Too Hard to Break by Missy Jane

truck and kissed me before shutting my
door.
    We held hands as he drove to the restaurant, not needing
conversation to pass the time. Megan and Sean were already there.
    “God I could eat a whole pizza just by myself,” Megan said.
    Sean patted her on the ass and I laughed.
    “Don’t tell me you want her to fatten up her ass too,” I
said.
    He grinned but was too smart to reply. She slapped him on
the arm anyway.
    “My ass is perfect just the way it is. But if tonight’s
pizza adds a pound or two it will just be more perfect.” Megan said.
    “That’s right, babe,” Sean said.
    Hank and I just laughed.
    Megan and I found a booth near the back of the busy
restaurant and sat down while Hank and Sean went to the counter to place our
order. The food was great but the service was spotty. We frequented the place
because it was in Megan and Sean’s neighborhood.
    “So, what was that all about in the truck, huh?” Megan
asked.
    I laughed at the look of anticipation on her face and pulled
a napkin from the dispenser to wipe crumbs off the table. “If you’re thinking
he proposed, you’re wrong. He did tell me he loves me though.”
    She squealed before slapping a hand over her mouth and
looking around. Our men were still at the counter.
    “Oh my god. I knew you didn’t have anything to worry about.”
I raised a brow at that and she laughed. “Well, okay I wasn’t
one-hundred-percent positive. But I was pretty sure. So, what now?”
    I shrugged and balled up the napkin.
    “Nothing new, I guess. I’ll stay at his place like I have
been and deal with this new place he started. God…I can’t believe he did that
for me.”
    Tears threatened again and she took my hands in hers,
squeezing them for comfort.
    “I know, right? He is so seriously awesome, Elle.”
    I laughed and took back one hand to wipe my eyes. “Yeah. He
is.”
    “Well, ain’t this cozy?”
    We pulled apart and looked up to find Declan and two of his
friends glaring down at us. I couldn’t see past him to the front counter where
our men were.
    “What the fuck do you want?” Megan asked.
    I turned to face them fully and moved as far back on the
bench seat as I could, putting my legs on the seat so he wouldn’t try to sit.
That wound up being a serious mistake.
    “I just want to talk to my girl here, that’s all,” Declan
said before grabbing my ankles and pulling me toward him. He grabbed my arm and
yanked me off the seat before I could protest while his friends blocked Megan
in the booth.
    “Motherfucker! Let go of her. Elle!”
    Declan dragged me through the crowded restaurant where
Megan’s yells blended with children’s screams of joy and anger, the beeping of
various video games and sounds from the kitchen. I didn’t have a chance of
stopping my forward momentum. None of the other patrons seemed to notice, or
care, that I was being dragged out the emergency exit against my will. Too many
people stood between us and the front counter where I could just make out
Hank’s back.
    “Look all you want, sweetheart. He ain’t coming.” Declan
pulled me through the door and into the humid night air.
    I dragged my feet but didn’t fight too hard to get away just
yet. I knew his moves and struggling just pissed him off more. I was so sick of
it, sick of him and his abuse, sick of being afraid. This was the final straw.
    He pulled me to where his car was parked on the road behind
the restaurant and finally released me. He held his arms out and tensed as if
he expected me to run but I just turned to glare at him under the streetlight.
    “You are such a fucking idiot,” I said. “Do you have any
clue how long you can be put away for kidnapping?”
    True confusion crossed his face and I wondered how he’d
lived so long.
    “Kidnapping? I didn’t fucking kidnap you.”
    “No? You just forced me against my will out of a public
place in front of my best friend. What do you think she’s going to tell the
cops when they get