Page 55 of Lick
I shoved my foot between the two of his, getting closer to my objective. Closer…
“Let her go.” David miraculously appeared out of the crowd beside us, a muscle jumping in his jaw. Oh, shit. He looked ready to kill.
“Wait your turn,” the cowboy yelled back, pushing his pelvis into me. God, it was disgusting. Puking could happen. It would be no less than he deserved.
David snarled. Then he grabbed the man’s hat and sent it flying off into the crowd. The man’s eyes went round as plates and his hands dropped away from me.
I skipped back a step, free at last. “David—”
He looked to me, and in that moment, the cowboy swung. His fist clipped David’s jaw. David’s head snapped back and he stumbled. The cowboy dove at him. They landed hard, sprawled across the dance floor. Fists flew. Feet kicked. I could barely see who did what. People formed a circle around them, watching. No one doing anything to stop it. Blood spurted, spraying the floor. The pair rolled and pushed, and David came out on top. Then just as fast he fell aside. My pulse pounded behind my ears. The violence was startling. Nathan used to get into fights regularly after school. I’d hated it. The blood and the dirt, the mindless rage.
But I couldn’t just stand by, caught in a cold stupor. I wouldn’t.
A strong hand grabbed my arm, halting my forward momentum.
“No,” said Mal.
Then he and another couple of guys stepped in. Relief poured through me. Mal and Tyler wrestled David off the cowboy. Another pair restrained the bloody-faced fool who bellowed on and on about his hat. Goddamn idiot.
They hustled David out of the bar, dragging him backward. Through the front doors and down the steps they went while his feet kicked out, trying to get back into it. And he kept right on fighting until they threw him up against Mal’s big black Jeep.
“Knock it off!” Mal yelled in his face. “It’s over.”
David slumped against the vehicle. Blood seeped from one nostril. His dark hair hung in his face. Even in the shadows he looked swollen, misshapen. Not half as bad as the other guy, but still.
“Are you okay?” I stepped closer to check the extent of his wounds.
“I’m fine,” he said, shoulders still heaving as he stared at the ground. “Let’s go.”
Moving in slow motion, he turned and opened the passenger-side door, climbing in. With a mumbled good-bye, Pam and Tyler headed for their own car. A couple of people stood on the steps leading into the bar, watching. One guy held a baseball bat as if he expected further trouble.
“Ev. Get in the car.” Mal opened the door to the backseat and ushered me in. “Come on. Cops could be coming. Or worse.”
Worse was the press. I knew that now. They’d be all over this in no time.
I got in the car.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mal disappeared as soon as we got home. David stomped up the stairs to our bedroom. Was it really ours? I didn’t have a clue. But I followed. He turned and faced me as soon as I entered the room. His expression was fierce, dark brows down and his mouth a hard line. “You call that giving us a chance?”
Whoa. I licked my lips, giving myself a moment. “I call it going out to pick up some food. The kitchen was running late so we got a beer. We liked the music so we decided to get up to dance for a couple of songs. Nothing more.”
“He was all over you.”
“I was about to knee him in the balls.”
“You left without a fucking word!” he shouted.
“Don’t yell at me,” I said, searching for a calm I didn’t have in me just then. “I left you a note in the kitchen.”
He shoved his hands through his hair, visibly fighting for calm. “I didn’t see it. Why didn’t you come talk to me?”
“The red light was on. You were recording and I didn’t want to disturb you. We weren’t supposed to be gone for long.”
Bruised face furious, he walked a few steps away, then turned and marched back. No calmer from what I could tell despite the pacing. But at least he seemed to be trying. His temper was the third person in the room, and it took up all the damn space. “I was worried. You didn’t even have your phone on you, I found it on the fucking table. Pam’s phone kept ringing out.”
“I’m sorry you were worried.” I held out my hands, out of excuses for both of us. “I forgot to charge my phone. It happens sometimes. I’ll try to be more careful in future. But David, nothing was going on. I’m allowed to leave the house.”
