Chapter Three Ava
W e downed the flutes in one long gulp. “Come on. Let’s go dance again!” I shouted.
“I need to fix my makeup,” Lexie protested.
“It looks fine.”
She wrinkled her nose. “But I’m all shiny.”
With a playful roll of my eyes, I replied, “Seriously? It’s too dark in here any alleged shine.”
“I still want to go to the bathroom.”
Dani hopped off her stool. “Come on. I’ll take you.”
As the two of them started to go to the bathrooms, I crooked my finger at Nick. “Let’s dance.”
“Hold that thought.”
“Don’t tell me you’re shiny too?”
He snorted. “Nope. But I do have to take a leak,”
A frustrated grunt puffed from my lips. “Fine. I’ll go back to dancing by myself.”
“I promise I’ll find you again.”
“Mm hmm, you say that now, but what if you come across a tall, dark and handsome man in the bathroom?”
“You know blondes are my type.”
“I might argue anything with a dick is your type,” I teased.
“You bitch! You definitely need to get laid,” Nick shot back.
“Whatever,” I laughed.
Nick held out his pinky. “I’ll find you on the dance floor asap.”
Since we were kids, we’d pinky swear on almost everything. After linking mine with his, I said, “Don’t make me come find you.”
“I won’t.”
Although I found myself once again alone, I didn’t let it stop me from having fun. With the fresh alcohol coursing through me, I once again stepped into the fray of people.
Ignoring the others around me, I closed my eyes and let the music flow through me. Occasionally, I would feel others slide against me. When I didn’t engage them, they’d move on.
But then I felt a warm breath against my earlobe. “Took you long enough,” I said as I whirled around.
Instead of Nick, a slick stock broker type loomed over me. “Sorry. I thought you were someone else,” I apologized.
He flashed me a shark-like smile. One that made him look like Christian Bale in American Psycho . “I’ll be anybody you want me to be, sweetheart.”
“Wow, there’s a line I’ve never heard before,” I mused.
“Sassy mouth and sexy moves. You’re a ball buster, aren’t you?”
“If you say so.”
“I’m Kirk.”
Since I wasn’t going to give him my name, I replied, “Nice to meet you.”
“Dance with me.”
Most women would’ve swooned at his command, but that bravado did nothing for me. “Thanks but I’m waiting for my friends to come back from the bathroom.”
One his hands slithered around my waist, yanking me against him. “Come on now. Just a little dance.”
Slapping my palms against his chest, I shouted, “I said no!”
“Don’t be that way, baby. I can make you feel real good.”
While panic rose in my throat, I kept my wits. Reaching back into my mind, I focused on the self-defense tactics I’d been taught. My father had paid for me and all his granddaughters to attend self-defense courses at the local YMCA.
Just as I started to enact the SING method and go for Chris’s solar plexus, he was forcefully jerked away from me, sending me spinning. When I whirled back around, I gasped at the sight before me.
A tall, dark-haired man had Chris by the throat. The expression on his handsome face was pure menace. “Are you hard of hearing, mate?” he questioned, his voice cold and lethal.
When Chris furiously shook his head, the man narrowed his eyes. “You sure as fuck must be because the lady said no .”
Clawing at the man’s hands, Chris fought to breathe. After staring him down, the man shoved him away. “Get the fuck out of here, and don’t ever come back.”
After watching Chris sprint away, I turned my attention back to the man. The venom had drained from his expression. In its place was a panty or thong-melting smirk. As he strode over to me, I could tell he thought he was the master of the universe, and his heroics were sure to induce me to swoon.
Just as I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t interested in him, he held up his hand. “No need to thank me, gorgeous.”
“Good. Because I wasn’t going to.”
His dark brows shot up in surprise. “Excuse me?”
Sweeping my hands to my hips, I scowled at him. “Do you have a savior complex or something?”
“Not that I know of.”
“I had the situation handled.”
He had the audacity to smirk at me. “Sure you did, sweetheart.”
“You did not just condescend me.”
Crossing his arms over his broad chest, the man said, “That guy had four inches and about a hundred and fifty pounds on you.”
“I still could’ve taken him.”
The man chuckled. “You’ve got fire. I’ll give you that.”
“And you’re a condescending bastard!”
As I started past him, he winked. “Even if you won’t say it, you’re welcome.”
My temper then got the better of me. Once again I reached into the recesses of my mind to pull out a self-defense move. I kicked the backs of his knees before reaching around to closeline him at the waist. Although it took everything within me, his legs popped out from under him, causing him to fall onto his back.
As the man gazed up at me with a look of utter and complete disbelief, I gleefully remarked, “Like I said, sweetheart , I didn’t need your help.”
A commotion behind me caused me to whirl around. When two enormous men rushed at me, I realized I’d made a serious mistake. “Fuck,” I muttered.