Love Me Love Me (English)

33

June

The scent of tobacco mixed with his pungent breath made my stomach turn.

"I like the innocent looking ones."

"And I like seeing your fucking face bloody, Austin." James's tall figure stopped in front of me. He grabbed the guy by the collar and threw him far away from me.

No, he wasn't protecting me; he was doing it because he couldn't stay away from trouble.

"Oh, so blondie's with you, Hunter?" Ethan Austin's expression wasn't a true sneer. He curled his lips into an unsettling smirk, and I didn't know if he was angry or amused.

"The princess didn't tell us. We thought she was available," another guy barked.

My head was spinning from the nausea, and started spinning even more when James grabbed Austin by his jacket

A guy came to his rescue. "Hunter, chill, we didn't do anything to her. We were just wondering how nice it would be to work in this club. With everything here."

"We didn't even get a look at her tits," Ethan insolently added.

I saw James grit his teeth. Austin escaped his grip by shoving him. James wavered but didn't fall.

"I don't have to justify myself to anyone. And I certainly don't have to ask permission to bang one of your little girlfriends. Isn't that right, Jamie?"

His slimy voice made me shudder in horror. But James didn't seem scared of him, never mind his entourage.

"Sure. Touch her and I'll kill you."

A chorus of challenges came from the group of meatheads, who started laughing at James. Austin, on the other hand looked extremely serious, and shot me a look.

"Threats don't suit you, you're not in the position to . . . didn't we fuck you up last time, or am I wrong?"

The guys chuckled. James was forced to back away and in that fraction of a second, Austin grabbed one of my arms and dragged me toward him. I tried to resist but it was useless. He put his arm around my waist, trapped me with both of his arms, and held me still with my back on his chest.

James clenched his jaw and glowered at him. "Let her go."

"Don't make any false moves, James," Austin threatened, as I started to dissociate from reality.

My feet were cemented to the ground in fear. I closed my eyes and only understood the gravity of the situation when he grabbed my hair and exposed my neck. I felt my heart in my mouth and his heavy breath all over me.

"No! Let me go!" I screamed as his cold, calloused hand slithered under my hoodie.

"Listen to how this princess screams."

My survival instincts kicked in. I lifted my foot and slammed it into his shin with all my might. It was enough to make him push me to the ground.

James pounced on top of him to punch him so hard that it knocked him out. Ethan Austin's face was full of blood, and his body turned into deadweight. He was out cold. He seemed like a lifeless dummy. I stared at him dumbfounded.

I lifted my head. James was looking at me.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

Austin's friends took advantage of the moment of distraction to grab James by the shoulders.

Frightened, I screamed. Everything happened so fast that I felt like I was in the middle of a movie scene.

It was four against one. Two of them held him back while the other two socked him in the stomach repeatedly. I saw him throw up blood and collapse on the ground. And even then they kept kicking him.