Page 3 of Bound by Affliction
We move quickly, taking the escape he gaveus.
“What the hell was that?” I ask, a little freakedout.
“Just a big man seeing two chicks and hittin’ on them. Not a big deal,” she says as if it’s nothing, which in the grand scheme of things it isn’t. It’sjust…
“I wouldn’t want to be the woman who’s gonna cut off that guy’s dick. And did you see that other man? I think he could’ve broken us like twigs. They remind me a lot of your dad and his crew.” Not sure about the cutting the dick off part, that’s what stands out. I hurt for the man even though I don’t have theappendage.
“Crew?” she questions with a laugh. “That’s one way to seeit.”
“Drinks!” I yell out, needing something to calm my nerves. It’s not every day you meet face to face with someone you’ve chatted with on the Internetandhear talks of dicks getting choppedoff.
My phone pings with a text message. “I got a text,” I tell her, looking down at my phone. “We need to meet him over at the beertent.”
“Which beer tent? There’s, like, ten of them.” She looks around the place, and I have to agree with her—there are a shit ton of them, none with a big red arrow pointing at it saying ‘here’.
Looking back down at my phone, I inform her, “The one near the tireburnout.”
“Alright, but I’m not going to be hanging around you two if you’re going to be all over eachother.”
I laugh as we make our way through the horde of people, trying not to get run over. No way I’m making out with someone I just met like that, especially in front of all these people. The burnout is a busy place, and there are a ton of people on the ground. The crowd is so thick you can’t see much beyondthem.
Bristyl pulls my arm, motioning for me to follow her up the metal risers. The clank of our shoes hits the metal as we sitdown.
My phone dings again.We’re here,the text says, and I look out among all the people hoping the picture he sent me is really him and not some fake he got fromGoogle.
I spot him and wave my arm, thankful he looks like his picture. Brownish hair, light eyes, and cute in a bad boy kind of way. “There he is!” He’s not alone, but he said he’d be with his friends. I guess I just didn’t expect the friends to look so…rough.
Bristyl leans into me. “If this is a set Bristyl up thing, I’m going to killyou.”
“Go with it. They don’t look bad.” I’m pretty sure those words were just meant for me to hear out loud for reassurance because the friends don’t look sofriendly.
“Leah, you’re more beautiful than the picture,” Nick says smoothly as he touches my cheek. Little prickles hit my face. It’s always nice to have a man tell you this, especially when you first meethim.
“Hi.” My heartbeat picks up, and I can feel my hands starting tosweat.
Nick smiles. “These are my boys, Poe and Len.” He motions to his friends then looks over at Bristyl. “And youare?”
I can already tell she doesn’t like them. She has that look on her face that is screaming,Leah, I’m going to fucking kill you.I’m not sure I can blame her on this one, just because of the guys withNick.
“This is Bristyl,” I introduce as the guys sit down. Nick sits next to me with Poe sitting next to Bristyl. Len takes a seat aboveus.
Poe puts his hand on Bristyl’s thigh, and immediately I know things are going to go south and fast. My girl doesn’t take shit from anyone, and this display will notfly.
“Get your hands off me,” she growls low. Everything from this moment on happens so quickly I can barely breathe. It’s a movie reel playing in myhead.
Bristyl stands up quickly and moves down a riser, Poe’s handdislodging.
“Come on, Leah, let’s go. Now!” she orders. Knowing my best friend and what she’ll put up with and what she won’t, I start to rise from my spot, because she’s my girl and we stand together. Not to mention, a man doesn’t lay his hands on a woman unless it’s invited and that didn’thappen.
Nick grabs my upper arm hard, squeezing it tightly as he pulls me back down to the seat with a thud. I try to break free as panic sets in, moving and trashing my arm. People don’t just touch you like this. They don’t grab you like this. What is wrong with these two?Assholes.
“Let me go!” I cry as Bristyl reaches up for me, but Nick has his grip so tight I can barely move. Poe comes up behind Bristyl and wraps his arm around her waist. She does some moves that have him squirming backward and her breakingfree.
Nick stands abruptly, again taking me with him. I feel the tears spring to my eyes. His grip is so damn rough and ridged my arm is starting to go numb. The more I fight and pull, the harder he grips me. “Bitch, don’t you know who weare?”
“I don’t have a clue who you are. Now let go of her, and we’ll be on our way,” Bristylorders.
All I feel is fear. How could I have been so wrong about this guy? We talked every day for about a month. He never acted remotely like this or gave me any indication this was hispersonality.
