a few drinks with my friend, I’m still questioning everything happening…”
“So if you were sober you wouldn’t have done this?”
“No,” she said.
“Just like old times,” I said.
“What?”
“You remember the water tower?”
Abby curled her lip at me. “Really?”
“What? That was a decent night. Right?”
“Oh, yeah, it was perfect. I drank too much and you dared me to jump off a water tower.”
“And you were going to.”
“Because I’m stupid,” she said.
“Not a chance,” I said. “Come on, honey, you have to admit that was fun. Nobody could jump off that and survive. But it got you closer to the stars.”
She curled her lip at me. “Right. Until the cops showed up.”
“And we outran them,” I said.
“The big one tripped,” she said. She smiled for a second. “When he hit the railing, it echoed for like ten minutes…”
I winked at her.
“Here we are, Reed,” Rick’s deep voice said.
I leaned forward and patted Rick’s shoulder. “You’re good with this?”
Rick parked the SUV behind a fancy little car and turned his head.
He looked at Abby and nodded. “I’m good with this.”
“We’re going to get out your side, Abby,” I said.
She opened the door and climbed out.
I exited my side and hurried around the back.
“What is this?” she asked.
“This is a very expensive place to be,” I said. “This area. The bars are quiet on the outside and elegant on the inside. Only the rich can come here.”
“Did you really bring me here to flaunt your money?” Abby asked.
“Nope,” I said. I pointed. “I came here to fix something for you.”
Abby looked where I was pointing and gasped.
She grabbed my hand and shook her head. “Reed… no…”
“Yes.”
“No fucking way in hell,” she said.
She looked at me.
Before I knew what was happening, my left hand touched her cheek.
“Yes, honey,” I said. “I can’t let this go. I know you can’t either.”
“This is fucking crazy,” she whispered.
“When we get together, Abby, crazy is our thing.”
Don came walking to his car with a pretty little thing attached to his arm.
She was young. She was in a nice dress. She had no idea what she was doing or why. Maybe she was being paid for the night. Or maybe she was just innocent enough to believe that a guy like Don wanted her.
Like Abby, I thought about Don’s wife and daughter.
This was far from being our business, but the fact that his hand touched Abby’s ass again and again without her permission…
“What are you going to do?” Abby asked.
“You’ll see,” I said. “You don’t have to do a thing if you don’t want. But I promise you, nothing illegal is going to happen here. No cops. No arrests. Okay?”
“You’re sure of that?”
“I have Rick,” I said. “And I’m a fucking rock star. Trust me. Nothing is going to happen.”
I broke away from Abby before she said anything else.
Don approached his little midlife crisis car.
I let out a whistle and he and his date looked at me.
“Get her out of here,” I said to him.
“Ohmygod,” his date said. “Are you…”
“No,’ I said to her. “If you say a word about this, you’ll have to deal with my friend.”
Right behind me was Rick.
Don’s date looked at Rick, then at me again.
“This is personal,” I said to her. “Go away, right now.”
“What the hell is this about?” Don asked.
“Get her out of here,” I ordered again.
When Don looked at Abby, he looked confused for a second.
“She looks different without the wig and dress on,” I said to him.
“Oh, shit,” Don said. “Really?”
Rick stepped forward.
Don stepped back behind his date.
“Wow,” I said. “What a man, huh?”
“Listen to me,” Rick said to Don’s date. “My client and your date have business. Why don’t you call for a ride? Sound good?”
Rick gently walked Don’s date away, talking her ear off.
That left Don standing there alone.
“Fuck this,” Don said. “I don’t know what you-”
I swung and hit him in the mouth.
A good enough punch to shut him up.
He fell into the side of his car like he had no bones in his body.
I got closer and took a rib shot, just for good measure.
“Now listen to me, Don,” I said. “You shut your mouth or I’ll make this worse. You want to piss blood?”
“No,” he said.
“Good. So here’s how this goes. You apologize to my woman for what you did to her. You get into your car and go back to your hotel or wherever you’re staying. You can jerk off if you need to. And then you never talk about this. Ever. If you talk, Rick