Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Eli

"What the fuck?" I yell out.

Liza looks at me like she has no clue why I'm freaking the fuck out, then gives her attention back to the guy whose lap she's sitting on.

Thinking I'm in a dream—or a nightmare rather—I look around the table of people sitting there, staring at me. I'm halfway expecting to see a clown face or my first-grade teacher because this must be one fucked-up dream. That's the only thing that would help this to all make sense.

I don't recognize a soul, but they're all looking at me like I've lost my mind.

"Who's this guy?" the guy whose lap she's sitting on asks.

Liza sighs, tossing her hand my way like she's throwing out the trash. "He's nobody," she says before turning her back to me and wrapping her arms around the guy.

I've never been so speechless in my entire life. I'm literally stunned into silence. I have no clue what the fuck is going on. The only thing I do know is, this is not Liza, but how is that humanly possible?

"Liza?" I plead, praying she looks at me again.

"Is this guy bothering you?" the same guy asks.

She rolls her eyes. "He's a student of mine who won't leave me alone."

My eyes open wide in shock.

Did I really just hear her say that? What the fuck is going on?

"He's a student of yours?" The guy places his hand on Liza's knee, and I instantly see red.

"Get your hands off of her!" I lunge toward him, and the entire table of guys jumps up to stop me.

The guy wears a smug expression as someone else stands in front of me, trying to block me from getting to them.

I glare down at him because I'm much bigger than he is, and if I were anyone else, I would pick him up and throw him across the bar.

"Get out of my way." I toss him to the side, knocking him to the ground with ease.

"Liza? What's going on?"

"Hey, pal." Another guy pushes me to the side, making me stumble because all my attention is on Liza and not the situation of guys around me. "The lady has obviously made her choice. I think you should leave."

I stand up and push him back. "She's my girlfriend. We literally arrived together, we ate dinner together, and we're leaving together."

I reach for Liza's arm, and someone else comes up from behind me, stopping me in my steps.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but don't make me throw your ass out of here."

I ignore the guy and plead, "Liza, what are you doing, baby? Let's get out of here."

"Do you want to leave with this guy?" the guy whose lap she's still sitting on asks.

Liza glances at me, and I swear she looks straight through me. She doesn't see me at all. She doesn't see the time we've spent together, the love we have for each other. Everything about her is gone.

"I've been trying to get rid of him for the past year." She hugs him more and croons in his ear, "Please get rid of him so I can go home with you."

Her words hit like a punch to my gut, but not as bad as the actual fist that's thrust into my stomach by the guy I knocked to the floor.

I drop over in pain for a brief second before I see absolute red and lose all control as I swing on one guy while another one knocks me to the floor.

I jump to my feet just as another guy grabs me from behind and swings me around, only to hit me across the jaw.

My sight spins for a few seconds as the bartender runs up to us. "Break it up!"

The guys stop their assault as the bartender pushes me toward the door.

"You're out of here."

I stand my ground. "I'm not leaving without my girlfriend!"

"I'm telling you right now, if you don't turn around and walk out of my bar, I will call the cops."

I look him dead in the eye as I yell, "Call the cops. I'm not leaving without her!" I push him out of the way and try to get to Liza again.

Two guys hold me back and throw me to the ground, only to kick me on either side. The pain doesn't register with each kick they give me because all I can think about is getting to Liza. I need to protect her. Something's wrong. I don't know what, but I'm not leaving her here alone.

They'll have to kill me first.

Through the kicks, I'm able to push them off and hop to my feet, only to have another guy jump on my back, wrapping his legs around me with his arms around my neck, making it hard to breathe.

"Stop it right now, or I will put you to sleep," he growls in my ear.

I can only take short breaths, and I start to feel the world fade around me, so I stop fighting him, and once he loosens his grip just enough for me to breathe, I inhale as deep as possible to get my bearings back.

I open my eyes once my vision comes back, only to see Liza not giving a damn about everything around her while she stares at the guy whose lap she's on while she's playing with his hair.

I'm still in a headlock, being held back even though I wish the guy would squeeze my throat again because it would feel better than how I feel now, seeing this.

