“Hey, I was talkin’ to that bitch first,” the ugly fella said.
I was worried there’d be some kind of fight, and rightfully so. No sooner than the drinks were put before me, than the staredown came to an end, as the taller man head-butted the other fella, causing a spurt of blood to shoot from his nose. A swift punch to the gut then doubled him over and he grabbed the man’s hair and slammed him to the bar sendin’ him to the floor.
The club was so packed not a whole lot of people were aware of the fight, and fewer still knew how casually it all started, with so little instigation. The instigation being me. But still some people cried out and gasped, even heard over the music, before the tall fella looked back to me.
He rubbed a hand over his blood-spattered forehead, and wiped back his dark hair before taking up his straight vodka and knocking it back.
“Better down this thing quickly babe, you and me need to get out of here real fast,” he said, giving a stern stare to the bartender and a tap of his glass, ensuring the man refilled him despite his fear.
I looked at him, then at the other man, and I didn’t know what to do. It was like I was frozen in place.
I only just got here and already I was causin’ issues!
It wasn’t fair, but I took my drink, because I hoped it’d calm my nerves a little. Make whatever was happenin’ a bit easier to swallow!
I hadn’t had an experience with drinkin’ by then, so I just downed the thing. And it was so smooth, I was surprised. Somehow I’d expected something worse. But then… it hit my gut. But before I could object, the bartender refilled my glass and the grinning man before me slipped a bill across the table.
“C’mon, real quick now,” he urged me to down the other shot as he did his. And I saw through the crowd at least two big guys coming, and judging by the look on the handsome man’s face, I could only assume they were friends of the man who was now bleeding and unconscious on the floor.
“Down it now babe, or I’m gonna have to bust a few more noses on your account,” he said, as if it’d all been unavoidably my fault.
I didn’t think it was, and maybe I was just a sucker for anyone that talked with authority, because I drank it down just as he said. I blinked as a bit of dizziness hit me, but it tasted just like juice.
“I didn’t mean to cause no trouble,” I said, but I knew the music was drowning out half my words.
“You’re too damn hot babe, you’re trouble on a pair of sexy legs,” he said, grabbing my arm and guiding me away from the bar just in the nick of time. We avoided the arrival of the other two, though a quick glance back showed me they weren’t going to take long before they followed after us through the crowd.
All while I was towed along by some towering beefcake of a guy I didn’t even know the name of.
The music was becoming almost suffocating, the press of the bodies around me as my fear mounted.
What was goin’ on? Why’d I have to get myself into this mess? I should’ve just stayed home, safe and bored on the farm!
But it seemed a little late for that, as I tagged along behind that big man, in his tight black jeans and top. Though a glance behind me showed the two big men picking up their friend and then looking at us with daggers in their eyes.
I don’t need to tell you they started shovin’ folks out of the way as they came for us.
But through the loud music the man who held my arm pushed us on ahead.
“What’s your name, babe?” he asked me over the din of noise as he guided me around to the back exit, it seemed.
“E-ember,” I managed. Short for Emberlynn, but I thought just the first part sounded more exotic and so I’d gone with that since I made the big move.
“Glad to meet’cha, Ember,” he said back at me with a grin, as those three guys now were closing in on us in their hurry for revenge. “My friends call me Truck. ‘Cause I hit like one,” he remarked, and it wasn’t hard to see that. His fists alone looked like they could crush my skull.
Though carrying on a conversation as I hurried through the crowds and out into the cool night air was difficult.
Truck paused for a moment, looked around and spotted a motorcycle. He went to it and hopped on, riding back in the seat, but tossing the helmet onto the sidewalk as he started it up with a roar.
“Now or never, Ember,” he said, gesturing for me to hop on in front of him.
What in the devil was I doing?
But what choice did I have? I was being chased by those... those... thugs! At least Truck had been nice to me, but even then, I knew he was violent. I should’ve been so much more scared, but instead I walked up to the bike. Though then I hesitated.
“Where’re you going to take me? I don’t know the city...”
“Now you know me, and that’s all you need to know to get by,” he said so calmly, that deep, husky voice of his radiating authority as he looked to me unflinchingly.