SNAP (The SNAP Trilogy Book 1) (7 page)

He is so full of himself to think that I would ever "overlook" anything.
He didn't even fucking apologize!

"Hell no!" I'm so done with tonight I actually laugh. His façade begins to crumble yet again as he clinches and unclenches his fists.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Hazel."

His words set my blood boiling. I knew something was off with him. There were moments when he was short with me and I could see through his nice guy disguise. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and was nice to him. I've even treated him decently since our last date in the hopes he would just move on. But I don't think he gets it. Even after telling him earlier that I'm done with him, it is not sinking in.

"Be like what? There is no this. Did you take a hit to the head recently or are you just mental?"

I hear a growl and almost look away thinking a stray dog is roaming the parking lot. The growl is rumbling deep in his chest. Too late, I realized those were the wrong words to use as Phil's hand wraps around my throat in an all too familiar grip. The little bit of air I had left in my lungs is released on a choked gasp. Excitement glitters in his eyes as he squeezes on my windpipe letting me know who is in charge. A memory flashes in my mind from that night of him above me choking me. Panic sets in again and I reach up and try to pry his fingers off my throat as Cady throws the car door open and yells at him to let me go. He loosens his grip enough for me to take in a deep breath.

In the momentary chaos, I didn't realize he had pinned me against the truck parked in front of mine. My shoulder blade hurts where it's digging into the tailgate. He must have slammed me into it hard. I feel the truck move and Phil looks toward the cab as I hear its door slamming shut.

Thank fucking God!

Phil releases my throat and takes a small step back, putting only inches between us. Anger ignites in his eyes like a child who got put in time-out and is about to have a tantrum. I do not want to be standing here when it hits him.

I could kick Cady right now for suggesting we play dress-up tonight. Trying to slide your feet on gravel while wearing heels is like attempting to walk on marbles. But a twisted ankle is better than being near this asshole. My foot slides over the top of the rocks and I think I've got it made until my foot bumps into his. He leans against the side of the truck trapping me and drapes his arm behind my head on the tailgate just as someone walks around the back of the truck. Glancing up, I see Cady standing at the edge of the car door eyes wide and grasping it so tightly her fingers are white. She's not looking at me, but in the direction of the newcomer and it makes my head turn to see who it is.

Dark brown eyes with an emotion I can't seem to grasp onto meet mine. Although it feels like time freezes, it's a millisecond before he turns his gaze to Phil.

"What's going on, man?" he asks Phil, even though we both know he knows. I hadn't seen him in the truck, but then again I wasn't really paying attention once I saw Phil standing by my vehicle.

"Oh nothing, just having a talk with my lady," Phil answers nonchalantly. "You know how it is."

The cockiness on his face and in his voice has Cady fit to be tied. Her mouth drops open to speak and I shake my head no at her. She snaps her mouth shut looking between me and the hotty waiting for someone to say or do something.

"No I don't know how it is. Looked like you weren't doing much talking from where I was sitting," he says calmly. Phil stiffens next to me as his hands form fists. If he thinks he can take this guy, he is crazy. This dude is much, much bigger than him, and the calm, calculating way he is looking at and speaking to Phil has me wondering if he's just as fucking crazy too.

"Hazel," Cady's voice breaks the silence. "Let's go."

Glancing between the two men in a stare off, I take a chance and step away from the truck. Phil reaches out and grabs my wrist halting my steps.

"I wouldn't do that," the stranger says, taking a step forward.

I try to pull away only to have him squeeze tighter. Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention, and as I turn my head to look, I'm face to chest with the stranger. He wraps one arm around my waist pulling me to him while grabbing Phil around the throat with his other hand.

"Let her go. Now." His commanding voice would have me pissing where I stood, but not Phil. He loosens his grip and I'm able to yank my hand from his hold causing me to tumble and smash my face against the man who was eye fucking me earlier. His body is solid under my hands and doesn't even sway from me crashing into him. I smell a hint of cologne, something familiar, but on him smells fantastic. The tension in his body is causing his muscles to twitch, and as much as I would love to grope this man, now is not the time. I slide my hands between us and go to push away when he pulls me tighter to him, causing me to hold my breath and wait for what's coming next.

"You okay?" he asks quietly. The deep rumble of his voice plucks a string that runs straight through me. I am now. Knowing that I have someone willing to help me makes me feel a million times safer. The fact that it's the man who made me feel alive earlier fucks with my head a bit though.

