“Gianna.”
David tucks his phone into his pocket and straightens up from his position against the wall. “Can I have a quick word?”
I want to object, but sensing my hesitation, he ushers me a little further down the passageway into an alcove, not deep enough that we’re secluded but enough to make the gesturefeel inappropriate. What reason does he have to pull his colleague’s date away from prying eyes? Seems nefarious, at best. Not something I want to be a part of.
“Listen,” he says before I can object, stepping uncomfortably close and forcing me to step back until my butt grazes against the wall, “I couldn’t help but overhear you tell Monica that you and Zayn are only friends.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“I thought that seeing as you’re not spoken for, I might… shoot my shot, if you will.”
He brushes a fingertip lightly down my bare arm, and I discover it’s possible to vomit inside my own stomach.
“And what about Laura, then?” I ask, irritated. Just because I’m not ‘with’ Zayn, this guy thinks he can touch me? The fucking audacity.
“Laura’s also just a friend.”
I shove his hand off me.
“Let me tell you something, you creep-” I briefly acknowledge that alcohol and heart-break are a heady mix not to be fucked with, but fed up, I push against David’s chest anyway. Even though he isn’t as tall as Zayn, he’s still much bigger than me, and he doesn’t seem to move an inch despite my efforts. “-You won’t be shooting anything within my vicinity, that’s for damn sure. Just because I won’t be leaving here with Zayndefinitelydoesn’t mean I’ll be going anywhere withyou!”
I may sound borderline hysterical, but David is a little too close and a little too unmovable for comfort. It makes my skin crawl and icy panic touch my spine.
His sleazy smile shifts into a more maniacal grimace, but he takes a small step back.
“No wonder Zayn isn’t into you.” He sneers down at me as all semblance of geniality from before is shot to the wind. “You may be a looker, but you’ll never fit into his perfect little life he’s created for himself, will you?”
I stare back at him, my chest rising and falling rapidly along with my building temper. “Excuse me?”
David leans back into his heels and slides his hands into the pockets of his grey suit pants as if I’m the least threatening thing to walk the planet. “It only takes a minute in your company to realise there’s not much going on in the knocker,” he says, tapping his own head. “Your knockers, on the other hand,” he says, gesturing rudely to my chest. “Top notch, and on full display tonight, no less.”
“You fucking pig!” I gasp, bunching my fists at my side. “Even if I had a lobotomy and didn’t know my own name, I still wouldn’t let you anywhere near me.”
David chuckles and inspects his fingernails as though he’s already bored with the conversation.That makes two of us, asshole.
“Zayn will end up with Monica, you know.” He meets my eyes. “Just in case you had any doubts. She’s an intelligent, driven woman who is more matched to Zayn’s wavelength. Unlike you, whose greatest accomplishment in life is marrying an AFL player.”
“Wow.” I laugh, ignoring the fact that David’s nasty words have hit the exact mark they were aiming for. “Insinuating that just because someone finished law school makes them superior to the rest of the population is a grossly inaccurate presumption. I know a lawyer who can’t even handle being turned down by a woman. In fact, he’s a downrightloser.”
David’s eyes narrow dangerously as he goes to take a step toward me, but before he can move, he’s yanked backward and thrown into the opposite wall like he’s no heavier than a pillow. I stare in wide-eyed shock as he throws hishands back against the wall and tries to regain his balance. His wary eyes are glued to the dark figure leaning over him.
“You touch her again, I will crush your hands so permanently you’ll never be able to have another pitiful shower wank for the rest of your miserable fucking life.”
Zayn’s words are spoken with a cold, calm stillness that somehow makes the promise even more terrifying. A blanket of ice envelopes me at the pure violence that radiates from Zayn’s imposing figure as he stands over David with his fists clenched and his teeth bared. “Do you understand me?”
David nods, his face frozen in alarm. Then he rights himself and scurries back down the hallway to the ballroom like a scared rat. When Zayn turns to face me, I see why. His face is twisted with pure, lethal fury so palpable I would take a step back if I wasn’t already backed up against the wall.
I’m not scaredofhim, I’m scaredforhim. Of what he is capable of doing in order to protect me.
“Are you okay?” he asks, voice like ice. “Seems I can’t take my eyes off you for a second with out you getting yourself into trouble.”
My hackles raise at the way he makes me feel like an unruly toddler.
“Well maybe if you didn’t work with fucking scumbags who propositioned other people’sdatesI would be able to go to the loo in peace!”
“Maybe if you didn’t go around telling everyone that we’rejust friendsthey would stay the fuck away from you!” Zayn snaps back, startling me. He never raises his voice at me. Monica must have told him what I said.
“WeareJUST FRIENDS! It’s not a fucking lie!”
