Chapter 3: The Bittersweet Night

Kinley

Tate was forcefully dragging her to a white Ford pick-up truck. He pulled down the tailgate and picked her up and sat her on it.

"You stay here okay? I gotta unlock the door."

As he walked away to the front of the truck, she tried to run. She fell to the ground in a huge pile, barely able to move. She managed to get up and started to make her way back to the bar, but she was too intoxicated. She couldn't put one foot in front of the other and tripped.

She laid on the cold ground, her breath so heavy it felt like a weight on her chest. Her heartbeat thumped so loudly in her ear that she could only faintly hear the bar music. She felt his hands seize her ankles as he started to drag her back to his truck. The rocks and debris on the ground lacerated any exposed skin. She tried to kick but knew it was useless. She couldn’t overpower his hold on her legs, so she hopelessly gave up, waiting for her fate.

"Where did you think you were gonna go?" he asked as he pulled her to her feet. He grabbed a huge handful of her hair and pulled her head back.

"Next time you pull a stunt like that you will regret it. I promise you that."

"Please let me go. Please? I promise I won't tell anyone about you."

"Tell anyone what? I haven't done anything yet," he said as he threw her in the front seat of his truck. "Don't move a muscle, hear?"

She nodded and began to sob. Dread filled her entire body and she felt like she couldn't catch her breath. She just wanted to go home.

Tate walked around the front of the truck, heading to the driver's side. Suddenly he was just gone into thin air.

Kinley perked up in her seat, peering over the dash and out both windows. He was nowhere. She opened the truck door slowly, putting one foot at a time on the ground. She held the side of the bed to steady herself. The night was still. She heard nothing.

Then suddenly she heard a blood curdling scream. She assumed it was her abductor. She could hear him being dragged through the stones of the parking lot. He just kept screaming. Then it stopped and was silent again.

Something much bigger than a human ran off into the shadows. She started shaking. Then Tate pulled himself using a nearby car's side mirror. He stood there staring at her. No words coming out. Then he began speaking in stutters.

"I'm -- I'm sorry." He could barely say the words and was shaking like he was in negative thirty-degree weather.

She didn't even get a chance to react because before she could blink an eye, he was already in his truck, peeling tires and speeding out of the parking lot.

She stood there shivering as she rubbed her arms for warmth and comfort. She was about to text Sarah when a silver sedan pulled up beside her. She should have ran, especially after what just happened, but instead she bent over to look at the driver as they rolled the window down. It was the waiter. Suddenly she was flooded with warmth, almost overheated actually.

"Do you need a ride?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks."

She had no distrust for this man. Somehow, he made her feel very safe. She felt so relaxed and warm in his presence, like nothing could hurt her. His voice put her at ease, almost as if she was in a trance. Tate had me scared to death and tense. But as soon as she saw this man in the car from the restaurant, every muscle in her body settled.

She climbed in and she could smell that amazing, calming scent again.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked.

"I have my ways."

"Okay. Well, thanks. That means a lot."

They drove in silence, but somehow, words weren't needed. She felt like she had known this man her entire life. But how? She just met him.

"I'm Kinley, by the way."

"I'm Seth. Nice to meet you, again, Kinley."

He glanced over at her and shot her the most amazing smile she had ever seen. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was certain he could hear it.

Little did she know, he could.

Her phone started buzzing and she saw a number she didn't recognize come across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Sarah, from the bar. I hadn't heard from you, so I was making sure you were okay."

"Oh my gosh, yes. I am okay. I am sorry. I forgot to text you."

"It's okay. So, I am guessing you made it home then?"

"Um, not exactly. That douche from the bar was about to attack me in the parking lot--"

"--What? I knew I should have walked you out."

"No, it's turned out to be okay. I was saved by, well, a mystery person. So, I am okay and now I am with, another guy."

She didn't know how to tell her it was the guy she was talking to her about without Seth knowing she had been talking about him.

"Another guy? Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes. I am fine. I will actually call you tomorrow and tell you all about it. I can't really talk now," she said as she glanced over at Seth. The smile on his face told her he knew more than she wanted him to.

She said good-bye to Sarah and placed her phone back in my purse.

"So, you told her about me?" he asked.

"No. I don't know what you're talking about."

He chuckled. Why did she feel like she was already falling in love and why was it a hundred degrees in his car?

"Are you too warm?"

"It's a little toasty in here."

He rolled the windows down a bit and the wind ran through her hair. It felt good and she laid her head back on the headrest and smiled at the ceiling. She wasn't ready for this night to end, but she was glad the bad part was over and didn't end up being worse than it was. And she was glad to be sitting here next to this amazing man for whom she had this unexplained, heavy attraction to.

"Do you want to get some coffee?" he asked, as if reading her mind.

"I'd love nothing more."