Chapter 143

Tessa’s POV

I turned around to see a strange-looking man standing in front of me. He had long blonde hair and a very narrow face with a long nose. He was kind of muscular, but he was also oddly thin. When he smiled, he had a row of yellow teeth and he reeked of beer.

His hand was still on my lower back, and he swayed against my backside, grinding against me with the beat of the music.

I didn’t think my legs were going to work and I was seeing double of everything. But the Tequilla had taken over my entire brain, and I found myself laughing in his face. Not because I found anything funny, but because I couldn’t help myself.He leaned against the bar and peered into my eyes, wiggling his brows at me, which only made me giggle some more.

“So, what do you say, gorgeous? Dance with me?”

I wanted to say no and tell him to get lost, but before I could form those words, he was lifting me off the bar stool and practically carrying me to the dance floor. My body remained limp against him as he wrapped his arms around me and basically forced me to dance.

I did enjoy this music, and a part of me wanted to get up and dance. But not with him.

Where the hell was Ruby? She was with me only a few minutes ago.“I’m Charles, by the way,” he shouted over the music.

“Tessa,” I managed to say, though my words came out as a slur.

I found it hard to keep my eyes open. At this point, the only thing keeping me standing was his body. He made it impossible for me to wiggle away from him and if I tried, he took that as my attempt to grind him and he’d hold me even closer.

“How about we get out of here?” He whispered against my ear.

I couldn’t speak to protest; I was way too out of it and Tequilla seemed to be hitting me even harder as each moment passed. Like before, he didn’t give me a chance to form words; I felt him lifting me off the ground and cradling me in his arms. I rested my head on his chest, feeling very tired.Despite the fact that I was trying desperately to stay awake, it was a losing battle.

I shouldn’t have drunk so much.

The last thing I remembered thinking before everything went black was, “Where is Ruby?”

….

“Get the hell off her!!”

Ruby’s voice broke through the darkness and pulled me closer to the light. I had no idea where I was or what time it was, but I felt the cool air outside and when I opened my eyes, I saw speckles of darkness, making me close them again.

Then, I felt my entire body falling and yelled as pain shot through me. I hit the ground with a loud thud, making me roll over onto my back.

“Get away, you asshole!” She hissed.

When I managed to open my eyes again and blink away the dark spots that once clouded my vision, I saw that man I was dancing with. He was backing away from a very angry Ruby.

“Hey lady, I was just messing around. It wasn’t that serious,” the man argued in return.

“You aren’t taking her anywhere,” Ruby hissed.

I saw a couple of larger men, one of whom I recognized as the bouncer who checked our IDs and granted us access to the club.

Oh, God. I was so drunk.

What the hell happened and why did I have such a bad headache?

“You heard her,” the bouncer said in a low and threatening tone. “Get out of here before we make you regret being alive.”

The man finally huffed and turned away.

“Fine,” he muttered. “She’s not that hot anyways.”

I lifted my head to try and get a better look at him, but he had already turned away and was leaving.

“Do you need me to call 911?” The bouncer asked.

The other security officer knelt beside me to examine me. I felt his cold hands on my neck; he must have been checking my pulse.

Did I look dead?

“I think she’s just very drunk,” he informed the bouncer and Ruby.

Ruby looked down at me with a worried frown; I wasn’t even sure if I was breathing at this point. I didn’t want to go to the hospital, and I wanted to tell them that, but I couldn’t force the words out of my mouth.

Ruby sighed and shook her head.

“I don’t live far. I’ll take her home to rest,” she said to him. “Thanks, Rich,” she added before kneeling beside me.

She touched my cheek gently and cocked her head as she examined my face.

“I’m going to take you home, Tessa,” she said to me.

I managed a head nod and allowed her to lift me up and onto my feet. I clung to her for support, afraid that I would fall over at any moment. She held me tightly though and the more we walked, the more secure I was feeling.

