L.W.T.B.B Copyright © 2012-2016 xXMopelXx All Rights Reserved.

Current Chapter Posted - Friday, June 3rd 2016

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

{ Chapter 18 } : 

The Crowning Moment of Miss Canada And Her "Not-A-Lightweight" Ken.  

        With my hand clasped tightly in his, Sam dragged us back inside Danny's Grill.

Thank the God above, no one had witnessed the little commotion outside. Now that we were away from the scene of crime, I felt a different kind of panic seizing hold of my lungs. It climbed up my windpipes. It was the type of panic you felt within the brackets of a bad aftermath. Connor O' Malley was as bad as they got.

"It's going to be okay," Sam hushed, his vocal chords a little harsh, as he gazed down at me.

His storming eyes did that thing again, where they ran over my face, as if searching for something that wasn't there. Or maybe he'd already found what he was looking for.

I swallowed thickly and cast my gaze downwards, feeling tremors wreck havoc through my body as I pictured Connor advancing towards me. Connor grabbing me. Connor dragging me. Connor laying his hands on me.

"I know," I whispered back, my voice frail and weak.

Deep down inside I must have known it wouldn't get that far. I'd had much similar and much worse done to me in the past, and I'd reacted much worse and much terrified then. I must have known Sam would come for me like he did tonight.

Sam gave my hand one final squeeze, before veering us through the crowd. I noticed how much I liked the feel of his rough palm beneath my much more softer and feminine one.

I allowed Sam to steer me through the pub until we arrived in front of a secluded steel door in the far corner of the place. The words STAFF ONLY were scrawled messily in what seemed to be a black sharpie.

Four impatient knocks later, and a tall older-looking guy emerged from a cramped office. An impassive expression was drilled onto his face as he drank in the sight of Sam and I together.

He was built and lean and hard. Dark hair that was overdue for a haircut framed his head, the color an icy contrast against his glacial blue eyes and natural pale skin tone. He didn't look very impressed with us.

"Sam." There was a hint of a foreign accent. I wasn't sure. He pulled his trendy reading glasses over his head and adjusted an accounts book under the crook of his left armpit. "I'm a little occupied."

"Daniel. I won't take much of your time," Sam returned with the same enthusiasm as he cleared his throat, and motioned to me and my obvious distraught state. "We've got an issue."

The rest of their conversation was a blur and a little bit surreal as my mind floated in-and-out of a trance - like a bad broken record that was stuck on replay and didn't know how to stop. I kept replaying the moment where I saw Connor and how I'd frozen up. I think Sam introduced me to the handsome and brooding Daniel Ivanov who was the Danny in 'Danny's Grill' while we where away from the curious and prodding gazes of lingering patrons. Sam might have explained my current situation and how Sam fucked up his own situation by getting involved with my situation, and now Daniel Ivanov was fiercely promising to have the Connor O'Malley mess cleared out. This entailed having one of his men fetch Connor's unconscious body and making sure he was alive and didn't press any charges. Apparently the ba$tard owned Danny big time - one too many free drinks and one too many drunken bar fights - so he was calling in one of his favors. And, apparently, Sam was calling out one of his own favors from Danny on my behalf. I didn't know how I felt about that part.

"If there's anything else, Sam, you don't hesitate to contact me," Daniel pressed in a low, but firm voice as he addressed Samuel as he would to a little brother.

*            *             *

Sam lifted me onto a barstool because I was still too shocked to move anything on my own after he finished talking to Danny. If I weren't in this state, I'd be disappointed that I let myself get manhandled by someone.

"You're not shaking anymore," Sam remarked as he took the stool opposite of me.

I wasn't.

"But you're still scared and frozen," he finished off in a regretful tone.

I was.

My fingers jerked and played with the idle coaster resting on the bar top, before I felt Sam's breath hit the shell of my right ear. Surprise coated every nerve-ending of mine as he tucked a wavy blond strand behind my ear. "It's going to be okay," he reassured me in a calming voice that had my insides melting to butter. "That guy will never touch you again. Ever." His eyes hardened once again at the thought of that guy. "Relax and let me get you a drink."

