She looked at him, he was sitting there laughing hysterically at something one of the boys had said. At the exact moment she looked at him he choked on his drink where he was laughing and almost spat it everywhere, coke dribbling down his chin. Wow smooth Tom I'm here trying to help you out and you can't just keep yourself in check for a minute or two! I laughed as Andy slapped him on the back laughing.
"So attractive." she laughed shaking her head grinning.
"You know you fancy him right now even with the drool." I teased.
She rolled her eyes, "You know I went out with him last night? It was actually really fun, I had a really great time and we didn't have sex so that wasn't what made it good. Usually I base a date on how the night ended but that's the first time I've really enjoyed a date even though we didn't get past first base." she blushed a little and looked at him again.
I grinned, "He's a really nice guy. Maybe you should give him a chance. Did he ask you out again?" I asked mentally crossing my fingers.
"Yeah he asked me to go out with him tomorrow night." She bit her lip looking at him thoughtfully.
"And what did you say?" I asked hope bubbling up inside me.
"I told him I'd think about it. I don't want to get tied down to one guy. I did that before and when he cheated on me it hurt so much I swore to never let another guy have that power over me again. That's why I just use guys to get what I want." she said frowning slightly.
"But what if he didn't hurt you? You can't go through life scared to take a chance." I said honestly. I glanced at Clay, ok I was bordering on interfering now and was in slight danger of breaking my promise.
"Yeah maybe you're right." she nodded biting her lip looking at Tom again, he looked at her at the same time and smiled his cute dimpled smile. She would be really crazy not to give him a chance, I kind of wanted to shake her and grab them both and lock them in a room together and not let them out until they'd talked. She should just tell him what she just told me and then he could reassure her that he really liked her.
I sighed and pushed myself up from the seat as they started flirting with each other from each of my sides so I was caught in the middle. I smiled at Clay as I went to walk past him to the bathroom. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down onto his lap wrapping his arms around me.
"Hey Riley bear, where are you sneaking off to?" he teased running his hands down my back making me shiver slightly.
I looked into his green eyes and smiled, "I was just going to the bathroom, want to come with me just in case I need help buttoning up my jeans?" I asked flirtily.
He grinned and nodded, "Hell yeah I do, just in case you need help of course." he joked nodding slowly. He leant in close to my ear, "You go first and I'll be there in a couple of minutes." he breathed nibbling on my earlobe making me giggle.
I smiled and kissed him before pushing myself up from his lap, I practically skipped out the back towards the bathrooms. I waited round the corner out of sight for him to follow me when the coast was clear. I could barely breathe I was so excited, the thought of making love to Clay in a public place was actually a real turn on, the risk of getting caught making it seem even better somehow.
I heard him approaching and I giggled, damn I hoped we didn't get caught! He walked round the corner and my heart stopped.
It wasn't Clay. It was Blake.
Chapter 22
He grabbed my hand and pulled me forward clamping his hand over my mouth before I even had a chance to scream. There was a fire exit just off to the left out by the bathrooms so he pushed the bar down to release the door and shoved us both through it slamming it shut behind him.
He let go of me, I immediately stepped back away from him and looked back to the door to see it was one of those that only opened from the inside, there wasn't a handle or anything from this side. He was standing off to one side, and that was the way back to the front of the restaurant, so I would have to walk past him to get back to the front door. No one was around, we were just out the back of the restaurant by the trash cans in the middle of a little dark alleyway. There was no way I could run, and no one around to help.
Oh shit, what the hell do I do? How do I get hold of Clay to come and help me? I patted my pocket hoping that my cell phone was in there, even as I was doing it I knew it was hopeless, my cell phone was in my purse which was back in the restaurant where I was sitting. Damn it I'm so freaking stupid!
I took all of this in within a couple of seconds even though it felt like forever that I'd been standing here thinking of ways to escape. Blake was just standing there smiling at me, a nice smile too, playful even. Wow he is seriously bi-polar or something. Has he forgotten he's not allowed to be near me and that I'm with Clay?
"Hey jailbait." he chirped stepping closer to me. I whimpered and stepped back bumping into the chain-link fence behind me. "Don't look so scared of me, I won't hurt you again I promise." he murmured stepping closer to me.
I could smell alcohol on his breath again, he actually looked a little rough, he wasn't clean shaven like normal he had a couple of days growth there. The clothes he was wearing were rumpled and creased like he'd had them on for a couple of days or slept in them or something.
"Blake, this isn't allowed. You're not supposed to be near me. Why did you follow me here?" I said breathlessly as I started to panic.
I just needed to stay calm and keep him talking or something. Clay would come to the bathrooms looking for me in a minute or two and when he realized I wasn't there waiting for him he'd check outside. Right? He'd try the fire door and look for me, wouldn't he? Oh please Clay help me I begged silently. Why the hell didn't I take my purse to the bathroom? I could have called him or something! Stupid stupid Riley, I scolded myself.
"I didn't follow you, I was here first." he smirked at me as he brushed his hand down the side of my face. I shrank back away from his hand and a look of hurt crossed his face. "Why are you so scared of me still? I told you I won't hurt you again." he mumbled looking at me apologetically.
"The last time I saw you I got slapped in the face twice and the time before that you broke my arm! How can I not be scared of you?" I asked acidly. Shit what on earth am I doing provoking him? I should just be talking to him calmly until Clay comes out for me. I needed to keep him talking, calm down Riley! My heart was crashing in my chest and my breath coming out in little shallow gasps making me feel slightly light-headed.
"And I apologized for that, are you going to hold it against me forever?" he asked cocking his head to the side giving me the innocent little boy look.
"Blake, it's just that we shouldn't be talking." I said looking around, where the hell is Clay?
