Page 47 of Hung Up
He doesn’t get the opportunity to finish his sentence. I feel a commanding and threatening presence behind me, and I don’t have to look over my shoulder to know exactly who it is. Relief flows through me, and I have to fight every instinct not to let that feeling overwhelm me, or I’ll collapse right here.
“She told you to let go,” Jesse tells Adam, his voice lethally calm. “I suggest you listen.”
“This doesn’t concern you,” Adam spits as he yanks me forward, causing me to stumble into him and spill my drink on his shoes. To my surprise, Adam doesn’t seem to notice as he stares down the bull rider behind me. “This is between me and Faith. Mind your own fucking business.”
I gain my footing and look over my shoulder to glance at Jesse. His face appears calm, stoic, but I can see the rage burning behind those green eyes that usually carry such light. I open my mouth to say something, what I have no fucking idea, when Isee movement out of my peripheral vision. Turning my head, I watch just as Kai comes pushing through the crowd, his fist cocked and ready to make contact.
But Jesse beats him to it.
Adam stumbles backward into the bar, his grip slipping from my wrist as he reaches for his nose. Kai swoops forward, putting himself between Adam and me as he hugs me tightly against his side. As Jesse takes a threatening step forward, it’s only then that I notice all the bull riders are standing behind him looking equally as pissed off as he does. Stetson appears in front of me, resting a hand on my free shoulder as his eyes frantically search my own, looking for what I don’t know.
“Let me tell you how things work around here,” Jesse says, causing Stetson to stand upright and turn around, focusing on Adam now. “You put your hands on a woman and you lose your right to privacy. I suggest you leave.”
Adam spits, blood flying from his mouth and landing at Jesse’s feet. I don’t hear what Adam replies because my eyes fall on a familiar head of bright red hair before Kai releases me, and Maxine hugs me tightly. Kai moves to stand in front of us both, shielding me from Adam as Maxine pulls away and grips my cheeks between her hands.
“Are you okay?” she asks in a whisper, so much concern lacing her voice that my heart constricts and tears well up in the corner of my eyes.
It’s been so long since someone else cared about me this much.
I nod wordlessly, worried that if I speak, the tears might fall. She laces her hand through mine, turning her focus on the scene unfolding in front of us. Kai and Adam are now chest to chest, Stetson on one side and Jesse on the other, the three of them caging my ex in against the bar.
“You so much as even think about her and I’ll knock your fucking teeth out,” Kai threatens through clenched teeth.
“As will I,” Stetson says, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides like it’s taking everything within him not to hit Adam, too.
Jesse looks like he’s about to lurch forward again, but Wyatt steps forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. Pulling him away, Wyatt replaces the spot Jesse had been before stepping in front of Kai and putting a hand on Stetson's chest, pushing him back a couple steps. Wyatt stares at Adam with his head tilted to the side slightly, and Adam visibly swallows.
“You will turn around and walk out of here. You will not tell anyone about what happened.” Adam’s eyes drift over to me for a moment, but Wyatt’s hand shoots up and cups Adam’s chin, forcing his attention back on him. “Don’t look at her. You’re dealing with me now. You will go home and you will continue to live your life. You will not call, text, or write Faith. You’ll decline any assignment that has you working with her, and you will put in a request to not work directly with her ever again.” A sob works its way up my throat that I fight to keep at bay, overwhelmed at the protectiveness that Wyatt is showing toward me. Maxine squeezes my hand. “We all know where you work and where she lives. We won’t hesitate to remind you if we need to. Now, what are you going to do?”
Jesse looks at me, his expression softening slightly at whatever he sees on my face when Adam speaks. “Go home and leave her alone.”
“What else?”
“I’ll ask for a new team,” he spits, his face growing darker as he forces himself to stand upright. “There, you happy? Can I leave now?”
Wyatt looks over his shoulder, his eyes falling on me. We stare at each other for a second before my eyes drift, flittingover each and every bull rider I’ve grown close with and a few others whose names I don’t know, unable to put into words the emotions coursing through me. When my gaze reconnects with Wyatt’s, I feel the first tear slip down my cheek before I give him a small nod.
“Get the hell out of here.”
Adam pushes past Wyatt, roughly bumping his shoulder into his before his gaze meets mine. Maxine takes a half step forward, putting herself slightly in front of me as he stares at me with a venom I’ve never seen from him before. Instead of doing the smart thing and continuing on his merry way, he stops beside me and murmurs, “Bitch.”
Before I can retort or Maxine can do anything, a body comes in front of us, and Adam stumbles into the people standing nearby. Jesse’s eyes narrow on Adam as he scowls, his entire body tighter than guitar strings. One wrong chord plucked, and he might snap. Wyatt slaps a hand down on his shoulder, stopping him from advancing as Adam pushes through the crowd and tries to make his way out the front door.
The tears fall freely once he’s out of sight and the whispers of the strangers around me begin to reach my ears. Maxine puts a comforting hand on my forearm just as all the riders turn to look at me. Their faces carry various mixes of worry and anger, the concern for me becoming overwhelming. Their pity suffocating. Jesse takes a small step forward, his expression pained as he takes me in. I mirror his movements, taking a step back.
My breath hitches and comes faster, my hands growing clammy. That knot in my stomach tightens to the point of being painful as a light throbbing begins to start in my temple.
I need to get the hell out of here.
Not allowing any of them to reach for me, to try and console me or make me feel better about what just transpired, I turn andsprint in the opposite direction, heading for the hallway I know leads to an emergency exit.
And I don’t look back.
17JESSE
LOUISVILLE
it’s okay, Sweetheart
