She clenched her jaw, unable to find a response to that. He closed the distance between us, grabbed my upper arm, and tugged me after him toward the house.
“Wait, Hayden! Wait! What are you doing?” I yanked my arm and dug my heels into the pavement, trying to set myself free.
“Whoa!” Melissa came to a stop in front of us. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“We’re leaving.”
“No, you’re not! You’re mental, dude! Leave my friend alone!”
“I own your friend !” A collective gasp sounded all around us.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me. Sarah and I are leaving together.”
“You aren’t going anywhere with her,” Melissa screamed at him, and Jessica joined her side, glaring at Hayden. “Leave her alone, or I’ll call the police—a house full of underage drinkers or not.”
“Be my guest,” he told her with no sign of any emotion. He leaned down, his lips only inches away from my ear. “Right now, after your dick move in the bathroom and getting all mushy with this shitbag, I have zero patience,” he whispered. “If you don’t come willingly with me, I’ll go back and kill the shit that put his hands on you. I don’t care about the police cocksuckers or anyone here, so you better not test me.”
He was definitely crazy! “Don’t threaten him!”
“I’ll do whatever I fucking want. Now do as I say, because I swear I’m two seconds away from snapping.”
The way aggressiveness seeped out of him, twisting his injured, bloody face lines into ferocious hatred, made the dread flow through my veins, and I believed his every single word. There was that darkness in his eyes again, which gave him an inhuman appearance, like he truly didn’t care about the consequences.
Besides, he had Blake and Masen on his side, who would support his craziness if needed. Mateo couldn’t win against the three of them.
“Okay,” I whispered in defeat, a wave of pure hate washing over every fiber of my being.
I hated him for putting me through all of this. He could use his brute force if he wanted, but what did I have? I wanted to finish what Mateo started and make him bleed. I hated him for making me feel this violent, but damn it, I was so mad!
“Fucking great. Now, move.” He tugged my arm, moving forward.
“Stop,” Mateo shouted and halted next to Melissa and Jessica, the three of them forming a sort of a barricade. I looked at them with my pleading eyes. I didn’t want this to turn into an uglier mess. It was horrible already, and I felt miserable because I was the trigger for all of this.
Masen and Blake stopped in between us and them, prepared to pounce on Mateo.
“Please,” I pleaded Mateo. I couldn’t even look him in the eyes, ashamed and devastated.
There he was—a boy who wanted to give me a chance. He was the person who showed me nothing but kindness and the one I almost kissed this evening... And here I was, letting Hayden get away with his violence and hate. I didn’t want Mateo to get hurt. I just didn’t want to watch anyone get hurt because of me again.
“Let us pass,” I said through gritted teeth. “Everything will be okay.” They gaped at me, bowled over, and I forced myself to endure this humiliation.
“I’ll be fine. Hayden and I live next to each other, so he’ll take me home. Right, Hayden?” I had no idea what I was talking about, since there was no chance that would actually happen. I was burning with shame, awaiting his cruel response.
“Right,” he replied, surprising me that he agreed this easily. Masen and Blake glanced between each other, their confused expressions telling me they had no idea what was going on with Hayden now.
That wasn’t a good sign.
“There’s no way I’d allow this—” Melissa started, but Hayden silenced her when he said, “Steven, either you make her shut up or I will, and we all know what happens when I lose my shit. Let’s go.” He pulled me after him.
Melissa and Mateo burst out yelling, attempting to stop us again, but Blake and Masen blocked them. Their screams and the sounds of commotion drifted after us, and I just wanted to tune them all out and forget about this complete chaos.
Hayden never took his hand off me as he led me around the house, following a garden path that was faintly illuminated by the street lights in the front of the property.
“You don’t have to drag me around! I’ll follow you!”
“No. I don’t trust you.”
We reached the driveway, but I still hoped someone would stop us. My hope was crushed when we reached his car.
He took the key fob out of his pocket and unlocked the car, bringing me to the passenger-side door. “Get in. And don’t even think about running, because I’ll easily catch you.”
He released me at last, but he didn’t move from his spot, waiting for me to obey him. Reluctantly, I opened the door and got inside, despising him for limiting my every single move.
I looked all around me, taking in the luxurious interior of the car filled with his pine tree scent and a faint cigarette smell. It radiated sheer power, just like Hayden, and I felt overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe where this evening took me. Their fight had pretty much sobered me up, and I already missed the blissful alcoholic daze that made me feel like I had absolutely no worries in this world.
Hayden entered and started the car immediately. “You better buckle up.”
I barely had time to do that because he sped up in the next moment, swerving around the parked cars, and reached the road at full speed.
He was driving too quickly for my taste, and I had to grab my seat to steady myself each time he made a sharp turn into a new street.
My stomach did a flip because I remembered I was in a car with a drunk person, and I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, as if that could bring me any reassurance that we wouldn’t crash. The bruises on his cheek and the dried blood on his swollen lower lip were a grim reminder of how brutally he attacked Mateo.
“What you did to Mateo was horrible.”
“So that dickhead has a name.”
I glared at him. “Don’t call him that!”
“I’ll call that shit what I fucking like. Nobody touches you.”
“Why the hell not?”
He glanced at me, his eyes searing into me. “Because I hate when other guys touch you.”
My chest constricted at the undertone of his words, but I refused to give them any significance. “You hate everything. You hate me, you hate when other guys touch me... Enough.”
“No, it’s never enough. Don’t even think about hooking up with him.”
I couldn’t believe him! “You’re sick.”
“Yes, you’re right. I’m sick. You’re making me sick.”
“This has gone too far, Hayden. You can’t control my life, and you certainly can’t make my choices—”
“Of course I can. I already am making your choices.”
I was fuming, digging my nails into my palms. “ Fine . However, you can’t control my heart. You’ll never control my feelings. You can keep me away from other people, but you won’t ever stop me from loving them.”
He didn’t answer, and for a fleeting moment, I felt good I said something that finally made him shut up, but then our eyes met and I noticed his distressed expression that took me completely by surprise. He was searching for something in my eyes, desperate for... What?