Josh bolted upright and sat back on his heels with his hands on his side. He stared down at Ali, and judging by Josh’s reaction, I had a feeling that the name pig man meant something to him … or them.
“Pig man! The fucking pig man did this?” Josh grilled.
“Josh,” I said his name in a warning. “Who is pig man?” I asked.
“He’s no one,” Ali said.
“He’s someone. Someone who doesn’t have a brain in his head,” Josh argued.
“Sam, he’s an asshole,” Ali said under her breath. She stared at the ceiling while Josh continued to ask questions.
“Ali, was he the one in the parking lot?” Josh coaxed.
“Who is pig man?” I raised my voice to get them to stop carrying on and tell me who this man was.
“Shane!” Josh yelled the name but kept his eyes on Ali.
“Shane? The Shane from Oxygen?” I asked and sat up.
Ali glared at Josh and looked like she was ready to tear into him. I was ready to go through the roof as I remembered the man who interrupted us. He was also the man who had slapped Ali the night I’d watched her play with him.
“Did he put that mark on your face before the three of us got together?” I asked.
“And was he the asshole in the parking lot?” Josh probed.
“Ali,” I prompted for an answer.
“God! Happy now, Josh?” Ali sighed.
She held her hands up in frustration, and as she let them flop back down on the mattress, I caught her hand that was closest to me. I cradled her palm in mine and pressed the back of her hand to my chest after I kissed it.
“No!” Josh roared.
“Ali, was it Shane from Oxygen?” I repeated my question calmly.
“Yes!” she exclaimed.
“Oh my God,” Josh mumbled and started to get off the bed.
“Josh,” I called and snapped my fingers before he ventured too far. He hadn’t gotten off the bed yet, but looked over his shoulder at me. “Relax,” I told him. I kept my eyes connected with his eyes for a few extra moments to make sure he understood that Ali didn’t need for him to lose control and stomp off.
“I’m sorry I said I was turned on by watching Mistress Tabitha in the locker room. I was embarrassed that the pig man asshole made my face red,” Ali explained.
“Tell me what happened at the club before you saw us,” I encouraged.
“He was in the hallway by the locker room and tried to negotiate a session. I told him that I had something pre-planned, and he couldn’t really accept it. He kept calling me Ali, and I told him my name was Alison. Only my friends call me Ali. He was pissed that I wouldn’t call him Sir Shane. And yes, I probably could’ve been more cordial, but screw that. I might have been a bitch, but I’m not a doormat and didn’t deserve that.”
I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed the back of it.
“I know, sweetheart.” I kissed her hand again and focused on her tired and swollen eyes. “Tell me how you got the mark on your cheek.”
“After he had his temper tantrum about me not calling him Sir Shane, in my mind I pictured the groundskeeper fromThe Simpsons. Josh and I say that the pig man kind of looks like him. So I was picturing the cartoon while listening to him ranting and bitching about not being called Sir Shane, and I ended up not being able to stifle my laugh. He, of course, thought I was laughing at him, which I was, in a sense. Anyhow, that’s when I got slapped.”
“Fucking asshole,” Josh said under his breath. He was finally settling down and had rolled to his side and kissed her red cheek.
“I don’t mind pain,” Ali explained. But I quickly wanted to curb whatever defense she might try to offer. And I know it would be something she and Josh had heard from James.
“Liking pain is fine, Ali. There’s nothing wrong with that. But where this becomes a problem is that his hands were not invited. If you guys had negotiated something and that was involved, then that would be one thing. But he hit you in the hallway of Oxygen, uninvited in any shape or form. You remember how upset you got for playfully pushing Josh in the main room? Shane’s hand on you is much worse. But you get my point. Oxygen doesn’t tolerate members not respecting other members’ safety.”