"I just wanted to say hi seeing as you don't like to talk to me on the phone anymore." he pouted slightly as he pressed his body against mine, he linked his fingers through the fence either side of my body so I was now pinned against the fence with no way of getting past him at all.
"I just....we.....you." I stuttered trying not to cry.
He smiled, "I'm here having dinner with my sister and her boyfriend. They're a little worried about me apparently. I told them there was nothing to worry about that I was just missing my girlfriend." he said quietly.
I groaned internally, what the hell is he thinking? "Why are they worried about you?" I asked trying to buy some time and keep him talking so he wouldn't hit me again or kiss me. Hell maybe he'd even try for rape this time, we were down a deserted alley this was the perfect chance for him to do it.
"I'm not sleeping very well and I've been drinking a little lately, it's only to keep my mind off of you. I can't stop thinking about you jailbait, I've never wanted any girl as much as I want you." he said one of his fingers trailing up my hip and hooking in the belt loop of my jeans.
"Maybe you should see someone about it Blake." I mumbled. My voice was barely above a whisper, I kept my eyes glued on the fire door, someone must have realized I'm not back by now, right? How long had I been out here? It felt like forever, but had it even been a minute or two yet?
"I am seeing someone about it, I'm seeing you. A little time with you should do the trick." he smiled and inched his face closer to mine. I turned my head away and closed my eyes as I put my hands on his chest and tried desperately to push him away from me.
He almost growled as he grabbed my hands and moved them off of his chest pressing his body back to mine again. He linked his fingers through mine, he wasn't trying to hurt me, he was just holding my hands softly.
"What the hell is wrong with you jailbait?" he asked angrily.
I looked at him, he was frowning at me, clearly annoyed. I felt his fingers brush over my rings on my left hand. I swallowed loudly, "I just....Blake this needs to stop. I'm not your girlfriend." I mumbled nervously.
His fingers were still touching my wedding and engagement ring as he pulled my hand up to look at it, he frowned looking slightly confused. "These are pretty." he said ignoring my remark about me not being his girlfriend. It's like he has selective hearing and can only hear what he wants to.
"Yeah." I whispered. My heart was banging so loudly in my chest I'm surprised he couldn't hear it.
"Where did you get them? Have you always wore these?" he asked curiously.
Oh God I'm not going to lie about being married to Clay, even if he gets angry about it. I'd never deny my marriage, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
"They're wedding rings." I said watching as his face snapped up to mine his eyes turning hard.
"Wedding rings?"
I nodded, "Yeah I got married in Vegas last weekend."
His hold on my hand tightened almost crushing my fingers making me wince slightly, "You got married? Is this some f**king joke? Because if it is it's not funny." he growled looking at me warningly.
"It's not a joke." I said breathlessly whilst trying to pull my hand from his hold.
"You married him? Preston. We're talking about that f**king punk Preston again right?" he shouted shoving me against the fence harder as he slammed his hand against it level with my face, missing me by mere inches. I whimpered and tried my best to stay calm.
"Clay and I are married now Blake, so you need to leave me alone." I said trying to sound more confident than I felt, I actually felt sick and my legs were shaking slightly, I wasn't sure how much longer they would support me for.
He laughed and shook his head, "This is some sort of sick joke. You can't be married, you're not old enough." he rolled his eyes, his face softening slightly. Wow he thought I was joking, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.
I heard the door open behind him but where he was standing so close I couldn't see Clay yet. I smiled gratefully and waited for Blake to be yanked off of me. He wasn't. Instead a woman spoke.
"Blake what on earth are you doing out here? We were waiting for you, the food's here."
He turned back and looked over his shoulder, I saw a pretty girl with black hair standing in the doorway looking at him like he was stupid or something. This must be his sister, they looked a little alike.
"Hey Michelle, yeah sorry I was just talking to Riley." Blake said wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me forward towards his sister.
"Oh really? You're Riley?" she smiled politely. Wow he obviously hadn't told her anything about the police or the restraining order. "It's nice to meet you finally, I've been hearing a lot about you from Blake. You're the first girl he's ever talked about." she smiled affectionately at her brother.
I put on a fake smile and pulled away from Blake towards his sister holding out my hand to her. "Nice to meet you Michelle."
She grinned and shook my hand looking at my cast a little bemused, I moved so I could step past her into the building putting her in-between Blake and I. The warmth of the restaurant surrounded me and my body started to relax because of how close Clay was. He was just in the other room, I could scream his name and he'd be here in an instant. My heart was returning to normal just at the thought of him alone.
"Maybe you could come over to the house for dinner one night." Michelle suggested.
Blake smiled happily, "She'd love to, right jailbait?"
I smiled weakly, "I've got to get back to my friends. They're going to think I fell in the toilet or something." I nodded towards the restaurant.
"Ok well arrange a day with Blake. I'm glad you're back from your holiday. He's been a real grouch without you." she said slapping Blake's shoulder but smiling happily at the same time. He told her I was on holiday? Seriously he is so deranged!
"Nice to meet you." I mumbled as I turned and walked off as fast as I could.
As I got to the table I grabbed Clay's hand and pulled him to his feet, he looked at me guiltily. "I'm sorry Riley bear, I got caught sneaking into the girls toilets and the manager guy made me come back to my seat. What took you so long anyway?"
"We need to leave right now." I said stepping closer to him and pressing my face against his chest, I could feel the tears starting to build in my eyes.
"Riley, what's happened?" he asked hugging me tightly his voice sounding slightly panicked and stressed.
"Please we need to leave right now Clay, will you get my purse? We need to go." I said desperately. I was going to have a full blown meltdown any minute and I didn't want to do that here. I also didn't want Clay anywhere near Blake, I knew he would probably beat the crap out of him and he almost got into trouble with the police for that last time. I couldn't have him in trouble for defending me.