Considering he couldn’t accept the polite rejection I was giving him, I highly doubted I’d enjoy his company. Still, I didn’t want to cause a scene. “My friends are waiting for me.”
“They can keep waiting, Sweetheart.” He lifted his hand off my shoulder to swipe my hair behind my ear.
I had two choices. Wait for Pyre and the others to get over here and deal with the scene they’d cause. Or…handle this guy myself. Most people thought that because I was so quiet and meek that I was also too sweet to stand up for myself. They didn’t know that I’d been raised with three older brothers. Or that meek did not equal weakness.
I took his hand in mine, his stupid unsuspecting smile told me he had no clue. He just kept that stupid smile in place as I maneuvered my grip to where I needed it. Grabbing firmly, I twisted until his bones threatened to pop out of the radiocarpal joint. The wrist connected to a lot of different bones, the ulna, or the forearm bone, and the carpal bones, which are eight smallbones that make up your wrist. He was at risk of nine different bones being broken if he continued to bother me.
His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. I kept twisting to the point where it was just past comfortable for him. “Listen to me.”
He nodded frantically, looking down at his hand.
“You’re going to go back to your friends and I’m going to go back to mine.” He nodded at me again. “And you’re going to leave me alone for the rest of the night. Understood?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”
“And none of you will be talking to any women in here, got it?”
He nodded hurriedly, face pale and looking like he was about to puke. That would happen if I kept twisting and broke his wrist. I released his hand, then waved toward the group of men who’d stood up as soon as I grabbed their friend. They looked undecided as to whether they should intervene or not. Watching your friend get schooled and humiliated by a five-six goth girl tended to leave men confused and indecisive. Since he’d agreed to my terms, I released him.
The man who’d been bothering me turned and froze as he almost slammed into Pyre.
I groaned because Pyre was standing so close to the guy that it was clear he wasn’t going to let this go. “Pyre,” I said, voice soft so that I didn’t accidentally set off the man. He looked like a dangerous predator, just waiting for his prey to make a move so he could pounce. “It’s okay.”
I’d only spoken to Pyre a couple of times before, but these men were protective. It was well known around town that they helped anyone in need of it. They’d kicked the shit out of Tansy’s—a local waitress—ex-boyfriend when he’d given her a black eye, and ran him out of town afterward. Rumor has it he left so fasthe didn’t get the chance to change his underwear. I appreciated a man like that, but I still didn’t want to cause a fight in the bar.
Ainsley and the others made it to my side. “You okay?” she asked.
I nodded as Harlow wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I’m fine. Pyre,” I said again, eyes glued to his angry face. “I’mfine.”
“Didn’t know she had a boyfriend,” the guy said, his eyes narrowing.
“Do you know what no means, fucker?” Jury asked.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Demo answered. “We can arrange an English lesson.” He cracked his knuckles to punctuate the statement.
“Scythe,” I said, looking over at the vice president of their motorcycle club. If anyone had a hope of stopping this, it was him.
His furious gaze swept over me.
Nope. There wasn’t going to be any help from that corner. He was just as pissed as the others that this guy had touched me. I wasn’t sure why they really cared. Sure, they’d always been nice to me whenever I spoke to any of them, but we didn’t really know each other very well. The guy hadn’t done more than touch my shoulder and my hair, but they were acting like he’d done far worse.
“Warrant,” Ainsley said, reading the beseeching look I gave her and trying to settle the situation without violence. “Maybe we should go outside-”
Too late.
The cowboy decided he couldn’t swallow his pride now that the other men were involved and he shoved Pyre backward. “Get the fuck out of my face.”
I groaned while Harlow pulled me out of the way as Pyre swung at the guy. That was all it took and suddenly Pyre andthe cowboy were on the ground, fists beating against each other as they fought. Then the cowboy’s friends showed up. The other bikers grinned and took that as an opportunity to join in.
Scythe caught one of the guys by the back of the shirt as he rushed up to try to kick Pyre in the side. Pyre was on top of the cowboy, his fist ramming into the guy’s face over and over. Scythe pulled his victim in and then punched him in the face as soon as he turned to see who had a hold of him.
“Just let them go at it,” Ains said with a sigh as she watched her boyfriend take a blow to the jaw. “It was going to happen sooner or later.”
Things had been quiet for a few weeks, after the MC had helped find a couple of missing kids. Ainsley had told our friend group about it. I knew she was holding back, that we hadn’t heard the full story, but she told us enough to appease our curiosity about what’d happened.
Anytime it got too quiet, the Berserkers found a way to liven things up. It used to drive the former sheriff nuts. Now Owen, Warrant’s best friend since they were kids, was the new sheriff and he had to deal with The Berserker’s Rage. He had a good relationship with the MC thanks to his friendship with Warrant. But that didn’t mean he was just going to let the guys get into bar fights and let it slide.
“They’re going to get arrested,” I said, a frown on my face.
