Worth Saving(79)

I turn to look over and I’m surprised to see Austin standing directly behind me, his fists balled tight, and a pissed off look on his face. I don’t even know what to say, I just stand there looking at him.

“Get in the car, Layla,” he growls, and I start walking, but I don’t get far, because Damien is back on his feet and he charges Austin.

Their big bodies collide with a thud, and I watch as Austin pushes Damien off of him. Damien stumbles back a little, but then cocks back and tries to throw a wild haymaker punch. Austin ducks underneath the punch, and counters with an uppercut to Damien’s stomach, followed by a right cross to the face that sends blood splattering everywhere like an exploding water balloon. Damien falls down again, this time his nose is gushing blood. He reaches up to cover it with his hand, but there’s too much. It’s dripping all over the ground and making a puddle.

Austin looks like he maybe wants to kick him while he’s down, but he decides against it. He turns to me and leads me to the car, where he opens the door for me, and closes it once I’m inside. I look out the tinted window at Damien who’s still down on the ground, covering his nose, which looks like it might be broken from the amount of blood. Austin calmly walks to the driver side of the car and gets in.

“You okay?” he asks. The infuriated look he had on his face before is gone, and he looks normal now.

“Yeah. I’m good,” is all I manage to say.

I’m still in shock from how it all went down when Austin shifts the car into gear and slowly drives away with Damien still on the ground. As we pull onto the street, I see David and one of the available girls standing in the doorway of the club looking at Damien. He doesn’t even go to help his brother out. He just stares at him, and he looks pissed.

We drive away and I replay the whole thing in my head. I can’t believe Damien showed up as I was leaving, but I’m utterly shocked at how Austin handled him. For four years I was terrified of Damien, and Austin just swooped in and destroyed my boogieman for me. Maybe what he was saying before was right, it is fitting to end it this way. One of the things I wanted most was to watch Damien get what was coming to him, and I couldn’t be prouder that it came from Austin. My Austin.

When we hit the highway, I reach over and put my hand on top of his, even though he still needs his hand to shift the car. He glances over and smiles at me, and I smile back as our speed reaches sixty-five, and I leave everything about Damien and Red Pony Gentlemen’s Club in the rearview mirror.





Austin

“She’s not gonna stab me, is she?”

“Well, I don’t know. She might if you start talking all that BFF stuff.”

“Well, I can’t help it. We are BFF’s,” I exclaim as I pull up the parking brake and we get ready to head inside the MGM for drinks with Marlene and Amanda. “So, what is it we’re celebrating again?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Layla replies as she closes the door and starts towards the elevator. “Marlene texted and said we needed to come out with them for two reasons. One, it was time for you and her to meet, and two, we needed to celebrate. When I asked what we were celebrating, she didn’t say. She just said we’ll see when we get here. So, I guess we’re about to find out.”

“Well, this should be interesting,” I joke.

The two of us step inside the elevator and wait to be taken up to the main floor of the MGM Grand. Layla looks stunning in her gray dress. She looks so elegant and smart. She’s my butterfly, and when I stand next to her, I feel so much pride. Pride that we stuck together through all the craziness, and I’m proud of us as individuals, too. We’ve been through a lot in our lives, and I think our struggles helped to make us appreciate each other more. Our hardships are what brought us together, and it’s a connection we could never share with anyone else, because no one else has gone through what we’ve been through together or apart. It’s weird, but somehow her issues with men and my issues with PTSD made us stronger as a couple, and as I stand here next to her, I’m filled with pride.

“You look beautiful,” I say to her, unable to keep what I’m thinking from escaping my mouth. She looks at me and smiles that smile that knocks me off my feet.

“Thank you. I think that’s the third time you’ve told me since you picked me up.”

“Well, I really mean it, so I can’t help it. Every time I look at you, I think it, so it just kind of slips out. I’ll try to keep it under control now that we’re here. Don’t want to embarrass you.”

“I think I’m okay with it. I’ll be fine. In fact, you can go ahead and say it again to check to see if it’s getting old.”

“Okay. You look beautiful, Layla.”

“Oh, why thank you, kind sir,” she says with a wide smile. “Nope, I think I’m still okay with it. Still sounds wonderful to me.”

Both of us laugh. “Good to know. I’ll stay on top of it then.”

We step off the elevator and into the lobby of the MGM. As usual, it’s packed, so I take her hand and lead us through the traffic of drunks, tourists, and single people looking for hookups for the night. As we approach the bar, I see two people stand up and start waving. It looks like they’re waving at us, and it’s confirmed when Layla’s face lights up and she starts waving back.