Page 45 of Love Shots

How could she have forgotten the necklace? She’d been so excited to gift it to Ivy. It had been passed down to Summer by her grandmother. Not technically an heirloom, but it did have sentimental value. Ivy had always been like a sister to her, so it felt only right to pass it on to her. On her special day.

Maybe you should have been thinking with your brain this morning instead of your hormones?

Where was the fun in that? She felt her stomach flutter as she thought back to this morning. But before she could bask in the fever-inducing flashbacks, a tight grip on her elbow had her crying out in pain. A forceful yank and a powerful push later and she’d been backed into the alley next to Mickey’s and pinned to the cold brick wall.

As her eyes began to focus again, acid rose up her throat as she glimpsed into the familiar gray eyes of her ex. Ben.

“It’s about time you showed up.” He sneered.

“W-what are you doing here?” Damnit, everything was shaking. Even her words.

“What do you think I’m doing here, Summer? I’ve come to see my girlfriend. Find out why she’s been avoiding me.”

Was he fucking insane? “I’m not your girlfriend, Ben. I haven’t been for a very long time.”

“Bullshit,” he spat, “I say when and if we break up, babe. And we’re not done here. Not by a long shot.”

Yes. He is fucking insane.

Both his hands were now on her, fingers brutally digging into her biceps, ensuring she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Her mind raced, trying desperately to think of something, anything, that might help her. Sadly, reading up on how to deal with psycho ex-boyfriends who drag you into alleys hadn’t come up on her to-do list recently, and she was coming up short.

Hang on.

Teddy had made her watch The Negotiator the other night, surely she could remember something useful from that. Couldn’t she? This was definitely a hostage type of situation.

You’re never supposed to say no when negotiating. That’s what Samuel L. Jackson said anyway. Shit. Is that all I took from a two-fricking-hour movie?

Okay. So, she wasn’t supposed to say no. She also probably shouldn’t be in a dark alley with him either. There was a sort of plan there. Somewhere. Step one, try not to say no. Step two, get out of the alley. Simple.

“Maybe we could talk about this over coffee? There’s a diner just around the corner from here. Why don’t we head on over there?” No one said she had to be subtle.

He let out a humorless laugh that sent chills through her. “I’m not fucking stupid, Summer. The moment you get a chance ... you’ll try and run again. Maybe call that new man of yours.”

How the hell did he know about Teddy? Then it dawned on her. He’d been watching her. Waiting for his chance to pounce. To get her alone.

“That’s right. I know about him. What a whore you’ve been.”

The venom lacing his words managed to flip some kind of switch inside her. She finally seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation. This was bad. Really bad. This man had hit her before. Repeatedly. And he’d sounded just like this when he’d done it. Now here she was, alone with him. In a stupid alley. In a deserted town because everyone was back at Moonrock celebrating Ivy and Ace’s marriage.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Fight or flight kicked in as he began to shake her, slamming her back into the brick wall over and over again. She knew this pattern. She’d been here before. He’d use his fists next. Maybe drag her around by the hair.

Ben’s momentary surprise at her struggle worked in her favor. His grip loosened on one arm, and she managed to free it from his grasp. It allowed her to deliver a hard shove to his chest, propelling him backward and saving her back from another sharp blow.

Unfortunately, he recovered quickly. Too quickly. Her free arm did not stay free for long.

“You fucking bitch.” He twisted one arm and used it to spin her around until his chest was pressing into her back. “You’ll pay for that.”

She tried to relax her body and slump against him. She remembered someone saying that it was easier to get out of a hold if your body was loose. Now, what was she supposed to do next? Was it drop or kick? Damnit. Self-defense classes would be first on her list if she got out of this.

She chose to kick. A hard strike against his shin. He definitely wasn’t expecting that. Although he kept hold of her, she was able to thrash enough to make him stumble. Just as she thought she was making progress though, his hand shot out. A hard punch to the back had her falling to the floor. Which wouldn’t have been so bad had her hands been able to break her fall. But they were still behind her. Only being released by Ben at the last second. A second too late.

Her head met the concrete just as an angry sounding “hey” was shouted down the alley. A voice she recognized. Colt. Another fricking ex. What was it, bring-your-ex-to-an-alley day? And then it went black.

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