It’s too late to leave now. They’ll notice...
Seb returned with that bottle of water, dropping a box of tissues into Dean’s lap as he passed behind him. I took the bottle, wondering why I bothered to wait for one. I was no longer flustered or warm. The two men across from us seemed to have fixed that, heightening my anxiety when their conversation shifted to how loud they could make a woman scream in bed.
“Guys, come on,” Seb drawled as he looked at them but gestured to me. “Can’t you talk about it outside?”
My eyes widened but I kept my voice quiet. “Seb, it’s fine—”
“If she can’t handle it, she shouldn’t be down here. The basement isn’t a place for little girls,” the other fighter said. His hair was dark and thin.
From the corner of my eye, I noted how Dean sat forward. His elbows propped on his knees as he casually placed the box of tissues on the coffee table, pulled out several of them and wiped the drying blood from his mouth and nose. Completely uninterested in the conversation happening before him.
“Or maybe she likes what she hears,” Scarface said.
My throat bobbed when his dark eyes met mine and he took a step forward. Even with a coffee table and couch separating us, it didn’t seem like enough space.
Seb straightened, jaw clenched, and I slid back a step.
“I bet I can make her scream too,” Scarface sneered. “You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you, sweetheart?”
“Take one more fuckin’ step, Frank.” Dean was in the same position, elbows resting on his knees as he wiped blood from his mouth, but his icy glare was locked on Frank. “Do it and see what fuckin’ happens.”
The room was quiet. Fighters gathering their belongings or climbing the back stairs suddenly made their movements a little slower as they anticipated what might happen next. Their eyes were on Frank.
I didn’t move. Or breathe.
Frank scoffed at Dean. “Hit a nerve, did I?”
“Frank,” Seb warned.
Something like realization flitted across Frank’s face when he noticed Seb too. The realization that if he dared to make that step, neither Dean nor Seb were joking with the looks they were giving him.
Because of me.
My heart flipped at the unusual form of chivalry, but I also wanted to dig myself a hole and hide.
“Alright, alright,” Frank said, a smirk remaining as he backed up and sketched a bow. “As you wish, Your Highness.”
It wasn’t until he and his friend had moved to their lockers that my breath evened out.
“Assholes,” Seb muttered as he watched them. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” I may have been clutching the plastic water bottle a little tighter than I needed to.
“Do you need a ride home?”
“You only have one helmet for that bike, Seb,” Dean said, still cleaning his face.
“Honestly, it’s fine,” I shrugged awkwardly. “I was going to book a ride home anyway.”
Dean’s eyes slid to me. “It’s a Saturday night. You might be waiting a while.”
The unspoken warning in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed either.
Waiting with guys like Frank around.
“So, we take your car,” Seb suggested.
Dean cocked a brow. “We?”
