“I’ll be right there,” Lizzy said as nicely as possible.
“We’ve been waiting for like five minutes!”
Shoving back my barstool, I nearly fell to the ground when everything shifted around me. The dull buzzing had turned into a roar at some point between the last shot and this one.
But that would not stop me from defending my friend.
“Hey, she just said she was coming. There’s no need to be rude.”
I spun around, throwing my arms wide.
“What is it with everyone being so damn rude lately? You can’t just say excuse me or politely ask someone to move, or say pardon me?”
“I think those are all the same thing,” Cheyenne laughed.
“Fuck you very much,” I chuckled, barely making it back to my seat.
But about the time I got there, the bitch from the other end of the bar was on my ass.
“Hey, bitch!”
I stumbled forward when something hard hit my back. I tried to catch myself on something, but only found air, and ended up face-first on the bar floor. I barely saw the red from Cheyenne’s boots hit the floor before the telltale sound of skin hitting skin filled the bar, followed by several gasps.
Rolling over, I held my nose, hoping it wasn’t broken. The last thing I needed was two black eyes and a crooked nose.
As I blinked back the tears filling my eyes, I heard a screech, followed by the sound of something ripping. Cheyenne had the woman by the back of the hair as the woman tore at her dress.
Her favorite dress.
I leapt to my feet and charged with all the adrenaline coursing through my body. But before I could attack the woman, I was swept off my feet and carried across the bar while still swinging my arms.
“Hey! Put me down!”
“Not yet, darlin’. Christ, I can see why he needs help with you.”
I didn’t want to dissect what he meant, not when Cheyenne was in the middle of a bar fight on my behalf.
“If you do not put me down right now?—”
“Alright, alright,” the man chuckled, setting me on my feet.
His eyes locked on mine and held until I stared back at him with so much anger that my hands shook.
“Now, I can see you want to defend your friend, but how about you stay over here and let me handle things?”
He turned on his heel and marched back over to the girl fight. In a matter of seconds, he had Cheyenne and the other woman separated with only his raised hands.
“Now, I’m sure everyone in the bar is enjoying this little fight, but perhaps I could buy you both a drink, and you can call a truce.”
“Over my dead body,” the woman spat.
“That can be arranged!” Cheyenne shouted, charging past the man’s outstretched hand. She flung herself at the woman, taking her down to the floor.
That was it for me. I hauled ass across the bar, diving into the fight. It was really hard to tell what was going on with all the limbs and hair flying around, so I grabbed and held on with all my might.
The harder they screamed, the harder I pulled, until the woman hopped to her feet, laughing as I yanked on Cheyenne’s hair.
“Bailes!” Cheyenne shouted, finally getting my attention.
