Chapter Thirty-Seven
Liam
The carnival was all set up, and Aiden was working the booth where I’d hidden a special prize for Alyssa. She and Holly would be arriving any minute, and I was trying to finish getting dressed, fussing over everything, down to the length of the hair on my head. This was a special night, and I didn’t want anything to ruin it.
Headlights shone through my front window, so I rushed to grab my jacket. As I opened up the door, I noticed a truck in my drive, not Alyssa’s car.
I stepped out, blinded by the headlights, unable to make out who was inside the truck, or even what color it was.
Suddenly, the lights went out, and it was clearly Bruce.
What the fuck was he doing here?
The truck door opened, and Bruce nearly fell out, catching himself with the side mirror.
He didn’t look as big standing as he had sitting in the truck that day when Aiden and I ran him off from Alyssa’s work.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, taking a step further onto my porch.
“You think you’re something else, don’t ya, boy?” Bruce yelled.
“Go home,” I growled and took the step from my porch to the sidewalk.
He wasn’t backing down; that much was obvious. I didn’t want to fight, especially not tonight.
“You ain’t nothin’,” Bruce slurred, taking another step towards me.
“You don’t get back in that truck and leave, you won’t be nothing,” I warned.
“Is that a threat?” Bruce growled.
“Yes, it is,” I smirked.
“What are ya gonna do? Put sugar in my gas tank?” he glared at me.
“Fuck off,” I snarled.
While he turned to point to his gas tank, I slipped the phone from my pocket and dialed 911. I pushed it behind my back so he couldn’t see and let him keep rambling while the dispatcher listened.
“You just come back here, think you can take Alyssa without a fight? You’re full of shit,” he shouted.
“I don’t want to fight, but you do need to get back in your truck and go home,” I ordered.
“Fuck you, SEAL boy,” Bruce sneered.
“Back in your truck,” I ordered as he moved towards me.
His steps were off balance, and I knew there was a good chance he’d fall before he got to me, but I wasn’t banking on it.
I gripped my phone tightly in my hand, reported my address to the person on the other end of the phone, and readied myself to fight the belligerent bull that was stumbling towards me.
“You’re drunk; this isn’t going to end well for you,” I warned.
It didn’t stop him. He continued towards me, this time with more aggression and speed. He swung, I ducked, and he nearly fell as he rebalanced himself.
His arm lifted again, and I knew he was coming back in for more. I was backed against the porch post, nowhere to go. I had no choice but to defend myself.
I swung my leg out in front of me as he took a step, sweeping him from his feet and sending him to the ground.
He gripped my ankle, pulling me to my knees and causing me to dirty my pants as I pulled away to stand back up.
“Great, now I have to change before my date with Alyssa,” I smirked.
“Fuck you,” he grumbled, rolling over and working himself back to his feet.
He lunged towards me just as the red lights turned onto my street. His fist landed, but only grazed my chin as I was distracted by the lights. I reached out, gripped his thick neck, squeezed tightly, and then brought my foot back under him, sweeping him off his feet once again.
By the time the cops pulled up in front of my house, Bruce was back up and coming at me again.
Two officers tackled him, cuffed him, and then hauled him to the back of the cruiser.
Alyssa pulled up with Holly, her face pale as she walked onto the scene. She looked at Bruce’s truck and then at my face.
“What happened?” she asked, her voice shaken.
“He just showed up,” I sighed, relieved to see her.
“So you fought him?” she asked, looking me directly in the eyes.
“I had to defend myself,” I argued.
She shook her head.
“I don’t like this. You could’ve called the cops. You didn’t have to come outside,” she pointed out, her tone filled with anger and disappointment.
“I was defending myself,” I called out to her as she walked away.
“Look at him, Liam. You’ve acted like a monster, not someone I want to spend my life with, someone that I want around my daughter,” she screeched, and then got in her car, driving away with our daughter.
I was pissed, so pissed that I couldn’t even talk to the cops. I did my best to give them a report of what happened, but since he was on my property, and they’d gotten a lot from the emergency call, they didn’t feel the need to haul me in. The words “my daughter” were spiraling through my head. She was my daughter, too.
“We’ll have you come down tomorrow and fill out a formal report; is that okay?” the officer asked, giving me a concerning look.
I knew he was feeling pity for me about Alyssa, maybe even carrying the same disappointment. It was a small town; word would travel fast.
My night was ruined. The cops took Bruce away, and soon a tow truck came to pick up his truck. I was furious. This was supposed to be the night I created my future, not ruined it.
I grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the top cabinet, my dad’s stashing spot. I sat at the table, poured a glass, and downed it, then another, and another. I was determined to get drunk, to forget all about my pain. I would drink until I was numb. That was the plan.
Aiden walked through my front door with a concerned look on his face. Great.
“Holly call you?” I snapped.
“No, Alyssa did,” he said, taking a seat at the table across from me.
“I’m not in the mood for another lecture,” I groaned, pouring more whiskey into my glass.
My head was pounding, my blood boiling, and no matter how much I drank, I couldn’t seem to drown this pain.
“I’m not here to lecture. I just want to know what happened.”
“You wanna know what happened? That piece of shit showed up here, taunted me, provoked me, and lunged at me, so I took him down with a leg sweep. I didn’t beat him like I wanted to, I didn’t even punch his stupid face one fuckin’ time,” I scoffed.
“He came here?” Aiden asked.
“Yes,” I held my glass up like I was toasting.
Aiden grabbed a glass, filled it with the whiskey, and took a shot.
“Alyssa made it sound like you went after Bruce. I’m confused now, really confused,” Aiden leaned back in his chair.
I was already drunk, unable to think straight, but I was certain he told me Alyssa was having doubts because I was a soldier. It was bullshit.