“Hey, you can’t do that,” Emily exclaimed, a bit shocked. “It was my turn.”
The man turned and looked over at her, then let his eyes roam over her body as a gleam of attraction appeared in his eyes. Taylor felt the creature inside him slowly coming to life as warning bells went off in his head. A look of distasteappeared on Emily’s face, but she held her ground, scowling at the man until he gave her another gentle push.
“I told you to wait over there,” the man said, a warning tone in his voice, which Taylor didn’t like. “Get over there and wait for me. You and I aren’t finished. I enjoy feisty women, and it’s fun to break them.”
“I don’t know who the hell you are, but you can’t talk to me that way,” Emily erupted, stepping back over to the man. “I paid my money; I want my turn.”
“The lady is right,” Ryan said, then looked over his shoulder at Taylor, who was already scrambling out of the tank, his protective instincts overwhelming him. “But I’m afraid that our time is up, so no one is going to get a turn. You should all just move along now.”
“I should have known, you’re nothing but a bunch of losers and cowards,” the man jeered. “I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal about you. There’s nothing scary here, just a bunch of babies pretending to be tough guys.”
By then Taylor had reached Ryan’s side. He gently took Emily’s arm and pulled her behind him, ignoring her look of annoyance. She opened her mouth, but he silenced her with a look, then turned back to the man, beginning to understand who he was, but willing to let things evolve on their own so he could study him.
“Maybe you should just move along,” Ryan repeated. “We’re just trying to have a little fun here, but it’s break time.”
The man studied them for a second. “I’ll go, but I’ll be taking the little lady with me,” he said. “She and I have unfinished business.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, you creep,” Emily said from behind him. “And I dare you to try and make me.”
Just then a security guard walked up. “Is there a problem here, boys?” he asked. “We’re all here to have a good time. I’dhate to see that spoiled by anything. Sebastian, why don’t you and your boys move along now? Don’t you have your own booth? I’m sure your fraternity brothers would appreciate some help.”
Sebastian looked like he wanted to argue, but he looked around and realized that he was outnumbered. “Yes, sir,” he finally said. “We’ll be going now.”
When he was gone, Taylor turned to look at Ryan. “I guess we’ve just met the new leader of the Kappas, charming guy,” he said, then turned to Emily. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, pushing him out of the way. “And I’m perfectly capable of defending myself.”
“Not with a guy like that. You have no idea what he’s capable of,” he said, shaking his head. “Don’t make a big deal out of this. I just didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
***Emily***
Emily looked up at Taylor and saw only concern on his face. She realized that she was taking her anger out on the wrong person. “Sorry, I shouldn’t take it out on you, but guys like that make me furious,” she said. “I wish you hadn’t stopped me, I would have enjoyed showing him what this little lady is capable of. He would have thought twice about treating another woman that way.”
An amused look spread across Taylor’s face. “I’m sure you would have, and I would have enjoyed watching,” he said. “But this is a family event, so this was probably a better outcome.”
“I guess you're right,” she said, her anger fading away. “What’s with that guy anyway? Who is he?”
“Well, we haven’t been formally introduced, but I think he’s the new leader of the Kappas,” Taylor said, guiding her away from the booth. “They’re our…rivals, I guess you could say. There’s a lot of bad blood between us. You just got caught in the crossfire.”
“That seemed like a lot more than a rivalry between fraternities,” she said, studying him. “He was out for blood, Taylor, I could see it in his eyes.”
Taylor was silent for a second. “I know that was scary, but I promise we’ve got it under control, you don’t need to worry,” he said, then looked around. “Come on, let’s get out of here, I’ve had enough of this for one day.”
She let him lead her out of the park after saying a quick goodbye to Valerie. “Where are we going?” she asked, then realized he was still wearing his swimming trunks. “Don’t you want to get dressed?”
Taylor looked down at himself then started laughing, “That might be a good idea,” he said, then sighed. “I don’t have the energy to fight the crowds to go back for my clothes. I’ll just run home and get dressed there.”
“I can give you a ride,” she said, sensing a way into the fraternity house. “My car is just around the corner.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, then looked down at his feet. “Well, maybe it would be a good idea, I forgot my shoes, too.”
It was only a five-minute drive from downtown to the campus, and before she knew it, they were pulling up in front of a big brick house not far from the stadium. “This is a beautiful house,” she said, pulling to a stop in front. “I always wanted to live in a place like this; it seemed so romantic to me when I was a kid. I don’t suppose you have a ghost.”
Taylor laughed, “Sorry, no ghosts,” he said. “Do you want to come in for a tour?”
“Sure, that would be great,” she said, turning off the car. “As long as you don’t have something else you’re supposed to be doing.”
“I’m free for the rest of the day,” he said, grinning at her. “Iprobably should be studying, but I’m giving myself the weekend off.”
