“You made it,” she slurs, throwing her arms around me.
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Coolers are over there, and there’s more alcohol inside to use with mixers. Grab a drink and let’s celebrate.”
She woos, which sets off a woo from everyone else, and all I can do is shake my head and laugh. I wander over to the coolers and dig through them, not finding anything that piques my interest, so I opt for a water.
As I pull out the bottle, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turn to see Ian standing behind me, a beer in his hand and looking a bit glossy eyed already.
“Nothing good?” he asks, slurring the question. Yep, definitely a bit drunk.
“Nah, not really.” I shrug. “Here to celebrate with Leslie.”
Ian pounds the rest of his beer and reaches into the cooler next to me and opens another. He’s on his way to being really toasted if he keeps this up.
“Girls gotta stick together, right?” He takes a step closer, but I instantly retreat, keeping distance between us. I don’t like the look he has in his eyes right now. My gut is telling me to get the hell out of here, but my feet don’t allow me to flee.
“I guess.” My eyes narrow at him. I don’t know what he’s playing at right now, but I don’t like it. “I support my friends.”
“What, Brady? We aren’t friends?” he slurs. He takesanother step closer, and I try to step back, but my ass hits a table instead.
“Not when you’re this close. You need to back the fuck up, Hicks.” I do my best to shove him so I can try to get around him, but his broad frame keeps him rooted in place.
His face instantly changes, something menacing crossing his features, and for the first time, I’m scared.
“So, you’ll fuck around with Dixon. What about the rest of us, Brady?” He grabs my wrist and drags me away from the party. I’m so stunned that all words of protest get caught in my throat until he has me pinned behind the RV. Leslie is parked on the end and there are no buses behind us, so we’re alone here. I don’t think anyone saw me get dragged away by him.
“It’s why you stormed out of Chase’s RV that night at the mention of his drunken hookup, you thought you two had something special when all he wanted was to get in your pants. It makes sense, really. How he races you differently than everyone else. Of course you’re fucking him to get that kind of treatment.” His eyes tear into mine, full of anger and I think jealousy. I can usually handle my own, but I’m scared. I’m not sure what he could be capable of with me alone and unable to get away.
“You know nothing about me or him,” I huff. I’m trying to be brave, try to show that I’m not as scared as I really feel. Though he can probably hear the loud thumping of my heart. I try to push around him again, and he pushes me back by my shoulder and slams me into the bus.
“Let go of me,” I bellow, still trying my best to pull out of his grasp, but that just makes him grip me harder. The smell of beer on his breath makes bile rise into my throat.
“Come on, Brady. Give me a taste of what you’re giving Dixon. We, too, could have an arrangement for you to get into Cup, huh?” he purrs into my ear and then gives me a smirk.Fucking smirks.I wish my response was to fight, but my instinct is to flee, and I’m not able to do that.
“GET OFF!” I shout, hoping someone at the party will hear or notice I’m missing. Something…anything.
“Come on. I can add you in on the deal Dixon and I struck.”
I just blink at him as confusion washes over me. What deal? What is he talking about?
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” he asks, full of glee, knowing he has information that I want. “I told him that I would keep his little secret of hooking up with that chick if he gave me some points here and there. Just something else he lied to you about, it seems. Too bad Taylor had to open his fat fucking mouth and ruin my leverage.”
I think I’m going to throw up. This can’t be real. Just when I was about to give Dean a second chance, I find out he made this deal with Ian of all people to keep it from me.
“What do you say, Brady?” His words are greasy and leave a trail on my skin that I can’t wait to shower off.
“Please, Ian. Just let me go,” I beg. He just fucking laughs in my face. He presses his body against mine, and I turn my head away from him, squeezing my eyes shut as his weight presses me into the hard exterior of the bus. The smell of beer and his cologne wash over me, and all I want is for him to get off of me. A hand strokes down the side of my arm.
“I’ll make it worth your while. I promise you’ll forget everything about Dixon after I’m done with you,” he says.
Tears are streaming down my face now. How is this happening? Ian’s hand is cupping my face, then all of a sudden, he’s pulled away from me, and it feels like for the first time in the past few minutes I can take a full breath of air.
I open my eyes and Ian is on the ground, clutching his face as blood streams from his nose. I’m not sure who it is that has Ian flat on his ass and bleeding as my vision is blurry fromtears, now not of fear, but relief that someone has come to my rescue.
“What the fuck?!” he exclaims, looking at the blood on his hands.
The person leans down and grabs him by the collar before giving a few more punches.
