Her boyfriend walked up to her and got in her face. She moved back from him and frowned. I stopped jumping and watched the exchange, hoping and praying he would do something to give me a reason to intervene.
“Whoa, cowboy. What do you think you’re doing?” Alex asked me.
I didn’t respond. I kept watching as her boyfriend was yelling something at her. He wasn’t facing me, so I couldn’t read his lips. I felt my anger rising. This guy was berating her, and no one was doing anything about it. I started moving in her direction, but she looked right at me and shook her head.
Her boyfriend looked over at me and stood. We stared at each other for longer than I could stand. Fuck this shit. I started to move in his direction, but Alex got in front of me.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” I told him, then started to maneuver around him.
He grabbed me and got in front of me again. At this point, we started to get an audience. I looked over at my quarry, and he also had a few people preventing him from coming to me; one being Max.
She was pleading with him to stop, I could tell. But he wasn’t listening to her. ‘Please, son of a bitch. Put your hands on her so I can put you down.’
He didn’t follow my directions. Someone else managed to calm him down, and he walked away.
“Come on, man. Let’s go,” Alex told me.
I looked at him and I nodded.
“You better work on what I need sooner rather than later.”
“Yeah, yeah. I told you, I got you. Now let’s go.”
I turned around, but first I watched Max grab her things and head out of the gym with someone calling her. She didn’t turn around to acknowledge anyone. I slowly grabbed my shit and headed out the door with Alex in tow, not bothering with taking a shower. I would take one at home.
I saw her leaning against a car with her arms folded in front of her. I gave Alex my bag.
“Give me a minute.”
“Shit, Reap,” was all he said, as he took my bag.
As I approached her I could tell she was pissed, but I didn’t care about that. She looked behind me, and I caught a hint of fear that crept in her beautiful brown eyes and that caught my attention.
“What was that about in there?” she asked me.
I shrugged, “Not sure what you mean.”
“Oh please, Mace. Don’t patronize me.”
I smiled in spite of myself and said, “Did you just call me Mace?”
She frowned, “What?”
“You just called me Mace. Did you nickname me already?”
She shook her head, trying not to smile, “Stop that! Don’t change the subject.” She poked my chest. “You need to stop, okay?”
“Stop what?”
“Ugh! You are incorrigible, you know that?”
She started to leave, but I touched her arm.
“Do you know how beautiful you are when you’re frustrated? Okay, look I’m sorry. I’m not trying to frustrate you,” I told her.
She stopped and turned around with her arms still folded in front of her as if she’s protecting herself. I tipped her chin up so she would look at me.
I sighed and said, “I didn’t mean to cause problems in your relationship. I saw the way he was treating you, and I didn’t like it.”
“It’s not your job to protect me,” she told me.
“I know, but that wouldn’t stop me if he treats you in a way I don’t like. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way that I am.”
She sighed, but didn’t say anything. She looked behind me again, and I frowned.
“Are you afraid of him or something? Has he put his hands on you?”
She recoiled back from me slightly, which told me everything I needed to know.
“No, of course not. Do you think he still would be breathing if he had?”
I didn’t say anything. I just looked her in her eyes to find the truth in her body language. She kept eye contact for a second longer and then looked away. I could tell she wasn’t telling me the complete truth.
“Look, Mason. I’m fine, okay? I don’t need you to fight my battles for me,” she told me.
I didn’t reply. I was trying to talk myself out of walking back in the gym and beating him senseless, just for the hell of it.
I think she saw it in my eyes, because she said softly dropping her arms, “Okay, look…things aren’t going very well with me and him, okay? He has gotten aggressive with me in ways that make me uncomfortable, but he hasn’t hit me or anything.”
“Not yet,” I added.
She nodded.
“Yes, not yet. I’m not stupid. I see the writing on the wall, okay? I have to take care of myself, and I will. I just don’t need you to make it harder for me. Do you understand that?”