Benched

by Charles, Colleen

  Adam slid his huge hand over my knee where our bodies touched and began to rub the pad of his thumb back and forth over my bare flesh. The friction felt amazing. Hot. I couldn’t stop staring into the depths of his eyes. I saw passion and want reflected back at me and I wondered if my eyes were mirror images of his. But this wasn’t just base desire for my body. Something more lingered there. Something I couldn’t understand or define.

  “Well, I do declare,” Sue Ann said in her best Scarlett O’Hara voice, “if it ain’t the famous and hunky NHL superstar Adam Spencer a sittin' on ‘lil ‘ole me’s barstool.”

  Adam slid down to the floor and gestured to the stool with a flourish of his hand so Sue Ann could take her rightful place as the queen of this western shindig. Jeff stood to her left and placed his arm loosely around Sue’s shoulders so he could rub her upper arm.

  Adam looked at the couple and then shot me a wink. Neither of us were sure exactly what was going on between the pair.

  “I think that’s my cue to hit the men’s room.” Adam turned. “Julia, I’ll see you in a few. If I can make it through the throng.”

  Chapter 7

  Julia

  “Hi. My name’s Carter.”

  The man stood to my left as he sipped some type of whiskey neat in a lowball glass. He seemed out of place for western night in his blue pants and dress shirt. Must have come straight from the office.

  “I’m Julia,” I replied, keeping one eye peeled for Adam’s return. Jeff and Sue Ann hadn’t been able to stay away from the dance floor and when the first strains of a Garth Brooks mega hit wafted across the speakers, they’d deserted me.

  “Are you here alone?”

  “No, I’m here with a friend. You?” I asked as I made the required small talk. I had no interest in this guy, but Adam had been gone for a good ten minutes and I was starting to get bored. And lonely.

  “Actually, I’m here for a bachelor party,” he said and pointed to the group of guys high-fiving and backslapping at a large table across the room. “I’m actually in a desperate situation.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “My friend, the groom, says he knows you and he bet me a Benjamin that I wouldn’t be able to get you to dance with me. If I have to pay up, I won’t be able to afford the cab ride home. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for a tipsy driver, would you?”

  Even though I knew Carter was only joking, he turned my blood ice cold. After what happened with Adam just a few short days ago, impaired driving was an off-color reference at best.

  “Hmm…?” I said as I squinted and stared across the room. “Doesn’t look familiar. Exactly how does he know me?”

  “Said something about a wedding dance in a barn you decorated. Said you blew him off.”

  My mind raced backward, taking inventory. Since I’d lived in Duluth all my life, I’d been to a hundred wedding dances. Some in barns and halls I’d been involved in renovating. Still, I wasn’t sure if what this guy referenced had actually happened or if he was just trying to blow smoke up my ass to get me to dance with him.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t remember him.”

  Carter put his arm onto the bar, reaching behind my back. Close. Too close to my bare skin since I’d removed my jean jacket in the heat of the crowded bar. Something about this guy screamed player and gooseflesh crawled up my exposed arms to settle on the nape of my neck.

  “Can I, at least, buy you a drink so I don’t look like a complete tool in front of my crew?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

  Every cell in my body screamed to ditch him, but the beer Adam had bought me was just about gone and I’d look like a bitch if I didn’t go along. I hated being backed into a corner, but my parents had raised me to be polite and this guy was obviously a local. If word got around town that I’d been difficult or rude, that could harm my business reputation.

  “Sure.”

  The bartender replaced my Leinie’s with a fresh one and I took that opportunity to lift my butt off the stool and scan the crowd for Adam again. Nothing. I hoped he was okay. Sue Ann and Jeff hadn’t left the floor in three songs and they were now in the process of learning a new line dance to Tim McGraw with a group of other couples.

  “What do you do for fun, Julia?” Carter asked, still too close to my exposed back for comfort.

  I lurched forward and perched myself on the front lip of the stool as far forward and away from Carter as I could get without getting down. “I’m a designer. I specialize in converting old buildings and re-purposing them.”