His warm big hands were rubbing up and down my shoulders, massaging me and getting me to soften under his touch. It was oddly comforting and intimate. So I gave in and tried for a small reluctant tilt of my lips. "I'm relaxed now...Thank you, Sam...for... everything."

But my eyes spoke a different story and Sam knew, given by the rueful smile he graced me with.

A lone dimple dented his cheek and I reached forward to trace it with the tip of my pointer finger.

Sam's eyes flared and I lowered my hand. "Tell me something. How did you know the guy?"

"I've never met him in my life."

His brows furrowed and he shook his head. "That's not what you told me outside."

"Sam, I don't even remember what I said outside. Please. I'm just disoriented. I don't remember much. I just want to block it all out."

His jaw clenched and he nodded once, sharply, as if not content with my response. "What can I get you to drink?"

I needed to decompress, too, so I mumbled, "Rum and Pepsi."

Sam held my gaze as he gestured a bartender over with two fingers. Feeling flustered with the way he was looking at me, I went to retrieve my wallet when Sam stopped me with a small glare. He went on to open his very own.

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when I saw the thick wad of cash carefully rolled inside his leather wallet. A disarray of twenties and fifties safely tucked in there without a care in the world.

Where in the world did he get all that money from? I'd never seen someone carry so much cash in their wallet.

Realizing that I saw, Sam muttered something like a curse under his breath, before slapping out a twenty on the bar and giving his order to an approaching bartender. His wallet was shoved back in the confinements of his jeans pocket. He ordered a Jack and Coke for himself.

I looked away when he conversed with the worker.

"What's up with the gloomy mood, Cade?" Sam jested in an asshole manner to the cute bartender. "Haven't seen your ex-girlfriend in a while?"

"Fvck you, Adams," The bartender sneered, scraping his fingers through his brown hair. "If you don't want me to poison your drinks, stop running that smart mouth of yours."

Sam winked. "I run it because it reminds you of Ella."

I had no clue what they were talking about, but paid attention to their conversation anyway. Anything was better than thinking back to my encounter.

Cade - I assumed was his name - growled and stuffed the twenty in the black apron tied around his waist. He didn't bother handing Sam back any change, so I figured this was usual for them.

"Sam," I whispered loud enough to gain his undivided attention. I didn't mean to interrupt him, but I needed to tell him this now. He stopped conversation and shifted closer to me. Going as far as tipping my chin with his finger. "Can we please leave soon?"

His green eyes - so husky and smoky - glided down my face in obvious concern and, seeming to understand what I was asking, he nodded once, promising, "Soon."

A burning mark was left in the wake of his touch as he dropped his hand away. I felt the imprint of his finger searing me down to my toes and all the way back up into my constricting chest.

"Let's just have a drink and then we'll go." His breathy words had the little hairs at my hairline moving.

"You can't drive afterwards."

"Anna, Relax. Relax, okay, sweetheart? One drink isn't going to put me under the influence. It'll take a bit more than that to get me tipsy."

He ignored my disapproving look at his bad choice. I sighed lightly, glancing away. Before he drew my attention back to him with a lazy graze of his knuckles against mine.

I shivered.

He smirked a little sadly. "I still need to know you're okay."

I bit my lip. Sam stood so still and so tall, his features contorted in pure worry for me. His gaze fell to my mouth; he licked his lips.

As if stuck in a reverie, he rasped, "Shit. Seeing you out there with that fvcker messed with my head. You need to tell me you're okay. Give me the words. Do it before I go back out there and take his fvcking life."

Sam's fingers were back on my face, his thumb grasping my chin with gentle pressure, tugging the skin a little down until I freed my bottom lip from my teeth.

"That's a little intense, Beer Boy." My breath hitched as his thumb did a teasing sweep of my bottom lip. "E-Even more."

He released a hot, frustrated sound from his mouth that hit my stomach like a sucker punch. "Anna. Say the words. Please, sweetheart."

The seriousness in his voice threw me off balance. For a scary second, I considered it. I imagined what kind of bodily harm Sam was truly capable of. I shuddered. His body, hard, strong, roped with muscle could do so much harm. I'd witnessed it. I knew it.

Reaching forward and squeezing his bicep with my hand, I looked deeply into his conflicted eyes. "I'm okay and it's all because of you. Thank you for coming after me like that."

