Chapter 9

Jack

The first thing I felt was a throbbing in my skull that refused to quit. It felt both like my skull had expanded and shrunk while I was passed out, and I couldn't tell where the pain was coming from but knew I was damaged somewhere.

Something cold nestled against my head. I flinched, groaning.

"Well that's a relief," said a husky female voice.

The cold came again, but this time I settled into the icy relief it brought.

What was the last thing I remembered before waking up? A pair of ice blue eyes, wide and expressive. A deep, furling lust. A stabbing pain on the back of my head.

It all came back, and my eyes darted open. Where was I? Gravel bit into the flesh of my arms, which placed me in the parking lot still. The woman above me was wearing the same white shirt and black shorts that seemed to be the Alibi's uniform and looked to be in her late thirties. Her hair was dyed jet black, and it hung over her generous rack, sleek and straight. Her makeup was heavily done, but not necessarily caked on, and tattoos covered almost every inch of her but her face. She was the last person I'd expect to wake up to taking care of me.

"What happened?" I asked.

She pressed something down above me and fresh splinters of cold sawed through me. An ice pack, I realized as I hissed in pain. She merely smiled.

"One of the royal dickhead crew bottled you," she said. "Which normally I'd say was your fault for being stupid enough to fuck with them, but in this case it sounds like you almost knew what you were doing."

"Almost." I snorted. "Too fucking right, apparently."

How was I supposed to know Donnie and his apes played dirty? And not in the nice way. Not even in the fun way. Just the sad, pathetic way.

"I'm Naomi." She was sitting on the ground next to me, legs sprawled out ahead of her and one hand supporting her while she held the ice pack to my head, but she balanced her torso long enough to shake my hand. "Melissa told me what happened and I came out here to help."

Melissa... Fuck, I hoped she was alright. I'd been so close to having her tonight. I could tell just from the look in her eyes that she knew exactly what the stakes were in our little wager and was ready to submit, and I would have made it worth her while a thousand times over.

A bit of a moot point now, I supposed. At least she'd cared enough to get someone to come out and make sure I wasn't dead.

I groaned and pushed myself up to a seated position, and Naomi followed with the ice. I grabbed the bag myself until she let go and then pulled it off my head entirely. When Naomi gave me a disapproving look, I laughed.

"I'll be fine. I've had worse."

"Even more of a reason for you to go get checked out."

I shook my head. "I'm fine. I'm more worried about your friend, to be honest. Is she okay?"

"Melissa?" Naomi frowned and looked at me like I'd just asked her if fish fell from the sky on Wednesdays. "She's fine, why?"

"Like you didn't see the big shiner she was sporting today."

Naomi nodded in understanding. "Oh, you mean that," she said. "Yeah, she'll be okay. It might not seem like it, but Mel can fend for herself." As a sour afterthought, she muttered, "At least that's what she keeps telling me."

I swung my legs round, glad that they hadn't taken to kicking me while I was down. Donnie hadn't landed many hits on me so I wasn't much worse off than I was after the first fight. A minor miracle.

"Why's she with him?" When Naomi gave me a guarded look, I rolled my eyes. "I just got bottled by one of her boyfriend's friends after picking a fight with Douchebag Donnie himself because he couldn't stop laying his hands on her. I think I've at least earned a little background information."

Naomi chuckled at this and tossed the bag of ice toward the big green garbage bin backed up against the far wall. It bounced off just under the lid and landed on the ground with a wet smack.

"They've been together for years," she said. "His family owns half the town and I guess Donnie wanted to add the prettiest girl in Cannon to his list of possessions. Donnie always gets what he wants."

I gritted my teeth. "You're not making a strong case for me to leave her alone. It sounds to me like the town golden boy could use being knocked down a few pegs."

Naomi ran a hand through her hair, eyes distant as she spoke. "I don't know what it's like where you're from, but around here we stick to the status quo. One of the things you just don't do is pick fights with the Beringers."

