Page 79 of Rough Ride

Then he told the room: “I’ll buy another round of drinks for everyone here.” He jabbed his finger toward me without looking. “But only if Sophie here gives me a kiss.”

Oh fuck.

Liz leaned toward me and whispered, “We need to stop this before it gets out of hand.”

“I know,” I whispered back, but the crowd was beginning to cheer and shout.

“Kiss him!” Appleton chanted, pumping a fist into the air. “Kiss him!”

All the customers around him took up the chant, growing louder with every second. “Kiss him! Kiss him! KISS HIM!”

Johnny and Eli were on their feet, glancing between me and Appleton. “Cut this shit out,” Johnny tried to say, but he was drowned out by the cheers.

The blood in my veins went cold as Appleton went around the side of the bar, ducked underneath the barrier, and approachedme the way Eli had. Except it was the exact opposite of how Eli had drawn close, an invasion rather than a comfort.

“You can’t be back here!” Liz shouted.

“You let him do it,” Appleton replied, gesturing at Eli without taking his eyes off me. “Come on. One kiss. It’ll be quick.”

“Get thefuckaway from her,” Johnny demanded. He was gripping his whiskey glass tightly, like he intended to use it as a weapon. But he was outnumbered by the mob of Appleton fans screaming for action, like Roman fans demanding blood in the Coliseum.

This was getting out of control.

Behind me, Liz was shouting into the bar phone. “Get the bouncers over here.Now.”

“KISS HIM! KISS HIM! KISS HIM!”

Appleton stopped next to me, arms spread wide. “Come on. Bring it in for an old friend. Give the people what they want.”

“Lay one fucking hand on her…” Johnny warned.

In a flash of insight, I could see the trainwreck before it happened. Appleton would make a move on me. Johnny—and maybe Eli—would justifiably lose their shit. The bar would collapse into a massive brawl before the bouncers could arrive, and the two men I cared about would probably wind up on the losing end.

I could defuse the situation with one kiss. It would be worth the sacrifice, no matter how much it turned my stomach.

As if he could read my thoughts, Appleton’s smile turned even more cruel.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you only fucklosersnow.”

Johnny thrashed on the other side of the bar, held back—barely—by Eli, who looked like he wanted to throw hands too. “Don’t!” I shouted at them. “It’s not worth it!”

The crowd chanted louder: “KISS HIM! KISS HIM! KISS HIM!”But there was motion by the door in the back. Two bouncers were making their way into the room. It was almost over.

I sneered back at Appleton. “I saw you crying to the judges in the arena tonight. Is that what you’re going to do if I don’t kiss you?”

“Listen here youcunt,” he said, grabbing my arm.

Time seemed to slow down.

I widened my stance, preparing to knee him in the groin. Then Liz shouted behind me. A man appeared behind Appleton, but it wasn’t one of the bouncers. Sawyer’s cowboy hat was gone, and cold fury filled his chiseled face as he grabbed Appleton by the neck and shoved him up against the shelves of liquor bottles behind the bar.

“You can’t—” Appleton managed to get out.

Then Sawyer’s fist connected with his cheek.

“I can’t what?” Sawyer said in an emotionless voice as he kept a firm grip on Appleton’s neck with his left hand. “Damage all the plastic surgery in those cheeks?”

He pulled back his fist and struck him again.

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