Losing My Mind

Chapter 37

The girls always take too long to get ready, and the lads who are hungry, causing them to get irritable, down their beers rapidly.

'God, I hate this.' Blake whines. 'I need to get a girl.'

'Is that all you think about?' Elliot mocked him.

'No, but it furoates me when I can't have it.'

'Has there been any girl that you would never forget?' Jayden asks.

'Well, there was this girl...'

Rory was half-listening, half-caring at this point and was thinking about Ryleigh and slowly stripping the label from his beer bottle. Her curves fitted into the palm of his hands easily as he was holding her up to swim earlier. Everything about her suits him: no judgement, no trouble, just kindness and belief.

'..... I wish the girls were on board.' Blake says and starts chuckling to himself.

'What's so funny?' Ashton asks.

'You know, Ryleigh not being interested really turns me on to her.' Blake replied.

Rory sends him a scathing scowl as his ears perk up at her name. He hates it when he thinks of her like that.

However, earlier, he returned to his room, closed his eyes, and thought about her. How she looked at him when she held onto him and how he would've kept her by kissing her passionately on the lips and then around her neck, imagining she would love it.

'I think I might have to join the queue....' Blake continues, '...unless you want to join forces.' With raising one eyebrow at Rory.

Instead of snapping back, he shakes his head, disgusted by his statement, and gulps his drink.

The boys changed the subject quickly and decided to order food.

'Can we have word a sec?' Rory whispers to Blake, and he follows him outside.

He lets Blake lean on the outside wall next to the patio doors, but it is just light enough for Rory to see his face.

'Listen, I don't want you to do anything to Ryleigh or Ester while you are still here. You understand me?'

Blake scoffs at his comment. 'Whatever, mate, you can't tell me what to do. It's not out of my control if they desperately want it, and I can give it.' Rory clenched his teeth. 'Besides, I'm sure she won't resist once she gets a taste of me.'

He grabs Blake's shirt collar and shoves him against the wall.

'Don't you dare touch her! I mean it!' Rory snaps. His blood boils with rage as he desperately wants to defend Ryleigh, even if it means putting himself in harm's way. He assumed that was what love was about: the fear of losing them.

'Alright, geez. Calm down.' He has his hands up as he surrenders.

Rory puts him down while Blake fixes himself and makes his way back into the house.

As the patio doors opened, he heard them and returned inside.

Ryleigh was dressed in black jeans and a loose white V-neck t-shirt, making his heart race. Even in the crowded room, they swiftly locked their gazes on each other. When she sees him with his black tank top showing off every tattoo and his muscled biceps, she can't help but smile.

'Nice of you to join us.' Jayden said.

'Don't blame me. It's all Ester.' Ryleigh mocked.

'No, it wasn't. You fell asleep.' Ester said.

She shrugged. 'It must've been a good dream.' She says, looking at Rory.

•·················•·················•

They're chatting in the living room after finishing their meal when Ryleigh receives a video call from her coworkers and chooses to take it outside.

'Hey, everyone.' She can see all her work colleagues squeezing onto a small phone.

'Hey Ryleigh, how's it going?' Jack, her manager, takes the lead.

'Yeah, it's all going good, thank you. How are you all?'

'We're working 9 to 5 jobs. How do you think we feel?' Jack chuckles.

'You looked amazing at the awards.' Her coworker Sarah tells her.

'And killing it with the music.' Paul says, as he's into the same music as her and has sent her good luck messages.

'Thanks, guys. I miss you all.'

'We do too.'

'Hang on, are you all still at work?' Ryleigh sees the view of the standard whiteboard of jobs on the wall.

'Yeah, we only got 5 minutes left and thought, why not?' Sarah yells, and Ryleigh laughs.

'Good luck with the live show. We are up late voting.' Paul says.

'Thanks, guys. I'll see you all soon.' They said bye, and she ended the call.

Ryleigh puts her phone in her pocket and looks across the sun lounger to see Blake.

'Hey, where do you think you're going?' Blake questions. He blinked more than he needed to and had consumed too much beer this evening.

'Back inside.' She looks at him, confused.

'Why don't we go somewhere?' He teases, getting closer and smelling the heavy beer on his breath.

'Blake, I told you I'm not interested. Go away.'

'You say that now but I know you really do.' She stiffens as he begins to touch her around the waist.

'Fuck off!' Ryleigh turns her back on him, grabs her by the waist and drags her back with his other hand over her mouth. She tried to fight him off, but he was far stronger than she.

Everything happened quickly, and Rory saw her distress through the kitchen window and out the door as soon as he could. Rory yanked him away and pushed Blake to the ground. He clenched his fists one by one, repeatedly punching Blake's face. Ryleigh fell, stunned by what she had witnessed. His hands pounded forcefully against the sound of fractured bones, expressing his rage. While Ashton and Jayden worked to pull Rory off him, Ester and Elliot helped Ryleigh get up.

'Jesus, man!' Blake said as he stood upright and saw the blood on his fingers from his nose. Rory wanted another go, but Ashton told him to calm down while restraining him.

Rory eventually gives up, and he releases him. The producer approached Blake and requested that he be looked out. She cries as she looks at Rory, imagining the worst-case scenario of what Blake could have done to her.

'Did he hurt you?' Rory said. Ryleigh glanced at him, frightened. 'Did he hurt you?' He asked again but with more tension in his voice. She shook her and lowered her head. In the corner of her eye, she can see blood on his right hand.

'Are you hurt?' Ester also comments as she observes it, and Rory looks at it.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' He replies. Rory couldn't take it any longer and desperately wanted to hold Ryleigh, but he could see she was scared of him. 'I'm not going to let anyone hurt you.' He whispers to her.

'Thank you.' She whispers back, unsure of how she should be feeling. The anger in his eyes made her fear for herself, and she shouldn't enjoy his embrace, not the slightest.

'We need to talk to you both.' The producer cuts in, and they let go of each other.

Rory and Ryleigh both detailed what had transpired from their viewpoints. He voiced his dissatisfaction with Blake's attitude toward the girls in general. He dislikes Blake so much that he wants him to go. As a result, the producers decided to call a halt in production tonight and send everyone into their rooms.