The Damage is Done

Ch. 7: Life of the Party

He and I danced for about a song and a half before he grabbed my hand and started tugging me towards the large bar. I followed behind him and took a seat on the barstool next to him while I heard him ordering us two drinks. "I should probably introduce myself," he said to me. "I'm Ryan."

"Elliot," I responded. I watched as the bartender poured us both drinks and placed them in front of us. "Thanks for the drink."

"Thanks for the dance," he smiled at me and I returned it before taking a sip of whatever it was he ordered. It was sweet, much better tasting than the fireball from earlier, and I finished it quickly. He laughed at me but finished his as well. "Two more," he told the bartender.

My mind was getting a bit fuzzy, but in a good way. I felt more carefree and confident. At the rate this is going, Ryan was a likely candidate for that kiss. I leaned into him a little more and thanked him as he handed me another drink. "You know, I-"

All of a sudden Ryan was gone, and in my alcohol altered state it took me a moment to locate him. He had been yanked from his seat by the collar of his shirt and abruptly punched across the face by a tall, handsome stranger. Except it wasn't a stranger, I quickly realized. It was Dominic.

"Dom, stop!" I shouted. "What are you doing?"

Dom had Ryan pinned to the ground and was landing blow after blow on his face. Two men came rushing over and pulled Dom off of Ryan, allowing Ryan to stand up. The men held Dom by his arms while Ryan wiped the blood from his nose and mouth and walked over to him.

It looked like he was about to do something to hurt Dom so I jumped up from my barstool and raced to stand in front of him, blocking his path. "Stop it!" I yelled at everyone. Ryan walked right passed me, knocking me to the floor and swung his fist at Dom's perfect face.

Blaze was instantly by my side and helping me to my feet. I looked up at him and was shocked to see such a menacing glare on his normally cheerful face. He pushed my body behind his to shield me from what was happening, but I was drunk and curious enough to peek over his shoulder. Jared and Joshua both stood with guns drawn and pointed at Ryan and his friends. "Let him go," Jared demanded.

The men holding Dom hesitated slightly before releasing his arms and pushing him away from them. Suddenly, the bouncer I had seen earlier appeared with arms flexed and a look that could kill. Where the fuck had he been?

"You," he pointed at Dom. "Out. And everyone put your fucking guns away, would you?"

The twins both lowered their weapons and tucked them back into their waistbands. The whole club was silent now, the music turned off and everyone motionless and watching the scene in front of them.

"He drugged her goddamn drink, Cole," Dom addressed the bouncer. "You know exactly what this piece of shit does," he said while pointing at Ryan. Maybe he did know, but I didn't. He drugged my drink? I felt fine, a little drunk, but fine.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "What's going on?"

All of the men ignored me like I hadn't spoken. Actually, they ignored me like this whole fiasco wasn't started over me to begin with. Rude. "All I saw was you throw the first punch, Dom, you know the rules," Cole said.

Dom rolled his eyes and began walking to the exit. Cole turned to everyone else and gave them a warning before telling the DJ to turn the music back on. Music and lights flooded the room once again and it was like nothing ever happened.

"Wait!" I yelled and began chasing after Dom. I caught up to him right as he was exiting the building and crossing the street to the parking lot. "Hey!" I shouted to get his attention.

He leaned his back against my car, pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lit one, and placed it between his lips before glancing at me. "What?"

"What the hell was that?" I yelled. "I think I deserve an explanation!"

He rolled his eyes and took another drag of his cigarette. "First of all, you should be thanking me. Not yelling at me," he said as if it were obvious.

"Thanking you? For what? Attacking a guy that was dancing with me and buying me drinks?" I asked incredulously.

He scoffed and threw his cigarette on the concrete before stomping on it. "For saving your ass. I watched him drug your drink," he told me.

"Nobody drugged me, Dom. I'm clearly fine," I rolled my eyes at him and he ran his hand through his hair in annoyance.

"Yeah, you're fine because I fucking tackled him and made a fool out of myself. You didn't have any of the drugged drink," he explained. He's right, I realized. I watched the bartender make me the first drink, but I didn't see where the second drink came from that I never got around to trying because I was obviously distracted by the scene that followed.

"Oh," I muttered. "Thank you."

He eyed me warily like I was going to yell at him again. "You're welcome."

And then the alcohol in me said, "I just wanted a kiss. From anyone, really. But with my luck, I attracted a creepy date-rape dude instead of a regular person. I went to jail when I was thirteen! I've never kissed anyone and I just wanted to get it out of the way so I would know what to do when I met someone that I actually wanted to kiss."

Dom stared at me wide eyed and didn't say anything.

"I shaved!" I continued, "I shaved because what if the kiss went really well, you know? I've seen movies. They would either invite me back to their place or they would take me into the restroom and take advantage of me there if they couldn't wait. That's not exactly what I wanted for tonight, though. I mean everyone wants their first time to be special, right? But I really was trying to get a kiss. Fuck a first kiss. Who cares about those, really? I just wanted to get it over with so I could-"

Dom reached out and grabbed me with his strong arms, pulling me into his chest. His lips quickly crashed into mine and his hand traveled down to my waist. I placed mine around his neck and moved my lips against his. It was rough, passionate, a sufficient way to silence my rant. His spun my body around so my back was pressed against the car and I gasped, allowing his tongue to enter my mouth. It worked against mine for a moment before he pulled away.

My heart was beating so hard he must be able to hear it. My chest moved up and down in quick breaths while I struggled get myself under control. I looked up at Dom and he seemed to be having much of the same reaction. His blue eyes were wild as they stared into mine. "There," he said. "Now will you shut the fuck up?"