My chest flipped at the look in his eyes. "You never have to thank me for that." He touched his fingertips to my cheek like he just couldn't resist. "Ever."

"All right, Beer Boy." But I'd always thank him anyway, if the situation called for my gratefulness.

Satisfied with the outcome of our conversation, Sam turned back around and fell into playful banter with the bartender who prepared our drinks. They joked around about ex-girlfriends and libidos.

My mind and body were recovering slowly, that I spiralled back into surprise when Nicholas stepped forth from the swinging doors of the kitchen to work the bar, stuffing a clean rag into the back pocket of his low slung jeans. He was in the midst of throwing on his form-fitting black uniform shirt (I got a good look at those abs).

Until he countered the haunted look on my face and froze.

"Anna?" Nicholas's eyes moved over me confusedly. "Hey..."

"Hi." My voice was barely above a whisper. "H-How are you doing?"

I blinked quickly the tears that stung my eyes anew. I was tired of feeling like this. It was stupid to go over this again. Sam obviously took care of the situation, and Danny made sure it would never be spoken of again. So, why? Why, oh, why was I freaking out again? Because I saw Nicholas? Because I somehow would always connect him with that time in my life?

"What. The. Hell. Is. Wrong," he bit out suddenly, barely reigning in his anger. Thunder stormed in those brown eyes at seeing something dark and broken in my expression.

Ignoring the throng of customers that waited for their drinks, he rounded the massive bar until he was prowling towards me with a purpose.

I panicked even more, because I didn't want to have a mental breakdown in front of him. I wanted to be okay now, damn it. I didn't want him to speak to me sweetly and caringly, afraid that it would evoke an entire new kind of monster inside of me.

He did so, anyways, ignoring my attempt at schooling my features into indifference. "You look like you saw a fvcking ghost, Anna. What happened to you?"

I looped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his throat.

His brawny arms bracketed me in a bone-crushing hug.

"C-Connor," I broke out haltingly against the skin of his neck. "He found me."

Every muscle in Nicholas's body hardened like it had once been nothing but liquid matter. "Anna."

"Outside." I finally took a decent breath when my old best friend tucked his face in my hair and breathed me in like old times. "T-Tried to d-drag me to an alleyway. I-I'm o-okay now-"

"Stop. Just stop." He ripped himself away from me and branded my upper arms with his hands. His jaw worked in fury and every word of his dripped in venom. "Stop before I leave this place right now to kill him."

I may have whimpered. Or some sort of pathetic noise might have escaped my lips.

Nicholas once again enveloped me in his warm embrace. "He'll pay, Anna. I swear he'll-"

"Already fucking done."

We flinched and jerked apart as Sam's hard voice echoed between us. He sidled beside me and rested a possessive hand on my lower back, igniting heat and awareness.

"Sam," Nico intoned in a barely-behaved greeting.

Sam chin-lifted. "Nick."

Nicholas crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive manner and Sam did the same. They seized each other up in a rather silly match of testosterones. Without a doubt, they're would be no loser - they'd both win.

"I'm f-fine. I promise," I interrupted quickly, rising to my feet and planting myself between them. "It's all okay now. I won't f-freak out anymore."

They both ignored me.

Nicholas eyed Sam disdainfully as he pushed a wayward curl out of his eye. "What exactly happened?"

"Nothing. Some fvcker tried laying his dirty, unwanted hands on her and I stopped it before it got too far. End of story."

Nicholas's stubbly jaw shifted with irritation - no longer at Sam - and he scrapped a hand through it, the sound like sandpaper. "Good."

Then he backed up and rounded the long bar, not giving me a chance to add in my two cents. He threw himself into polishing shot glasses and taking orders, leaving me on the sidelines. I wasn't done talking to him.

But apparently, Sam wasn't done talking to me either.

Feeling his eyes on me, I angled his way and murmured, "What?"

He perused me from head-to-toe with a curled top lip. "How do you know Nick?"

I hated when people called him Nick - it rhymed with d*ck. "You mean Nico? We, um, go way back."

Something flashed in his green eyes. "Just like you go way back with Nate?"

I stiffened in my seat, not liking his bitter tone or bitter reminder of Nate. "Yeah, something like that."

