Page 59 of Running from Drac

Poppy stands frozen nearby, her face pale, her hand trembling in the air like she meant to grab Wesley but couldn’t get her body to move fast enough. The hot redhead looks livid, her confused lips curl in disgust as she clutches her phone and starts to back away.

So much for them fucking tonight.

The guy spits blood onto the floor, barely missing my shoe. He grins through split lips. “You seemed to be doing just fine foryourself, asshole. Why the fuck are you stepping in where you aren’t needed?”

“Because I know exactly who the fuck you are,” Wesley barks, stepping forward again. “And if you ever touch my friend again, I’ll break more than your jaw.”

The man takes a reckless swing, nailing Wesley in the side of his face, barely budging him. Then he’s sacked to the ground, Wesley taking him down so hard his skull makes a hollow sound off the flooring. A fury of punches follow, each one creating more blood. It coats his face, every inch of him covered in the other man’s crimson fluids.

“Wesley, stop!” Poppy screams just as security rushes in, pushing through the crowd, the tension only snapping when it takes four of them to grab Wesley by the arms and pull him off the guy that looks like half-breathing hamburger meat. The second he’s wrenched back it’s like a light detonates in his eyes, and reality refocuses.

“Get the fuck off me,” he shouts, but without venom. His voice is tired now. Worn out. Hurt.

They slam him against a wall, slapping on a pair of cuffs as his cheek crushes against the cold concrete, a look of murder raging in his eye.

Eddie glances over his shoulder, making sure I’m okay, before he takes off into a sprint, desperate to help his friend.

“Eddie, wait!” I shout after him. I know I’m okay, but I’m in shock.

Chasing after him, we come to a stop inches away from Wesley. He could easily take the security guards if he wanted to, but he’s not going to, not when it could make things even worse for him.

“Where are you taking him?” Eddie questions.

“Jail,” one of the security guards grits out, pushing Wesley toward the door.

“I’ll bail you out, man!” Eddie shouts after him just as a few police officers march into the club, seizing Wesley from security.

“Don’t bother!” Wesley shouts. “Just fucking take care of Poppy for me.” Then he’s gone, dragged out into the parking lot, his recent good record already being scratched and erased.

My hand finds Eddie’s. There’s a slight tremble, one that I wish I could quell. He loves Wesley like a brother, and to see him fall apart like this makes me realize just how amazing my soon to be husband really is.

“He’ll be okay,” I encourage, just as Poppy appears at our side.

“What the fuck happened?” Eddie seethes, his brow furrowed with a glare aimed at Poppy.

“He lost it,” she exclaims. “One minute, I’m walking out of the bathroom, and the next, that goon is crowding me, not letting me move any further until I agreed to dance with him. Wesley must’ve seen him touch me because the guy was flying across the room before I could even process what was happening.”

His eyes meet mine, and suddenly he looks like he’s somewhere else. Like whatever just happened is mixing with whatever he was about to say earlier, and he can’t keep afloat as the world sinks around him.

“Eddie, are you okay?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know if he can get out of this one,” he mumbles. “This is his third strike.”

Poppy gasps. “What does that mean?”

He doesn’t answer right away, his gaze fixated on the doors his best friend just went through.

When he finally speaks, his voice is quiet, unreadable. “It means he’s going to jail, maybe for a long time this time.”

“Oh shit,” I exclaim as Poppy covers her mouth in shock.

“He can’t go to prison. He was just protecting me,” she whispers.

Eddie turns furiously towards her. “Like you fucking care. You’ve been nothing but a scathing bitch toward him since you met. Don’t act like you give a fuck about him now, not when it’s your fault this even happened.”

Poppy looks at the floor.

“Yeah, that floor isn’t going to help you get out of this one, Poppy. I hope you’re happy. Because your wish just got fucking granted. Now you’ll never have to see him again.”