Ashley dips his mouth to my neck and bile creeps up my throat. All I can think about is that girl. The memory of him with his hands behind his head as she bobbed up and down on her knees is etched into my brain. It makes me sick, physically sick.
“Colson is back at the table.” Ashley sinks his teeth into my skin. He bites down like a drunk vampire, pressing too hard in all the wrong places.
I tilt my head, pinching my shoulder up and push against Ashley’s chest again, but he’s not getting the picture. “Stop it.”
An unwelcome hand falls to my thigh and slips it underneath my dress. I grip Ashley’s wrist and push it away, but it's back on my inner thigh before I can take a solid breath.
Fear ignites in my veins. Ashley is drunk and not used to being told no. I step my defense up and grab his hair to yank his mouth off my skin. “I said stop!”
Flames dance behind a cloudy haze in Ashley’s eyes. He slams me against the wall, his lips assaulting mine.
I bite his tongue as soon as it pushes its way between my teeth. The bitter taste of iron stains my tongue.
Ashley grunts and rears back. He doesn’t hesitate before slapping me across the face. “Fucking bitch!”
For a moment, I’m stunned stupid. Ashley may be insensitive and unfaithful, but he’s never been a dive. Not physically. I reach up and touch my cheek. The sting of his hand on me lingers, but it’s nothing compared to the pain pooling in my eyes. I will not cry.
“Hey!” a deep voice booms from behind me.
Josh storms up and grabs Ashley by the shirt collar. He pushes him up against the wall. Ashley chuckles, too drunk to realize that things for him took a turn for the worst. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Josh slams Ashley’s back against the wall again. Cole runs into the room, two minutes too late, and grips the back of Josh’s shirt. He pulls backwards and extends his arms between the two to keep them separated. Josh puffs his chest, but the man I’m assuming to be his brother claps a hand on Josh’s shoulder.
Josh stands, arms crossed over a Metallica T-shirt, beside a bigger, blonde-haired version of him. There’s no denying these two are brothers. The similarities are so prominent, had I not known Bret was a few years older, I’d have sworn they were fraternal twins.
“Layla?” Colson asks, his hooded gaze fixating on me before bouncing to his friend, and the two boys behind me. “Are you okay?”
“She’s fine,” Ashley answers. He reaches for my arm but I twist and move to stand beside Josh. The thought of Ashley touching me
again makes me tremble. I cross my arms, holding them tight against my chest, and dig my nails into my sides. Everything will be alright.
“You must be the brother. I’m Josh.” If these were better circumstances, I think Josh would extend his hand, however, they stay clenched tight beside his body.
Cole arches a brow, unimpressed. “And I care because?”
I don’t think about my next words, they flow like a faucet and are out of me before I can take them back. Maybe it’s because I want Josh to be my boyfriend or, maybe I want Ashley to back off. Either way, the damage is done. I just hope Josh rolls with it. “Because he’s my boyfriend.”
Without missing a beat, Josh extends his arm around my waist and pulls me close. He turns his gaze to Ashley, staring him down. “And you are?”
“The fiancé.”
“Ex-fiancé,” I add. Outside of a vague conversation back in March, I have purposely avoided anything Ashley related. I didn’t think it mattered because we weren’t together anymore. Besides, Josh had a past before me that I’ve never asked about, and that door went both ways.
“Semantics, my love.”
“Last I checked, ex means you aren’t together,” Bret, Josh’s brother, interjects. He crosses his arms, mimicking Josh’s stance.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on.” Cole pauses to look at Josh and Bret. “Or why you two are here, but if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to spend time with my sister.”
Ashley smirks and saunters back into the bar lounge. I shudder, feeling phantom lips on my neck and rub the saliva away. “I can’t. I’m sorry, Cole, but I don’t trust Ashley.”
“You’re his fiancée, Layla. If he wants to touch you, he can. It’s his right.”
He saw.
Colson saw me struggle to push Ashley away, probably heard me yelling “no,” and he did nothing.
Ashley violated me with his mouth and would have with his hand if Josh hadn’t shown up. Just because we used to be together doesn’t make it okay. Together or not, when a girl says stop, you stop! Cole doesn’t even acknowledge me, acting as if he hadn't heard me at all