Tilting my face up to his, I slightly nod. He glances at me for a second before releasing me and guiding me behind him.

"Why don't you and your friend cut out? We're gonna hang back and have a little chat."

"We don't have anything to chat about, buddy." Phil attempts to remove his hand from his throat, but the stranger squeezes again to show who's in control.

"I'm not your buddy. You'll realize that when we're done talking." He speaks with such promise that I have no doubt the smirk on his face is correct. He looks like your everyday kind of guy, but exudes danger. My brain screams at me to move it now and get as far away from these men as possible, but my body is frozen in fear, intrigue, and anger. I want to see this brick wall of a man hurt that asshole. It's a whole new feeling for me because I hate fighting.

Unable to help myself, I peek around him to Phil. He's looking right at me, hatred rolling off of him. Phil's not a happy camper right now, and this worries me about what our future meetings will be like. This man will not be able to save me from him every time he strikes.

"I said move your ass, Hazel," the stranger says. If Phil's eyes could kill, the man would've been dead the second my name left his lips.

I turn my attention to the stranger, but he's not paying me any mind. "Yes, sir," I mumble as I back away slowly still looking in their direction. He turns his head slightly and I think I see a grin on his face before Phil snarls.
Fucking men.

I work my way around the car and open the driver's side door. Cady gets in at the same time, refusing to get into the car until I did. She hands me the keys and I grab them from her with a shaky hand. The key bumps around the ignition before sliding home and I crank it quickly. Popping the car in reverse, I look up to see Phil glaring at me. His eyes hold a promise that I hope he never keeps. My foot slams on the accelerator and the tires quickly catch on the gravel as we fly out of the parking spot. Once we've cleared the other cars, I slam it into drive and pull out of the parking lot. Cady turns to face them hoping to see what's going on as I come to a stop at the stop sign in front of the bar.

"They're still standing there in the same place." She sounds as if she's holding her breath. Curiosity gets the better of me and I turn to look back. As soon as my eyes land on the two men, I see my savior punch Phil in the face.

The few minutes it takes to drive to my apartment is filled with a whole lot of "Oh my God's" and speculation if Phil is getting the beating of his life from the mystery man. Adrenaline is pumping through my body as I try to get us to my home in one piece. Once we pull into my parking spot, I shut the car off and take a deep breath. Everything that has happened catches up with me and I take a moment to wrap my head around it all.

What the hell is Phil's problem? It's been about a month since that night we spent together. We didn't talk after. I made it pretty clear that we would not be seeing each other again. I think he knew how bad he scared me. But lately he's been showing up at the same places I am. At first I would just notice him there staring at me, but with each meeting he's gotten a little ballsier, getting closer to me and eventually talking to me. His recent comments even being flirty and suggesting he still wants more. You would think he would get the picture and leave me alone, but no doesn't mean no in his eyes. He's a predator, I get that now. No is a challenge that he intends to win. Tonight has proven that I need to find a way to protect myself. I'm scared and pissed all at the same time and I don't know how to deal with that. And who the hell is this mystery man? I've never seen him around town before; I would remember if I had. He's not someone you'd easily miss or forget.

"Are you okay?" Cady asks, breaking through my thoughts.

I think about it for a second before responding. "I'm not sure. I'm so confused right now about everything. It all seems so surreal."

"Tell me about it," she responds, seeming just as confused. "Let's go inside and get out of these goddamn shoes and relax for a minute."

"Fuck the shoes. I want out of these clothes, period. Me dressed like this is probably what set that dumb-fuck off to begin with," I say as I get my stuff together and open the car door.

"It shouldn't matter how you're dressed, you aren't in a relationship. Phil obviously has problems. Did he seem like he was hopped up on something tonight?" she asks as she follows me up to the door.

"You know, I thought that before he attacked me at the car." I open the door and let us in. Not taking any chances, I immediately lock the door, the deadbolt, and slide the chain across the door once we're inside.

The couch looks so inviting that I walk the few steps to it and flop down letting a sigh escape as my head falls back. The couch dips down as Cady lands next to me and I hear her sigh as well.

"You want to talk about it now?"

I know she's not talking about tonight. She's referring to the one and only time Phil and I had sex. I never told her anything out of shame. After tonight, though, I think it's time to come clean.