"Where I'm from, you don't just stand by while a nice girl gets brutalized by a stupid rich kid," I shot back. "Why hasn't anybody done anything?"

Naomi pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Her expression turned thoughtful.

"You know, that's the question, isn't it? Because right and wrong still exist in the world, we're all technically playing by the same rules. I think it's this town, you know? Nobody wants saving and nobody is willing to save anybody else. It's just the way it's always been. People mind their own business and drink away their problems when it all gets too much to handle." She shrugged and met my gaze. "If you know what's good for you, I'd suggest minding your own business and getting out of here while you can. Donnie's not the type to let something like this go."

I laughed and considered her advice. What if I did let this go? I could go home, back to where things made a little more sense and where I could have a little rest for what felt like the first time in days. I just wanted to go to bed and not wake up for at least sixteen hours, maybe more. Then I'd have a smoke and go back to sleep for another sixteen hours. It was an enticing prospect, but I still couldn't drop the knot of worry in my gut.

"What's gonna happen to her?" I asked.

Naomi raised a dark brow. "Melissa?"

"Yeah."

She shrugged again. She did that a lot. "She'll either figure it out or she won't. She's not the kind of girl you can save, cowboy. She's been through more than most people realize and when she's good and ready—not a second before—she'll do what she needs to do to free herself from him. If she doesn't, on the other hand..." Naomi let out a pained sigh. "She'll wind up married and pregnant, and the only pleasure she'll get from life is what she can scrape out of being a mother."

"You're her friend?"

Naomi nodded. "One of her only ones. She doesn't let anyone get too close."

"Are you close enough to convince her to leave him?"

Naomi laughed. "Nobody convinces Melissa to do anything, honey."

"Can't you try?"

I was starting to get irritated with her airy replies, and it came out in my biting tone. Naomi's lips broke into a grin and her eyes filled with warmth.

"I think it's very sweet that you care so much about her even though you don't know her," she said. "I spend more time than anyone worrying about that girl. It's strange to see an outsider come in and take such an immediate shine to her."

"Can you blame me?"

I sat back on my hands and recalled how easy it was to talk to her, how enjoyable I found her company. She rode the line between innocent and seductive like she’d been born there and it was intoxicating. Then there was the evident goodness in her. She might be from the rough side of the tracks, but there was a light in her that I worried her asshole boyfriend wasn't far from putting out.

"This isn't your fight," Naomi said, placing a gentle hand on my arm. "People are looking out for Melissa, don't you worry. Better yet, she's looking out for herself. I really believe that she'll come out of this in time, and she'll be stronger. You should go back home and fight whatever dragons you've got there."

She read the hesitance in my eyes and she grew serious.

"If you really want to help Melissa, you'll go," she said. "Donnie will only get more pissed off if he sees you again. Things will be better if he thinks you've turned tail. They'll be better for her."

I still didn't like it, but I had to admit that Naomi knew what was going on better than I did and, at the end of the day, it was Melissa's life. I didn't belong here. I barely knew the girl and I'd been in this town for all of about two hours. It was time for me to go home.

"Do you want to come in with me while I close up for the night?" Naomi rose to her feet and offered a hand to help me up. "I'll take you to the bus station after."

I accepted her hand and we walked in together. I sat at an empty booth with a fresh beer while Naomi saw to the last few patrons and locked the doors. I could've walked back to the station, but I ached to high hell and I was thirsty too.

Naomi dropped me off at the station a little while later, coaxing a promise not to get into any more fights in Cannon from me before letting me out of her car. I liked the girl, even if I did find her a little overbearing. A place as rough as the Alibi needed a strong personality with a big heart like hers. It made me feel better about leaving Cannon knowing that Melissa would have someone like Naomi to help her when she decided to end things with Donnie. I just hoped it was soon.

As I bought my ticket, I couldn't shake the feeling that I should be doing more. But what could I do? Naomi was right—I didn't belong here.

Much as I wanted it to be, this wasn't my fight.