Change of Heart - By S.E. Edwards Page 0,66

me,” Rich begins dangerously.

Kevin surges to his feet. “No, you listen.” Standing face-to-face like that, I can see Kevin only gives up half an inch to Rich. If that. “There are certain rules to this place. Certain etiquettes. Now, I’ve never seen you here before. That makes you an outsider. I’ll give you a break this time. We can pretend you don’t know any better. But if you ever interrupt me again, I will make sure you don’t leave the Blackbear in one piece.” He shoves Rich by the shoulder. “Got it?”

There are times in life when you realize you’ve just made a grave mistake. Times that go by in the blink of an eye, where you wish you’d only been a little smarter, a little more prescient. In those times you understand that, had you done so, you could have prevented a disaster.

This is one of those times. I should not have egged Rich on.

Rich’s face twists into an inferno of absolute rage. Before Kevin can even pull his hand back, Rich twists to the side and grabs it. He uses Kevin’s forward momentum to pull him off his feet, then kicks out a foot to send Kevin sprawling to the floor.

Shocked gasps sound from all around us. A space quickly clears out as people step back. Kevin looks up from the floor in disbelief. Then he roars and swings a haymaker at Rich’s face.

Mayhem erupts around me. I don’t see what happens next. The braver members of the crowd rush in to break up the fight. I can hear Kevin cursing, and the sickening sounds of punches being landed.

I try to push through the bodies, but they’re too tightly packed. I’m too small.

Suddenly, the way parts before me. I stumble into the middle of a ring of people.

Four men are holding Rich back. He’s struggling against them so fiercely that I’m afraid he might break through. On the other side, only two are needed to restrain Kevin. Blood is pouring from his nose.

“There’s the bitch!” he screams when he sees me. “The little cunt started the whole thing!”

“What, her?” I hear a condescending voice from somewhere behind me. I recognize it as the bartender’s. “Please! She’s not worth anybody throwing a single punch over. You might as well tell us you’ve been fighting over a dirty rag!”

I hear a rousing series of gibes from other women in the crowd. My cheeks flush hot with anger. I spin around, ready to confront the bartender… but somebody big and bulky catches me by the shoulders.

“Out you go!” a thick voice rumbles above me. The bouncer. He picks me up and carries me to the doors with all the care he might give a log. All the delicacy, too. “You’ve caused enough trouble in here, little mouse.”

Mouse? My mouth moves to come up with a retort, but before I’m given the chance I’m all but tossed out to the street. A second later, a sputtering, angry Rich gets shoved out beside me.

The doors slam shut on us, cutting off the jeers and laughter from within.

“Great,” I mutter, picking myself up. “Tossed out like a bag of trash. Thanks a lot, Rich.”

He turns on me. One side of his face is starting to swell. I hadn’t realized he’d taken a blow. “Me? What the hell were you doing talking to that guy in the first place?”

“What, now I can’t talk to people, either?” I fire back. “You don’t own me!”

“You should have seen the way he was looking at you. It was disgusting. If you had any idea what he was thinking…”

“I’m not some scared virgin, Rich! Of course I knew what he was thinking!”

“Then you should have turned him away!”

“Oh, just like I turned you away the night we met. Right?” My breaths are coming fast, now. My heart is pounding. “Why would I ever listen to you?”

“I swear to God, Penny, I leave you alone for five minutes and you manage to find yourself trouble!” He throws his hands into the air. “Why can’t you just take care of yourself?”

“I told you, I’d been doing a damn fine job of it before you came along! What gives you the right to say who I can and cannot talk to? If I recall, I’m not the one who threw the first punch!”

“The bastard deserved it,” Rich says. “To see the way he was ogling you…”

“And what do you care if he was?” I snap. “It’s like I told him: You and