"Not this second, I don't." I reach down to take off my heels as she huffs at my response. "Cady, right now all I want is to get out of this dress and shoes, which, by the way, I think have become a permanent part of my feet." My breath hisses as I pull my heels off, scraping blisters the size of nickels. I won't be able to wear shoes without bandages for at least a week.

"Fine. But we
will
be talking, and very soon. I knew you were holding back on me; tonight confirms it." Her firm tone and compassionate eyes have me breaking inside. Guilt eats away at me knowing she has been worried, but the love I have for her only grows more knowing she didn't push me for information when she wanted to.

"I promise we will talk about it soon." I give her a reassuring smile and pat her hand. "But first, let's change our clothes and get a drink while we count our tip money."

I beg her with my eyes to drop it for now while I come to terms with what happened tonight. My promise of a future confession is enough to appease her, especially since I reminded her of the small fortune we made while working the bar tonight.

"Oh, the tip money!" She jumps off the couch racing towards my room, undressing as she goes. I laugh at her as she almost trips over the skirt falling down her legs. As we dig through our clothes to find something to wear, her phone rings. She has to search beneath the mountain thrown all over the bed to find it in time.

"Hey, you." Her voice lowers into a breathy, flirty tone as a huge smile breaks out on her face. It must be Erik. She sits on the edge of the bed and plays with the sleeve of one of my shirts.

"I'm at Hazel's. We just got back from there and will not be going back tonight." She glances in my direction and I nod letting her know it's okay to tell him what happened tonight. I grab my favorite capri pants, a tank-top, and some underwear as she begins to tell him how the night started. Once she mentions the first encounter with Phil, I take my clothes to the bathroom so I don't have to relive it.

Once I get in there and peel my dress off, I decide to jump in the shower and rid myself of the sticky sweat all over me. After starting the shower, I tug at the rubber band knotted in my hair until it snaps. I run a brush through my hair and stare at myself in the mirror. My eyeliner is smudged and I look like death warmed over.

There's nothing extraordinary reflecting back. What could Phil possible see that has him so hung up on me? He doesn't really know me, and it couldn't be my looks that keep him sniffing around. I'm far from a supermodel. That's the only kind of woman I can see him really dating, with the status of his family in the community. His father is an investment banker and monopolizes the area. The rest of his family is in politics and law, holding positions not only in our town, but at the state level as well. He should be with a socialite, one that can measure up to his hoity-toity mother. That woman reminds me of a Stepford wife.

Grabbing a hair tie, I pull my hair up again and step behind the curtain. I do a quick job of washing and rinsing my body, trying to ignore the still healing claw marks on my abdomen. The scabs are gone, but some of the pinkish lines remain. When I first saw them, it looked as though Phil had tried to slice through me like a wild animal. I remember standing in front of the full length mirror on my closet door, my arms crossed over my stomach as my fingers matched up with every mark. They traced the raw and scabbed-over tracks down my rib cage until they ended at my stomach. Those didn't hurt as much as the pain between my legs and in my bottom.

I rush to finish my shower not wanting to distract myself, but as I step out to dry off, I hear Cady still rattling away on the phone to Erik. I get dressed and brush my teeth hoping she's almost done and not wanting to hurry her phone call along. She really likes Erick and I don't want to give her the impression that I don't. He's a down to earth guy with a great sense of humor and big heart. Cleaning up my eyeliner, I wonder where we will be partying at tonight. It will definitely be safer to be somewhere else in case Phil decides to make another appearance.

Cady is on the couch pulling the money from her purse as I walk into the living room. She has her cell between her ear and shoulder listening to what Erik is telling her. Smiling at me, she holds up a finger to give her a minute.

"Uh huh…okay. Yeah, I know where that's at. Cool, we will be there in a bit. I'll text you when we are close so you can come out and meet us. Bye." She ends the call and grabs the last of the money out of her purse tossing it up in the air over the pile already on the coffee table.

"Damn." I whistle under my breath and sit on the couch ready to count the spoils from the evening. "Here, I'll count you talk," I say, uncrinkling the bills as I put them all in a neat stack.

"There's a huge party in Swanson that Erik is at. I figured we'd go there and get the fuck out of this town for the night." I nod in agreement as I count. She hesitates before continuing. "Phil really scared me tonight, Hazel. I've never seen him like that before. Why are you not freaking out about him grabbing your throat the way he did?"

My hand stills and my mind races to make up something to tell her. I just want it to be over and push it behind me. Discussing it only keeps that night alive and I want it to die, hiding the memories far from everyone, including myself.