  “That’s work,” he leaned down and whispered in my ear causing an uneasy shiver. “I asked what you do for fun.”

  I grabbed my beer and took a deep swig before answering. Fortification. He was out of line and starting to irritate me with the innuendo. Come on strong much? Where the hell was Adam to rescue me? I’d give Sue Ann an SOS stare if I could catch her eye, but my friend hadn’t even looked over in at least fifteen minutes, so caught up in her dance partner.

  All of a sudden, I felt claustrophobic and the heat of the crowd surrounding me caused a flush to overtake my skin. A cocktail napkin served as a fan and all I wanted to do as I flapped it back and forth in front of my face was escape outside. Fresh air. I really needed to cool down. It was almost like a cotillion of spiders had overrun my toes and were crawling their way up my legs. I tingled all over.

  “Is something wrong,” Carter asked. “Can I get you a glass of water?”

  “No,” I stood on legs that suddenly felt boneless. The room started to sway and I saw multiple Carters standing before me with a steadying arms on my shoulders. “I really need some fresh air. I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

  Carter grabbed my jean jacket and set it on my slender shoulders. “It’s really cold outside. You may not think you want it right now, but if we go outside, you’ll want the protection.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I slipped my arms inside. I lurched to the left as I wobbled on my high-heeled boots.

  “Whoa there, I’ve got you,” Carter said as he caught me before I became intimate with the hardwood floor.

  I pushed away from his embrace with limp arms. “I don’t need help. Can you go find my friend, Sue Ann?”

  “Sue Ann?” he questioned as he scanned the room with his brown eyes. “I don’t know her. What does she look like? There are hundreds of people in here tonight.”

  He snaked an arm around my waist and I found I no longer had the strength or mental fortitude to fight him or utter a protest.

  “Water?” my mouth felt as if a wad of cotton had been shoved inside.

  “Let’s just start making our way toward the front door and I’ll look for Sue Ann on the way.”

  Carter led me through the horde of revelers and steered me toward the front door.

  Wait, my phone!

  I’d left it lying on the bar and Sue Ann wouldn’t know where I’d gone.

  Adam.

  I tried to pull away, but couldn’t. I tried to speak, but couldn’t. Something was wrong with me. Very wrong.

  Chapter 8

  Adam

  I stared at the circle of guys and tapped my booted toe. I’d been gone for almost fifteen minutes and I’d left Julia alone at the bar, which didn’t set well with me. I’m not the kind of douchebag that abandoned a woman alone in a crowded bar whether we were on an official date or not. If my mom were here, she’d blister my ears.

  “Dude,” the one with the Caribou jersey shouted above the music. “What the hell? ACL and now an accident? We need you, man.”

  Since I’d always prided myself on being cordial and warm to the fans, I tried to tamp down my rising blood pressure. I was the one whose life had imploded. I was the one who could no longer do what I loved. They acted like they were the ones who had felt the physical and emotional pain of the injury. Then the accident and what had really caused it.

  “Yeah, it sucks.”

  They weren’t getting anything more out of me than that admission
that no one could argue with.

  “Is it really true that you’ll never play again?” another one asked with a low whistle.

  “I’m going to fight and try to rehab,” I promised. Knowing deep in my heart that the chance was one in a million that I’d ever claw my way back to the NHL elite.

  “Thanks for doing Duluth proud.”

  After a few more minutes of commiserating, autographs and selfies, I was finally able to thread my way around the crowded dance floor, heading toward the bar where Julia sat waiting for me. Except … my former stool was now occupied by a forty-something, red-haired cowboy with a beer gut.

  I stopped in my tracks and utilized my height to look over the heads of the patrons in a search for her petite frame. Thank God she had white on and with her long, thick hair, it shouldn’t be too hard to get her on my visual radar.

  I craned my neck back and forth until a blessed relief poured over me when I spotted Julia leaning against some guy a few yards from the door. Until I realized she wasn’t walking under her own power and that same guy was leading her outside to the dark parking lot. And that guy was Carter Jenkins.

