up his fist and hits Travis in the eye, then again in the nose. Blood begins to pour, and I’m almost positive Travis has a broken nose now. The bartender comes running up and yanks me away from the situation. He’s a big man, and he manages to tug me away from the brawl. “You two macho pigs just don’t listen. Christ, I can’t be in two places at once! Get out of here, Lance, before I call Howard and the goddamn cops.”
“That was for talking to my girlfriend like shit.” Garrett nods at Raegan and walks off. Travis can’t even get to his feet right now, and Hilary looks scared to death.
I should get out of there, I should do what I’m told. But I can’t fight the magnet that’s pulling me toward her. Her eyes are full of fear as I approach her, and I can’t blame her. “Hil, I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
“I think you need to go, Lance. Please…before he gets up. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“I’m pretty sure I can hold my own, as you just saw.” I step closer, so no one else can hear. “Hil, please tell me you aren’t sleeping with him. Did he…did he take your virginity from you?”
She doesn’t have to answer me. Her body language tells me everything. The way she lowers her head and won’t even look at me says it all. Eventually, she whispers, “Lance, I don’t know what you want from me.”
“I wanted you to give me a chance, Hil. You haven’t left my mind since I remembered who you were, but I wouldn’t have even bothered you tonight if I’d have known you were with him.”
“We’re not even officially dating, Lance,” she tells me.
She doesn’t need to say anything else. They’re fuck buddies, great. That’s just the visual I didn’t want.
“I should get going.” I notice the bartender eyeballing me. I really need to leave and just do what he asked. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”
As I walk past Travis, the urge to plant my foot into his rib crosses my mind. Instead, I pass him and walk straight out the front doors, not once looking back to see if someone helped him up.
Raegan and Garrett are standing outside waiting for me. “What took you so long? I thought I was going to have to come back inside,” Garrett tells me.
“I had to tell her I was sorry for that. Travis is still on the ground.”
Raegan lets out a laugh. “Serves him right.”
“Raegan, please,” Garrett scolds. “You shouldn’t have stepped into that. If he’d have touched you, I would have killed him.”
Raegan sticks out her tongue and just glares at Garrett. “I guess we’re going to head home now. This was a short-lived night. You heading home too, Lance?”
“Yeah, I guess. Unless Travis leaves, I’m not going back in there.”
I reach into my pocket to grab my truck keys when a soft hand touches my shoulder. I turn to find Hilary standing behind me. My body goes on full alert looking for signs of Travis. I can’t let my guard down. I refuse to. I scan the entire parking lot to the front door, and when I don’t see him, my body relaxes a little.
“What are you doing out here, Hil?”
Raegan grabs Garrett by the arm and pulls him away. They don’t stop until they are sitting inside Garrett’s truck.
“I wanted to see you again before you left.”
“I don’t want Travis getting mad at you. You should get back inside.”
“I don’t care about him, Lance. He treats me as a convenience, so why can’t I do the same to him?” Hearing her say that makes me want to stomp back insid
e Joe’s and beat the shit out of him again. Hilary deserves so much better than that. The Hilary I remember from high school doesn’t deserve anything Travis has to offer.
“Then why do you stay with him? Why are you putting yourself in the same bullying situations I helped you get away from?” I ask.
