Tipsy (Take It Off #5)(13)
Author: Cambria Hebert

He smiled, his eyes drifting over my body. I had to admit, it was nice someone seemed to notice how good I looked.

“Nice boots,” he said, leaning in and speaking directly into my ear.

I didn’t bother to reply. I just took a sip of my drink and watched as he pulled away. He was wearing jeans that rode low on his hips, a white wife-beater tank top, and a red button-up shirt (that wasn’t buttoned).

Definitely not my type.

Of course, my type was the kind who stood girls up.

Maybe it was time for a new type.

“Let’s dance,” the guy said, sipping his beer and taking my hand.

“You got a name?” I yelled, following him to the dance floor.

“Dominick,” he called. “People call me Dom.”

He didn’t ask my name. He didn’t say anything. He just spun around to face me and we started to dance. The rhythm of the music was fast and upbeat so I tried to match my movements. All that got me was my drink sloshing over the rim of the cup and splattering on my boots.

Dom laughed and took the cup out of my hand. He walked over to a nearby booth and set down both our drinks. He gave some guy who was sitting there a fist bump and then returned to my side.

I felt the back of my neck tingling and I knew someone was watching me. I wondered if it was Dee or Blue.

Part of me hoped it was Blue, the douche. I hoped he was grinding together those pearly whites and kicking himself. ‘Course, I knew he was probably making out with the girl that was practically in his lap.

Disgusted, I turned my attention back to Dom. He had somehow gotten a lot closer than before. Since we were no longer holding drinks, he had free hands… and he used them to palm my hips and pull me against him.

His hips began to move suggestively, and I stiffened slightly. Dancing was one thing. Dry-humping on the dance floor was another.

I placed my hands on his chest and pushed back.

He didn’t let go.

His grip tightened.

I looked up at him. He was watching me with heavy-lidded eyes. He yanked me closer and I stumbled a bit, falling into his chest. His arms were like iron vises that went around my body, making me a prisoner in his hold.

“I can’t dance this close,” I yelled, hoping he would get the hint.

“We don’t have to dance.” His voice was so close that it raised goose bumps along my neck. It wasn’t the good kind either. This guy was seriously creeping me out.

“I need some air,” I said, pushing away from him again, struggling to get out of his hold.

He refused to relent. “I got all the air you need, baby.”

Ew.

He did not just say that.

“Let go,” I said, putting some steel behind my voice and taking a step back.

A challenging glint came into his eyes. Something inside me whispered that I just did something very wrong. I shouldn’t have come here.

He started to step backward, away from the dance floor. I dug my feet into the ground, trying to stop him. It was a futile attempt because he outweighed me by a good fifty pounds.

One minute I was being dragged off the dance floor toward some dark and creepy corner, and the next I was being yanked backward, out of my captor’s arms, and being deposited solidly on two shaking legs.

I noted the look of surprise on Dom’s face, but it wasn’t there very long.

Because someone’s fist knocked it off.

I winced and looked at the guy who stepped around me, shielding me with his body. I knew that body. Blue.

He didn’t stop at one punch. He leapt forward, grabbing Dom by the front of his tank and slamming his fist into his jaw again. Dom stumbled backward and then scrambled to his feet. A crowd quickly formed around us and pressed in, creating an empty circle—a ring—for the fight to continue.

I glanced around. Where the hell were the bouncers? Where was the help?

I couldn’t see anything past the crush of bodies blocking us in. Help wasn’t coming.

I heard another sickening thud of flesh against flesh and I whipped my gaze back to the men, where Blue was once again hammering Dom in the face.

His lip split and blood starting oozing down his chin.

Blue yanked him back once more and drew back a formidable-looking fist, but he didn’t get to deliver the blow. Two guys from the crowd pounced on him, pinning him back.

“What the hell, man?” Dom said, wiping at the blood on his lip. He didn’t seem surprised he was getting his ass kicked. In fact, fighting and bleeding seemed like a regular occurrence for him.

“You need to watch where you put your hands,” Blue growled.

“Shit, Gray,” Dom spat. “This your woman?”

Who was Gray?

“Yeah,” Blue spat. “And I don’t like to share.” He struggled against the men holding him.

“If she’s yours, what was she doing at the bar all alone? And didn’t I see you with one of the crew over there in the booth?”

I saw the shift in Blue so slightly that I doubt anyone else even noticed. It was a slight tense of his shoulder muscles, as if they bunched up beneath their skin. It was like he was caught in a lie and wasn’t sure what to say.

“I said I don’t like to share. Doesn’t mean I can’t do what the hell I want,” he said coldly.

Dom looked past Blue to me. “Damn, baby. You let him play around like that right in front of you?” he said. “Dom here wouldn’t do you like that. Dom would do you right.”

A growl ripped out of Blue’s throat and the men pinning him back were suddenly gone. He lunged forward and tackled Dom, slamming his fist in his face once more.

There was some muffled shouting as the guys rushed Blue again, pulled him up, and pinned his arms behind his back. Dom surged to his feet and came forward, shoving a fist into Blue’s gut.

Blue doubled over as Dom hit him again, this time in the face.

I screamed and rushed forward. “Stop!”

Blue might be a liar and an ass, but I couldn’t watch him get beat up.

Dom glanced at me and snarled. “Shit, woman. You’re a head case. Taking up for a man who will hook up right in front of you.”

I swallowed. I wasn’t sure what to say because he was partly right.

Blue recovered and the hands that held him let go. He straightened. “I wasn’t hooking up. She’s off limits to you and your crew.”

Dom stepped closer and my stomach bunched. “This is my turf. Just because you used to roll down the road doesn’t mean you get a free pass here.”

“I never asked for a pass. I’m just here chilling like everyone else.”