  Shit.

  We’d been frat brothers at UMD and I wasn’t a fan of the rich and spoiled Carter whose dad owned a heating and air conditioning company. Any scrape Carter got himself into, Louis Jenkins bought him out of so he never had to take accountability. Carter liked it rough and I’d heard rumblings for years that he liked to slip drugs to co-eds so he could sexually assault them.

  My heart started pounding out of my chest. I searched in vain for Jeff or Sue Ann to see if they were closer to Julia because there was no way I could make it to her before Carter got her outside to his car. Julia was only a few yards from the door right now. I pushed bodies to the side in an effort to get them out of my way.

  “Watch it, buddy!” A college kid said as he almost took a header from my body block.

  “Sorry,” I tossed back over my shoulder.

  When I got within twenty yards of the front door, I saw Julia slump against Carter and he picked her up and carried her over the threshold into the vestibule.

  Son of a bitch.

  Chapter 9

  Adam

  “Stop that asshole! She’s not with him.” I yelled at the bouncer outside the door as I pushed past the crowd of people waiting to get into the club. The throng came between me and them and Carter slid from view. A few precious minutes passed before I could make my way outside. I scanned the parking lot and all was dark. Then I heard the muffled sound of a man’s voice coming from the side of the club.

  Running toward the voice, I saw Carter hovering over Julia with her bra exposed. I grabbed him by his jacket and yanked hard, rage filling me to overflowing. I’ve never wanted to kill a man more in my life. Every petty on-ice fight I’d ever engaged in paled by comparison. The muscle-bound bouncer appeared quickly at my side and helped Julia get her jacket back on and her top pulled up over her lacy bra.

  “What’s going on?” Carter sputtered, enraged at the interruption. “Can’t you see we’re busy here?” Then his visage turned from indignation to fear when he recognized me.

  “Take her inside,” I ordered the bouncer. Julia had already slumped against the huge man.

  “Now, Adam…” began Carter, but he never got a chance to finish, because I’d fucking had enough of him and his violent bullshit. I reared back and delivered a solid right hook to Carter’s jaw that sent him reeling backward. Taking advantage of Carter’s surprise, I backed him up and held him against the brick wall by the throat. Once he’d stopped squirming, I kneed him in the gut and then slammed his head back into the exposed brick. Carter choked and gasped. Just when I’d lifted my fist to hit him again, I felt strong arms grab me and pull me back.

  “I’m going to kill him!” I yelled, struggling and shaking in the tight hold of two men who had left the line to see what all the commotion was about. Julia would be avenged. Why had they stopped me?

  “Stop! He’s had enough,” ordered one of the men as he failed to restrain his flailing burden.

  Carter looked weakly back at me. His expression disgusted me and I wanted nothing more than to hit it off his smug face. I shrugged off the two men and took a step closer to Carter.

  “If I ever see you around another woman again…” I growled, my voice a gritty rasp of barely contained rage. Carter wheezed, then doubled over as he slumped to the snow-packed ground.

  Satisfied, I turned back to the bouncer who held the drugged Julia. She looked like a limp rag doll in the arms of a giant teddy bear. I rushed over to her and grabbed her gently by the shoulders. Lifting her toward me. Dammit, I just wanted to hold her and comfort her. Her eyes. Those beautiful eyes were now glazed over and unfocused. I wished Carter would stand up so I could knock him over again.

  Piece. Of. Shit.

  “Hey, sweetie,” I said as I swept her silky hair back from her forehead. “Are you okay?”

  Julia stared straight ahead. Unseeing. She wobbled and clung to my forearms until the pressure of her fingers made deep indentations in the muscle. I welcomed the sensation. The discomfort. I’d never felt so helpless in my entire life. The moment I’d sat next to her on the bar stool, she’d been mine to protect. I’d failed her.

  “Adam? Is that you? I don’t feel so good.”

  I cuddled her close and stroked the back of her head, loving the feel of her against me. I could keep her safe. I would keep her safe, and I’d never fail again. “Can I take you home, Julia? It’s important to me that you get home safe.”