"Cady, I don't want to talk about it right now," I mumble and quickly continue counting our money. I want to get on with our night and deal with the entire situation later.

"He was rough with you, wasn't he?" she asks quietly. I can see her watching me out of the corner of my eye. I nod my head giving her that much as I finish counting. She sits silently as I turn to her and hand her the wad of cash.

"Take a guess."

She meets my gaze searching for answers, but I just give her a reassuring smile. I know I will have to tell her soon, but now is not the time.

"One million dollars." She puts her pinky up to her mouth doing her impersonation of Dr. Evil and belts out a maniacal laugh.

"I wish. Try sixty-three bucks," I spout with a cocky grin and raise a brow. "It would've been eighty-three had I not left twenty for Roger."

Come Monday Roger will be begging to hire Cady. We haven't seen tips like these in – ever – and this was only for a few hours. I can only imagine what they would've been had we been working a full shift. Sales have got to be a record high, and if we continue to have service like we did tonight, they will continue to grow.

"Damn, we rocked that place! I barely expected a fourth of this in the beginning. Anything else you gotta do before we leave? There's money burning a hole in my pocket!" She laughs and we split the money before gathering our things so we can take off for Swanson.

We peek out the door on the watch for Phil. Any more occurrences with him tonight will end with one of us in jail and one of us in the hospital. After the stunt he pulled at the tavern, I'm worried as to just how far he was willing to take it. Shaking the thought from my mind, we step out and I lock the deadbolt. We check around the car for any signs that Phil is hiding in the dark. Satisfied that he isn't around, we climb inside and head for Swanson.

***

"Hello, ladies," Erick greets us as we cross the street to meet him.

A glance around the rundown neighborhood leaves no worries that the cops will be called tonight, unless gunshots are fired. The thought of that happening has me double checking my surroundings. The buildings are compacted together like tuna in a can with mere feet between them. If the siding isn't falling from the houses, then whatever paint is left on them is peeling off. Some of the yards look like they haven't been mowed in weeks. There are some lights on in a few other homes, but for the most part it looks vacant. I'm not so sure I'd travel to this part of town if we weren't meeting someone we knew. Even now I'm unsure of being here.

"What's up, Erick?" I respond, taking in the house he came out of. The gray paint is cracked, reminding me of all those lotion commercials for alligator skin. It could definitely use some TLC. Someone pulls the makeshift curtain to the side and peers out the window at us for a second before letting it drop back into place.

"Not a whole lot. Getting out of Trinity for a bit. That place will suck you dry if you let it." He reaches out for Cady's hand pulling her up the overly tall step to the walkway before wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her.

"Oh, God! Not so tight," she squeaks out before giggling. Erick chuckles and releases her. "Did you guys stop for booze, or do we need to go to the liquor store?"

"Now you know I always come prepared." Cady reaches in her bag pulling out the bottle of rum she had packed.

"Nice. I'm not drinking tonight, so I can drive you two home later." His questioning look says it all. He wants to spend the night where ever Cady is. It doesn't bother me any, especially knowing I'll have someone to help me if Phil shows his face again.

"Sounds good to me." I shrug and stroll up the walk past them toward the house and take the steps up on the porch. Turning back, Cady is whispering something to Erick and he nods his head. Whatever they are discussing is serious. There isn't any teasing or flirting happening. My arms instinctively cross over my chest in defense as I watch them. What is she telling him?

Erick quickly glances my way and turns toward me smiling when he sees me staring.

"You two coming, or what?" It comes out a little more snippy than I intended.

"Yep," Cady chimes and climbs the steps with Erick at her heels.

Eric opens the door and steps into the house. My eyes dart around the place taking it all in as we follow behind him. It doesn't look nearly as bad inside as it does outside and I wonder if they keep the outside looking the way it does on purpose. A nice house in this neighborhood would be broke into over and over again. There's quite a few people here and so far I don't know a damn one of them. Eric introduces us briefly as we walk through the room and stray eyes go back to private conversations. It reminds me of an old lady's house, definitely not a house a bunch of young people party in. Family and school pictures line the walls of the hallway as we make our way through. The dining room isn't nearly as packed. It has minimal decor and a rather large wooden table that seats eight. All eight seats are filled and everyone is working on packaging what looks like white pills into tiny zipper lock bags. I freeze in the doorway as Cady continues to follow Eric into the room.