BAD REP(137)

“Thanks, Eli,” I said, smiling at him and happy when I saw him dimpling back at me.  Eli Bray, truth teller.  I liked it.

“Sure thing, babe.  You ever need a swift kick in the pants.  Or need someone to take them off, then I'm your guy,” He smirked and I smacked his arm.

“Why did we never talk like this when we were dating?” I had to ask him.  Eli shrugged.

“I was more interested in getting you naked.  Didn't feel the need to talk about anything,” he said honestly.  Okay, well there was that.

“I've got to get going.  There's a party I'm heading out to,” Eli said, ending our conversation. I followed him to my feet and we went inside.  “Thanks for the smoke, Mays,” he said, as we made our way to the door.

“Anytime, Eli.  And thanks.  For the talk,” I replied, reaching out to squeeze his hand.  Eli leaned in and put his arms around me, hugging me tightly to his chest.  I relaxed into him and felt more at peace than I had in days.  I wrapped my arms around him.

“Fight for it, babe,” he whispered in my ear before placing a soft kiss to my forehead.

I should have known my feel good mood was short lived.  And it was unfortunate that Jordan and Riley had to choose that exact moment to open the front door.  But there you have it.  Eli and I were hugging, saying our goodbyes and then the door swung open.  Whatever Riley had been saying died on her lips as she looked from Eli and me to Jordan.

“Oh shit,” she muttered.

I stepped back from Eli as though I had been shocked and stared, open mouthed at Jordan.  He looked like he hadn't slept in days and hadn't shaved in just as long.  He looked tired but he also looked ready to kill or maim, whichever he could do first.

“What the f*ck?” Jordan growled, staring at Eli, the vein on the side of his neck starting to pop.

“Oh shit,” Riley muttered again as she tried to back Jordan out of the apartment.

“Jordan,” I whispered, scared by the look on his face.  I peeked up at Eli and his jaw had tensed but he didn't move away from me.  This looked bad.  Really, really bad.   Jordan clenched his jaw.

“I told you to keep your townie f*cking ass away from my girl,” Jordan told him in a scary voice.

“We were just talking,” I said, but Jordan wasn't listening.  Because he was too busy moving passed Riley and landing a punch straight on Eli's face.

I heard a sickening crunch before Eli went to the floor.  “Jordan!” I screamed, trying to pull his arm.  Jordan wrenched his arm from my fingers and leaned down and punched Eli in the face again.  Eli twisted to the right and came up onto his feet, blood flowing from his nose.  It looked crooked and I worried Jordan had broken it.

Eli's fist shot out and connected with Jordan's jaw, causing his head to whip around.  “Stop it!” I screamed.  Jordan launched at Eli again and all I could see was a flurry of fists and feet and blood.

“Riley, help me stop them!” I cried out as I moved to try and grab one of them.  But I couldn't get close to them.  I heard the sound of fists against skin and blood sprayed across the carpet.

“Stop it, or I'll call the cops!” Riley yelled.  Eli and Jordan didn't stop.  I started sobbing.  What the hell were we going to do?  They knocked over the coffee table, sent glasses shattering to the floor.  Pictures were banged off the walls.

Riley pulled her phone out and was getting ready to dial 911, when Eli's cousin and girlfriend appeared in the doorway.  “What the hell is going on in here?” Cicely asked, taking in the sight of Eli and Jordan hammering it out to the death.

“Is that f*cking Eli?” Raymond demanded.  I nodded.

Then Raymond was in there, pulling Jordan off of his cousin.  Raymond was a big guy.  He out-weighed Jordan by at least thirty pounds.  He yanked on Jordan's arms and hauled him up to his feet.  “Fucking stop it!” Raymond roared.  For such a chilled out stoner, he was kind of intimidating.

Eli got to his feet, blood running down his face.  I jumped in front of him and held my hands up.  “Please, just stop,” I begged, my eyes pleading with him.  I looked over my shoulder at Jordan, who was shaking in his fury.  Jordan had busted his lip and there was a nasty cut above his eye.  His cheek was swollen and he watched me calm Eli down with a look that made me tremble.