“You’ll give it later.” I led her towards the back of the golf cart. Taylor didn’t move, still yelling hateful words towards the guy.
“God, this is so embarrassing.” She bit down on her bottom lip, leaving a red mark on the pink skin. “I didn’t mean to cause all this drama.”
“You don’t look like the problem here,” I assured her in a soft tone. She sucked in a wavering breath as a fresh set of tears fell down her cheeks. “Hey, what’s your name?”
She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Sara.”
“Sara,” I repeated with a nod. “Is that guy your boyfriend?”
She shook her head. “No, we broke up a few days ago… Josh won’t leave me alone.”
The officer strayed away from Josh in favor of shouting at Taylor to back away. Without anyone holding him back, Josh decided to move towards us. My stomach twisted at the sight of him nearing. Our emergency training included a brief run-down on how to deescalate tense situations. I couldn’t remember a single damn thing about what to do.
Josh looked determined as hell, with red eyes and even redder skin. He was a lean guy, but that didn’t matter when someone was focused on getting revenge. I told him to stay where he was, but he didn’t pay me any attention. Sara’s fingers clawed into my arm as he neared. I tightened my hand into a fist.
Before he could get too close, Dakota stepped in his way. He said something too low for me to make out. I could tell from the tension in his shoulders, it was a warning. Something Josh didn’t seem too fond of because he spat in Dakota’s face.
“Oh, fuck no,” I whispered.
Fear be damned, if this bastard thought he was going to get away with something that disgusting he had another thing coming. I shook off Sara to give her ex a piece of my mind. But before I could get close enough, Dakota shoved the guy back. And before I could register Dakota’s raised fist, his knuckles smashed against Josh’s jaw. One hit and the guy was on his ass.
“You son of a bitch,” Josh screamed, earning attention from the officer again. “You got to be fucking kidding me. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer, dick. Shit, I swear to God, Sara, this is your fault.”
Sara’s fingers reached for my arm again, pulling me away in case Josh decided to get up. I doubted Dakota would let him get within an inch of us, so I stood firm. I tried not to show emotion at the venom in Josh’s voice as he continued to shout threats to all of us. My chest tightened because this guy’s tone reminded me eerily of Tyler’s. He’d even said the same thing Tyler did when I found out about his cheating.This is your fault.My jaw tightened at the words.
The officer reaching for Dakota instead of Josh brought me back to reality.
“Hey!” I yelled, moving closer to him. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Miss, I’m going to need you to stay back,” the officer ordered. He stretched his arm out like I was gearing to attack with my walkie.
I placed my hands up but still said. “The guy threatened her.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” the officer promised. “But I’m going to need you to stay next to your vehicle.”
I let out a sigh and nodded, knowing full well I didn’t have the privilege to push buttons. Instead, I waited for the officer to pull Dakota out of earshot before going back to Sara. She wasn’t crying anymore now that her friend was close again. Her ex was still rolling around on the ground, holding onto his bleeding mouth.
I gave him a side-eye when he requested my help. I climbed into the front seat of the golf cart instead. I addressed Taylor, “Do you need a ride too?”
“No,” Taylor said, shaking her head so that a few strands of blonde fell from her bun. “Just her. I don’t live on-campus.”
“You can go,” Sara assured in a tired voice. “I’ll be fine now.”
Taylor hugged her and made her promise to call as soon as she got to her dorm. My gaze toggled between the injured ex muttering on the ground and the officer still speaking with Dakota.
It only took a few minutes before Dakota was finally let go. I slid over, giving up the driving spot for him.
“You two all good?” he asked, eyes scanning us both.
Sara nodded. “Thank you. I’m so, so sorry. If I knew he would have tried to hurt someone I would have stuck to calling the police.”
The campus officer hauled the ex up and pushed him towards his car. He called something in on the walkie pinned to his shoulder. I frowned when the officer looked in our direction, giving us a sort of nod as if he’d done his job to the best of his ability.
“It’s not your fault,” I told Sara, turning around this time so she could see the honesty in my eyes. “Don’t ever let him make you think that.”
She brushed another tear off her cheek. I could feel Dakota’s gaze on me, but I didn’t meet it. If I did, he’d see my anger bubbling to the surface.
Our walkie came to life with someone asking if we were okay. They heard someone else call in a disturbance in our area. I responded back, thankful for the interruption. Dakota turned the cart towards the parking garage exit. It was raining now. The heavy drops sounded on the hard roof of the cart. Sara lived on the opposite side of campus. The longer we drove, the harder the rain poured.
