“Let me go,” I whisper, the panic starting to close in on me. “Please,” I squeak out.
He lifts one hand from my bicep and takes my jaw roughly, his thumb digging into my flesh and he jerks my head up. My eyes water and I let out a whimper.
“You want me. I’ll show you what all that teasing your dancing has been doing gets you.” He grinds his hips one more time and I almost lose the contents of my stomach.
“What the fuck!”
Before I can even process the move, a fist comes out of nowhere and crunches into Mr. Cowboy’s nose. The sickening sound of his bones breaking takes that battle I’ve been fighting against my stomach to a whole new level. Mr. Cowboy goes back but doesn’t remove his hold on my arm so I’m jerked like a rag doll.
“You think about taking my toy and I’m not going to be very happy, pretty boy,” Mr. Cowboy says through the blood pouring from his nose and into his mouth.
My stomach heaves.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” I hear Nate growl and his warm hand gently goes to the arm that isn’t being held. In my mind I picture some sick game of tug of war beginning.
“Fuck you,” he spits and in a move quicker than I can process he lunges forward and clocks Nate right in the left side of his face, jerking my body again so hard that my head snaps back and I feel a sting against my back as the chain on my dress snaps.
He doesn’t even flinch. I can see Nate torn and not wanting to fight while I’m in the middle of them like some convoluted game of monkey in the middle. Well, that is until the jerk that is still holding on to me moves to punch Nate and gets me right in the back of my head.
Luckily for me, he had been drinking enough that the power in his punch was dulled down quite a bit, regardless, my vision swam and between the fear and pain—the battle with my stomach was instantly lost. I lurched forward and spewed every ounce of Long Island Ice Tea I had consumed tonight, along with my dinner, all over that stupid cowboy.
Shock held him still and even though he was covered in my vomit, Zac, coming from behind, grabs a hold of him and started pulling him through the room. I lost sight of them when Nate stepped in front of me and gently tipped my head up. He gives me a quick look, his face stone-cold serious. An expression rarely seen on his carefree face. Seeing this version of Nate jumpstarts the reality of just how serious this situation could have become.
“Come on, Megan, let’s go get you cleaned up before the cops get here.”
“Cops?” I ask, confused.
“Yeah, babe. You’re going to have to give them a few minutes. No way is that douchebag going to get away with trying to force his hand with you.”
“What?”
“Megan, are you okay? Jesus Nate, give her your shirt or something.” Dani rushes around her brother and I feel her messing with my dress. When I look down I almost throw up again. The whole top of my dress is torn and hanging by my hips. “Your back is red. Did he touch your back?”
I shake my head to tell her it was just when the chain snapped but no words come out. I’m too mortified that my dress malfunction had me exposed during my struggle.
“I saw him pull against the top of her dress. When the back ripped I think it snapped against her,” Nate snaps, his tone hard. He’s holding on to his anger by a thread.
“What?” she questions.
They stop talking and I feel fabric being pulled over my head.
“Megan, he was taking you to the exit.”
I blanch at Nate’s words and his eyes widen as I bend forward and lose the rest of my stomach across his shoes.
Between Nate, Zac and Dani, they have me cleaned up and sitting on the couch in the owner’s office. Dani hasn’t let go of my hand since she sat down next to me. Zac has been off and on the phone since we got in here, standing over in the far corner I can’t hear his words, but given that he keeps looking at Dani I think it’s safe to bet there will be a very unhappy husband on his way.
I look around the room and try to take my mind off the officer’s voice as he questions Nate. It’s a nice, clean office, but my skin is still crawling thinking about what could have happened if that man had gotten me out the back door.
I feel dirty.
Not to mention my head is pounding.
“Are you sure she doesn’t need EMS to take a look at her?” The officer asks Nate for the tenth time.
I shake my head and hold even tighter to Dani’s hand. Nate looks over and gives me a small smile.
“She says no and I’m not about to give her more stress than she needs by forcing it. We’ll make sure she’s okay.”
I glance up and smile weakly at Nate. He gives me a small nod before looking back at the officer. They continue to talk for a few minutes and I zone out. It’s been a long time since I felt that helpless rush of fear like I did earlier. The memories that his touch had brought forth are still sticking to my skin. As I think about his hands against my arms, my breathing starts to come rapidly and I feel Dani squeeze my hand.