  I turned to the bouncer. “Go inside and tell the DJ to announce for Sue Ann Johnson to get outside right now. Her friend is waiting. And don’t you ever let that piece of crap back in your place.”

  “Don’t worry about that, man. I’m calling the cops to report this shit. He’ll be blackballed at every club in town. Hey, aren’t you that famous hockey player?” The bouncer nodded to me and I winked in affirmation. He went back inside and I continued to hold Julia as if she were a distressed toddler.

  “I’m sorry I took so long getting back to you,” I whispered in her ear. “Do you feel sick? Do you want to go to the hospital? You should have a blood test to see what he slipped you. File charges.”

  “No!” Julia practically screamed at him. “I’m okay. Really. I just want to go home.” Julia hadn’t left the sanctity of the bouncer’s arms since she’d been pulled away from Carter. Now, I needed to take over and keep her safe. “I didn’t want to go with him, Adam. I feel funny. Why do I feel so funny?”

  Because a despicable sexual predator slipped you a mickey.

  There would be time for the truth tomorrow. Julia nuzzled in further, her warm breath tickling my neck. She felt so good and perfect in my arms. How did this tiny slip of a woman pick a crack in my Heather hardened heart so damn fast? I pushed the uncomfortable thought away and tagged it as something to worry about tomorrow. Julia came first right now.

  “What the hell?” the shrill half-tipsy voice of Sue Ann cut through the air behind me. “What happened out here?”

  I tossed the bouncer my car keys and asked him to bring around my car. “Dude. After you call the police, if they need to take my statement or obtain some sort of physical evidence, have them call me.” Adam held out his hand so he could program his private cell number into the bouncer’s phone. “She just wants to go home. Promise you’ll delete this after tomorrow?”

  “Solid,” the gigantic man responded. “You’re a good man, Adam Spencer.”

  I shook the man’s beefy hand and then turned to Sue Ann who stood there staring with her mouth hanging open.

  “We need to take Julia home,” I said. “I want you to come. Julia can drive you back tomorrow for your car.”

  “But what? I don’t understand.” Sue Ann stared from me to Julia. “Honey? Julia? Are you okay?” Concern filled her eyes.

  “I’m okay.” Julia smiled at her. “I just want to go home.”

  “We’
ll talk at home,” I said quietly to Sue Ann, not wanting Julia to overhear and upset her even more. “We need to get out of here before someone calls the press. For some reason, my comings and goings are still news around here.”

  She nodded and took a hold of Julia’s arm. The car pulled to the curb, so the bouncer got out and tossed the keys to me while Sue Ann helped Julia into the back seat. Julia promptly laid her head back and let out a deep sigh. Sue Ann wrapped an arm around her friend and put Julia’s head on her shoulder. I remained silent as I drove to Julia’s with only sporadic navigation from Sue Ann.

  Parking out front of Julia’s newly remodeled Craftsman, I jumped out and came around to the side door. I bent over, and ignoring the pain from the accident, I picked her up and carried her up the front steps to her house while Sue Ann unlocked the front door.

  “Where’s her bedroom? I still don’t trust her to walk without stumbling. I think we’ve had enough injury for one night.” I paused in the front foyer while Sue Ann flipped on the hallway and living room lights. Her expression betrayed her confusion as to why a famous professional athlete held her sleeping friend in his arms like a limp blanket.

  “Follow me.” Sue Ann led the way down a tastefully decorated hallway lined with beautiful black and white images of old barns and farms. Julia’s work? She swung a six-panel oak door wide. “In here.”

  Julia remained fast asleep in my arms, and I almost couldn’t bear the thought of having to let her go. A sudden urge to stay the night, just sitting beside her to watch her breathe overcame me. But that wouldn’t be a good idea this early in the game. Because when she woke up, she’d be scared and confused.

  This was not how my night was supposed to go. I should have been there to protect her, but instead, I’d been indulging fans and explaining my injury while that sleaze Carter trolled for his next victim. I felt my blood pressure spike again as rage washed over me.