Page 165 of No Rules

But he seems to be completely unaffected by what I’m saying. He mumbles curses, tightening his grip on Matt’s throat. His different color eyes are almost black now. I have to find something else, another way to reach him and make him come back to me.

With trembling fingers, I touch his biceps to show him I’m there.

This scene reminds me of another one in which I was trying to calm Rafael down, months ago. I had failed miserably, and he had violently pushed me away.

“Tucker,” I call him softly. “Tucker!”

He turns his head towards me, his eyes squinting, his jaw contracted. He continues to hold Matt, who is trying in vain to free himself.

“Look at me,” I order him. “The cops are coming, do you hear me?”

His breath comes out painfully from his chest, he looks like he’s on the verge of exploding. I put my other hand on his shoulder. My skin is icy, his is hot, but that doesn’t stop me.

“I don’t want them to take you,” I say, trying to convince him. “Don’t waste your life on some worthless prick. You’ll find another way to destroy this little shit. But not like this, okay?”

I stay silent for a second, then hesitantly add, “You’re mine, and I’m not going to let you do anything stupid.”

I insist on these words, and it seems to work. His nostrils quiver gently. He doesn’t say anything but keeps his full attention on me. Matt is literally choking. His hands claw at Tucker’s forearms.

“He’s not worth it,” I whisper to Tucker as I press myself against him. “You’re worth it. Debbie is worth it.”

I run my hand down his arm until I reach the hand that holds Matt. His fingers tighten a little more.

“You, you’re worth it,” he whispers.

I don’t even have time to realize what he’s just said when he suddenly lets go of Matt. Matt collapses to the ground, trying to catch his breath. I see the flashing lights a thousand feet away.

The cops are coming.

Tucker stares at Matt again, his fists clenched, as if he’s hesitating to finish the job. I stand in front of Matt and lift my chin to look my tall, dark-haired self straight in the eye.

“Please,” I beg him. “They’re coming, go away.”

He frowns, opens his mouth but no words come out. My eyes also beg him. After a second, and as a screech of tires sounds in the distance, he takes a deep breath and backs up a few steps before turning and heading back to his car, Dan following close behind.

A sigh of relief escapes my lips. That was a close call. Matt tries to get up but collapses to the ground again.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” I mumble, pushing him away.

Buck calls from the entrance of the bar, “Are you all right? I didn’t have time to blink before everything went to hell. What happened?”

So he hardly saw anything. I take another look at the idiot on the ground. I’m not going to rat out Tucker.

“Matt tried to assault me,” I lie. “He tried to come after me, and Tucker came to help me.”

Matt looks at me, glaring. But I see something else in his eyes. He’s scared.

And he’ll shut the fuck up.

***

Worn out, exhausted, beat up—whatever you say—I arrive home an hour later. I almost want to rest my forehead on my steering wheel and close my eyes for just five minutes. But I’ll fall asleep and wake up tomorrow morning with a stiff neck. I yawn until my jaw drops, turn off the ignition, and get out of my old car, eager to get to bed.

Two half-drunk college girls come out of the building as I enter, and I almost bump into one of them. Then I notice that there is a guy between them. One of the chicks has her thighs wrapped around the hips of the guy I recognize right away.

“Sanchez?”

He takes his mouth off the little blonde and turns his head towards me. The girl plunges her hands into his long black hair to try to kiss him again.

---