His hand brushed my back and I pivoted around in my stool, all but ending any remaining conversation.

He got my message.

After leaving me with my drink, he walked away and left me to my musings.

*            *          *

  It took a lot of convincing on my part to get Nicholas to take a five minute break from serving his groupies to come and talk to me.

Eyes heavy and dirty rag slapped onto the shoulder of his shirt, he sauntered towards me with a transforming expression.

I'd fully recovered from my incident. That, or the alcohol had fully numbed any remaining effect my thoughts had on me. I felt calm and mellow as I nursed my drink for the last fifteen minutes.

"Are you mad at me? I asked in a quiet voice, quiet enough for only Nico to hear when he approached.

Seeming stunned, the light-heartedness achieved by flirting casually with the cute Latinas on the other side of the bar vanished from his eyes in a split second.

"No, Anna," Nicholas enunciated, bracing his hands along the bar surface. "I could never be mad at you. I'm pissed as fvck."

"At what?"

"Connor. Joey," he spat the names like they were pure poison on his tongue. "Your entire situation. Me. Being so helpless and not being able to help you. Not then and not now."

My fingers twitched along with my heart as I unwrapped my fingers from my scotch glass - in which I was given R&P. I grasped his hand affectionately and gave it a squeeze. "Oh, Nicholas. You have nothing to be mad about."

My mess wasn't anyone's mess but my own. It warmed my heart that people actually cared for me...But I didn't want to see people hurting because of me. Sam, for instance...

Sam who'd gone through the pain to come looking out for me. Sam who'd gone out of his way to express that my guilt was unnecessary. Sam who'd tried to make me feel better by offering me a drink. Sam...who currently kept shooting me sly worried/annoyed glances as he conversed with another bartender three stools down from me. I was king of ignoring him.

"What's the deal with you and him?" Nicholas suddenly piped up with a sh*it-eating grin.

"Hmm?" My eyes sought and held contact with Sam's for two point five seconds.

"You and Sam, Anna," Nicholas let out a whistling laugh. "You're both eye-fvcking each other. What gives?"

The last bit was whispered out. I choked on saliva or maybe a mouthful of my concoction, I wasn't certain. A beat-root blush crept up and coated the better half of my face at his suggestive slash crass words.

"Oh. My. God. Nick!"

He laughed throatily and more openly now. "Hey! You said you'd never call me Nick."

"That's because you're acting like a d*ick!" I slapped his chest and none too gently either. The two Latinas eyed me angrily as I punished their idol of the night. "I'm blushing. Holy sh*it. Eye-fvcking? I don't know what in God's green earth you're talking about."

"Real cute." He continued chuckling, his shoulders shaking lightly with the movement. "You so do, Anna. Admit it."

I covered my face with my hands and hissed, "I hate you."

Once his laughter subdued he leaned forward. A calculate glint in his eyes appeared. "He's into you."

"No, he's not." Sam sometimes came off strong but he wasn't into me. No. He just loved flirting and messing with my head.

"Yeah, he is," Nicholas threw back. "I've heard it from Nate and even Cade, the guy that bartends with me."

I sneaked a glance at Samuel, and sure enough, both he and Cade were looking at us with matching vexed expressions.

Before I could blush anymore, I looked away, my hair water-falling and creating a type of shield to block me from Sam's view.

"You're lying," I said more to myself than to him. God help me, I might even believe Nicholas.

Silence bestowed itself upon us.

"Beware though, Jodanna. Sam's a cool guy and I've known him for awhile now, but he's not the relationship kind of guy. And you're exactly that kind of girl - the relationship one."

His uttered words travelled and resonated deeply within me like a high octave note.

I pondered over this as I sipped my drink. Nico and I gazed at each other. The wheels in my head turned and Nicholas noticed, if the sad curve of his mouth was any indication.

"You don't ever have to worry about me."

"I know I don't. But...I still do."

Then a shadow passed next to me and bumped fists with Nicholas. The latter's face brightened. "Hey," Rumbled a raspy voice.

It was Nate and I froze yet again. Nicholas noticed that as well, always the observant one. I refused to say hi, choosing to keep my back ramrod straight and hair cascaded in front of me to shield my face. Nate tried. His attempt at greeting me was shot down by my