I hear more commotion behind me and am yanked around, only to see another one of my absolute nightmares.

The cops.

"Okay, we'll take it from here," the first cop says as he takes my wrist, twisting it around and pulling it to my back right before he grabs the other one, slapping handcuffs on me. "You're coming with us."

The bar crowd starts clapping at my arrest.

They're fucking clapping!

They have no idea what's going on. No one knows I'm trying to protect the one I love.

What the fuck is going on?

I'm forcefully escorted outside as I fight every step. "You don't understand. That's my girlfriend in there. Something's not right. She's not okay. She doesn't know those guys. We came together. Ask the waitress!" I beg for them to listen to me.

"Look, I don't know how drunk you are, but I'm sorry the girl chose someone else. This is not how you handle it though."

I fight against the handcuffs, trying to rip them off. "She didn't choose someone else! Go ask her! Please. You have to believe me!"

The police officer opens his car door and places me inside, where I'm barely able to squeeze my feet in.

"Do you see yourself right now? You just got into a bar fight, and you really think I'm going to believe you?"

I drop my head back, banging it against the seat because I have to do something or I'll lose my ever-loving mind.

"I'm telling you the truth. She came with me tonight. We're staying at the cabins at the lake. She went to the bathroom, and when she didn't come back, I went to find her, and she was with that guy!"

"How much have you had to drink tonight?"

"Nothing! I'm only eighteen! Check my ID!"

He raises his eyebrows at me like I'm lying to him more. "You're only eighteen?"

"Yes! We came for dinner, and they let us stay. I literally had nothing to drink. I promise. She did because she's over twenty-one. Go find the waitress! She'll tell you we were together!"

The guy rolls his eyes with a huff. "You sit here. I'll be right back as I get the story of what really happened from the bartender."

He slams the door shut, and I'm stuck, sitting here, watching him walk away, then staring at the door, making sure Liza doesn't leave.

I sit here for what feels like an eternity, living in my own personal hell, having no clue what's going on, but not able to do a damn thing about it. I've never been so pissed off, scared, and helpless in my entire life.

I now understand what the phrase caged animal feels like.

It's worse than hell. In hell, I would think you have a fighting chance. Me? I'm stuck here, literally watching my life unfold in front of me with no hope of being able to save it.

The two police officers finally exit the establishment, and I perk up, hoping to see Liza walking out with them, but fall completely flat when I don't see her anywhere in sight.

When they open the door to where I'm sitting, I instantly start asking questions. "Did you find the waitress? Did you talk to Liza?"

"Yeah, we spoke to Liza all right. She told us you're her student at the high school she teaches at and you followed her here. She said you've been stalking her and asked that we take you to jail."

"No. No. No. That's not possible." I shake my head from side to side. "She's not okay. Something has happened. Go to where we're staying at. They'll tell you!"

The words slip out, and I instantly kick myself for saying it. I told the hotel I'm staying alone because we were trying to hide any sign of her being with me.

"Where's the waitress? We've been here for hours. Someone saw us!"

"Everyone from the diner side has gone home. The bartender said you just came in from out of nowhere, yelling," another cop says.

"Wouldn't you? If you were having dinner one minute, and the next, your girlfriend is sitting on some guy's lap, how would you react? I'm telling you, something is going on! Something is not right! Why aren't you believing me?"

"Sorry. You'll have to tell it to the judge on Monday."

They go to shut the door just as Liza walks out with the guy.

"Liza!" I yell out with every ounce I have in my body.

I'll die if she leaves with this guy.

"Liza! Tell him who I am! Tell him who we are!"

Liza makes it two steps before she bends over and starts throwing up. The guy jumps away from her instead of trying to comfort her.

"What the fuck?" I hear him yell as Liza continues to throw up.

One of the cops walks toward her. "Are you okay?"

Liza calls out in sobs, breaking my heart completely open and ripping it to shreds. "No! What's going on?"

She drops to her knees as she heaves some more.

"Call an ambulance!" I scream out, helplessly kicking my legs against the car seat, making sure people can hear me. "Something is not okay with her. Call a fucking ambulance!"