“Kooper, thank God. I’ve never seen her like this. She’s danced before and we’ve partied before, but she’s like a whole other person right now.”
“She been drinking?” I glance at Nat out of the corner of my eye and see her nod.
“Yeah, a bit. But no more than usual.”
I hold out my hand and wait. Ruby doesn’t take it at first, but I raise my eyebrow in challenge, and she takes the bait, grabbing my hand and then putting her foot down on a chair that must have been used to get them up there. It’s dainty as fuck how she takes two large yet graceful steps down and doesn’t once stumble. As soon as both feet are on the ground, she’s in my space.
“Koop. What are you doing here?” She’s all smiles and breathless words. Something that has my dick taking notice.
“My job,” I grind out and clench my hand that isn’t holding hers. Because she hasn’t let it go, and I refuse to be the first to do so.
“Your job?” Her eyebrows rise. Then her head shakes. “Didn’t you hear? I no longer have a dad. So that means”—she lets go of my hand and wraps her arms around my neck—“there’s no reason for you to watch over me.” She moves in close to my ear, her breath tickling my skin. “Unless you like to watch.”
She pulls back and flicks her tongue over my nose before detangling herself from around me and sauntering away, hips shaking and every damn eye in the place on her ass.
I follow her and feel Nat hot on my heels. By the time I’m next to Ruby again, she has a cup in her hand. I take it from her, sloshing a bit over the side.
“Hey,” she cries in protest before she grabs it back. “That’s mine.”
“We need to leave.” Another growl. One that should have her quaking in her boots. But she just smiles around the rim of her drink as she sips on it.
“After this one.”
Never say I was never one to compromise. I grab the cup out of her hand one last time, chug it, and then crush it with my hand before throwing it on the ground.
“There—it’s done.” I grab her upper arm, and for a second, she sways into me. “Let’s go.”
She pouts. Literally pouts. One fucking big-ass lip pout. Something that shouldn’t be cute and a fucking turn-on but is. And as I move through the people to the door, I slide my other hand over my dick and push it down. Now isn’t the time.
“You’re no fun.”
“You’re having enough fun for the both of us,” I mutter a second before I’m greeted with a wall. Not just any wall. A frat wall of drunken college kids who think they know best.
“Hey, man, what’s the rush? Why not stay a bit longer?”
“Yay to staying,” Ruby chimes in, and I roll my eyes.
The prick who’s the ballsiest of them all for even saying anything to me lights up at her voice. “See? Stay. And if you’ve got somewhere to go, at least let her have some fun.”
Another guy smirks a second before he speaks. “Yeah, we’ll make sure she gets home. Won’t we, boys?”
Some think that if you go to college, you become smart. Or that only smart kids go to college. For a few, that might be true. For others, it’s their daddies’ money that got them into college. Not a single brain cell was used. Just like now.
Because if they had even half a thought between the five of them, they would see me as more than just some guy dragging a girl out of this place. They’d see my vest. My attire. They would understand that my entire vibe right now is not to be fucked with.
But they’re idiots. The whole lot.
And when they look at one another and grin some more, I’ve had enough.
I turn back and hand Ruby to Natalie. “Don’t let her go.”
I wait till she nods, and then I turn back and let my fists do the talking.
The first one goes down easily; he wasn’t paying attention. The second throws a right hook, which I block and counter with my own. I swing low and punch the third with a jab to the stomach, and as he bends over in pain, I grab his head and ram it into my knee as I pull up. His head bounces off me, and then he falls back.
That leaves two: the one who spoke the last time and some other asshole who’s too stupid to run when he’s in a losing match. They look at each other and then put their fists up like good little boys who learned how to box from their fathers.
The music is still going, but we have a wide area to work with, as everyone backed up. And not a single person is coming to these two dipsticks’ aid.