What had happened?

Was I almost taken advantage of?

By the time we got back to her apartment, I could hardly feel my legs.

“What happened to her??” I heard a familiar voice approaching us.

My stomach felt uneasy, not because of the voice, but because the tequila wasn’t settling right. But as for the voice, Ruby tensed immediately.

“She just had a little bit too much to drink,” she said, holding me even tighter.

I knew we were still outside, and I assumed we were standing outside her apartment building. My breathing had become manual, and my saliva grew incredibly thick.

“I’ll take her home,” the voice said, and his voice grew louder so I knew he was even closer to me.

“Don’t touch her,” Ruby snapped. “She’s staying with me tonight.”

I wished I could get my eyes to work properly, but everything seemed to be spinning and I had dark spots in my vision keeping me from seeing clearly.

“At least let me help you get her inside.”

“No offense, but you’ve done enough, Professor,” she shot back.

That’s when my entire body froze.

Joseph?

My vision cleared for only a moment, and I saw Joseph standing next to me. He looked tired, but he was still wearing the same clothing he wore earlier so he was probably on his way home from school and drove by, seeing Ruby dragging me inside.

When he met my eyes, I saw the remorse in his gaze and for some reason, it infuriated me.

“Don’t look at me like that!” I said angrily; I’d like to say I said that with a powerful voice. But the tequila took over my ability to speak and I slurred my words terribly. “I hate you for what you did to me. You broke me. This is your fault!”

“Tessa—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Joseph,” I said, tears burning in my eyes. “Just leave me—”

Just as I was about to finish that sentence, my stomach no longer wanted to cooperate. I hunched over and released the contents all over the ground and all over Joseph’s shoes.

“Shit,” Ruby murmured. “I’m sorry, Professor. I need to get her inside. But if you really want to help you’d find that asshole who tried to take advantage of her at the club.”

I wished she hadn’t told Joseph that; she wasn’t sure what Joseph was capable of. But I didn’t have the strength to say anything. I was mortified and I felt like I was going to throw up again. I needed to get away from him before I ruined something else of his.

I know he said something in return, but I couldn’t make out his words. Ruby had something too and then she wrapped her arms around me again and pulled me along with her.

I don’t know if Joseph was still there when we got inside; I didn’t bother to look.

All I knew was school tomorrow was going to be a nightmare.

….

Joseph’s POV

I was seeing fucking red.

“What guy?” I asked through my teeth, trying hard not to lose my shit in front of Ruby and Tessa.

“I don’t know; some jerk at the club,” Ruby said as she turned away with Tessa leaning against her. “I found him trying to take Tessa away. The bouncer got him to leave but I’m sure he’ll just do it to someone else. I’m glad I got there in time.”

I stood frozen as I watched Ruby and Tessa disappear into the apartment building.

I turned toward the loud music down the street; I hadn’t been to this club, but I’d been to clubs in the past. They were all basically the same. Too loud, and too many drunks. I never took Tessa as one to go to a club, but I suppose I was to blame for that.

I left my car parked outside the apartment building as I walked the sidewalk and toward the bouncer who stood outside the club doors. There was a long line of young adults who were waiting impatiently to get inside. They all seemed oblivious to me walking past them to get to the bouncer.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Line starts back there, buddy,” he said in a gruff tone, pointing to the back of the line.

“What happened out here?” I asked, trying to keep my temper at bay.

“What are you talking about?”

“There was a young girl almost taken advantage of out here. I heard you made the guy leave,” I said impatiently.

“Ah yeah; it happens all the time. Luckily her friend was with her; I think she took the girl home.”

“What direction did that guy go?” I asked.

He glanced over his shoulder and gestured his head. Before he could say anything else, I was already running in that direction.

Just as I rounded the corner, I heard distant laughter. Going in that direction, I froze when their voices became clear.

“You should have seen her, man. She was fucking hot! Too bad her friend was around though.”