Love's Paradox

Chapter 4: Jim Beam Is Not Your Friend

Hunter returns to our table fifteen minutes later, hair disheveled and eyes tight with anger. "I never knew such an abusive dickwad could be such a whiney little bitch," he says.

"Did he really have Parker arrested?" I ask, my own fury mounting.

"He threw a fit out in the parking lot," he explains. "He wanted to have you arrested for singing that last song claiming he physically hurt you. When that shit wasn't happening, he forced his way into the bar and saw you dancing with that biker dude. That's when I pushed him outside to make sure he stayed away from you. Then he claimed assault and had Parker arrested."

My phone lights up, vibrating across the table. Ian's calling. Again. My blood boils, and I rise to my feet. "That's it." My fist slams into the table. "I've had it with him."

"Where are you going?" Cherry demands as she and Hunter scramble after me.

"He can't keep sabotaging people's lives. It's not fair," I say while exiting.

"And what're you planning to do?" Hunter asks, his accent thickening.

Now that we're out of the noisy bar, Ian's ringtone sounds loud and true in the night air: Goodbye Earl. This time, I answer.

"What?" I snap.

There's a moment of surprise before Ian says, "What the fuck is your deal? I can't believe you sung that stupid hick song and tarnished my name in the process."

"That's funny, considering you willingly came to a little hick bar. And I can't believe you had someone arrested for punching you after accosting me. Seems pretty hypocritical, if you ask me," I retort.

"That biker reeked of desperation," Ian says. "And he was all over you—I couldn't have that."

I lean against the car and close my eyes in frustration. "That wasn't your decision. You and I are over. Get that through your thick skull."

"You'll change your mind."

I give a bitter laugh. "Doubt it."

"Can we meet?" Ian asks, sounding defeated and strangely sad. I can't trust him; he can turn on the waterworks in a blink of the eye in an attempt to manipulate me.

"Will you drop all charges on Parker?" I ask.

"Is that his name?"

"Yes, now will you do it or not?" Honestly, I can't believe I'm considering meeting Ian to help out a guy I just met. But there's something alluring about Parker, and I feel like an asshat for putting him in this situation.

"If you'll meet me," Ian says, a smile in his voice.

"Fine. Where?"

Cherry and Hunter shake their heads and wave their hands in the universal gesture of "no fucking way."

After getting the details from Ian, I end the call and slump against the car. "I hate that man."

"Why did you agree to meet him?" Hunter demands as he rubs his neck raw.

"He'll drop all charges on Parker if I see him," I admit.

Cherry paces in front of me, hands on hips. "This is a bad, horrible, terrible, disastrous, idiotic, ridiculous—"

"I get it," I say, defeated. "It's a stupid idea." I'm trying to keep it together so my friends won't know how terrified I am to not have a crowd and security guards protecting me from Ian.

Hunter drives us to an apartment complex for college students. I'm not sure why Ian has chosen to meet here, but I find out later when his white Dodge Ram pulls up. His best friend Jeremy, who lives here, is driving. Ian hops out of the back with a bottle of Jim Beam half gone, leaving the door open.

"I'm here," I say, not coming any closer. Cherry and Hunter stand on either side of me. "Now drop all charges against Parker."

Ian's truck idles; Jeremy remains inside, the overhead light letting off a golden glow and casting his face in shadow. He looks uneasy as he watches Ian amble closer. "I want you back," Ian declares, slurring.

He didn't sound like this over the phone, so I can only assume he's chugged a good portion of that bottle since our conversation.

"That's never going to happen." I step closer, feeling intrepid in the face of my abuser. "You hurt me. You held me hostage in our own home." Instead of fear, anger thunders through me, ready to lash out. I move closer. "You don't deserve me."

"I gave you everything," he shouts, his hand waving around, alcohol splashing down his arm.

"You are a leech, Ian Stevenson. I even feel sorry for the trees who work day and night to produce oxygen so you can breathe."

"Hah!" His nostrils flare. "You'll never find anyone who loves you like I do."

"That's the point."

He flushes a deep red, and the muscles in his neck strain. "Bitch."

I'm not sure what comes over me in that instant, but all my pent up emotions finally have a target. My palms slam into Ian's shoulders, and he stumbles and falls into the backseat of his truck. The Jim Beam bottle crashes onto the concrete. And the Ian I remember surfaces in an instant.

"Man, I think you should get back in the truck," Jeremy calls from inside, but now he's unbuckling his seatbelt.

I hear Hunter approach just as Ian stands and shoves me with all his strength. I should have known this was coming, but instead I am completely unprepared. I fly back, and seconds before I hit the ground, Hunter catches me under my arms and hauls me to my feet.

Fury latches onto me, and I rush Ian, shoving my finger at his chest. "You will drop all charges on Parker, or I'll call the cops about the time you caught that house on fire after using lighter fluid to catch a political poster on fire. Or about the time you keyed that poor guy's car because he had the 'audacity' to hold hands with another guy." I lean in and whisper, "And don't make me tell the whole world about your secret collection of romance novels."

Hunter pulls me away, cutting off my blustering, just as Jeremy jostles Ian into the truck, jumps in, and speeds away. I'm shaking as adrenaline leaves me in a rush. Hunter helps me into the back of the car and sits beside me. Cherry drives Hunter and me back to our apartment on the other side of town while he wraps me in his arms.

That night, Hunter curls around me in my bed until I fall into the oblivion of sleep, hoping to erase today.