“She’s not alone,” Logan growled. He slipped an arm around Tess’s waist and felt her chuckle.
The man ignored Logan and kept at it. “Can I buy you a drink, honey?”
“Seems like you’ve had plenty,” Tess said. “I’m good. Thanks.”
Undeterred, the man asked again, and Tess shot him down again.
“Read the room, dude,” Logan said. “And take a hike.”
On a dime, the man’s smile turned dangerous. “You gonna make me?”
“I will if I have to,” Logan said, rising to his full height, which was a good five inches taller than the loser egging him on.
“Come on,” Tess said. “Let’s just go to another concession stand.”
As they turned to leave, the man reached out and grabbed Tess’s butt.
She whirled around to confront him, but Logan beat her to it. Blood boiling, he went toe to toe with the man. “I said we’re done here,” he ground out. “Back away. Now.”
Instead, the drunk sucker-punched Logan in the face. Caught off guard, it took him a second to register what had happened.
And by then, Tess had jumped in. “You asshole,” she shouted.
The momentum of the swing had put the man’s back to Tess, and she jumped on, wrapping an arm around his neck.
Logan regained his equilibrium and registered the situation. “Tess. I got this. Get off of him.”
The drunk was far less agile with a hundred and forty-pound monkey on his back, and he staggered trying to toss her.
It would have been laughable if Logan hadn’t been so pissed. Tess slid off, and once she was clear, Logan threw his own punch, connecting solidly with the man’s midsection. He hunched over, sucking wind, desperate for air.
By now, a crowd had gathered and was clamoring for a fight. Logan had no interest in spending the rest of the night in a police station.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said. Tess nodded and grabbed his hand. They parted the crowd and walked away briskly, passing two security guards, who were heading toward the commotion.
As soon as they cleared the guards, they started jogging until finally, they were running. Once they’d put enough distance between them and the fight, they keeled over laughing.
“There is never a dull moment with you, is there?” He asked after catching his breath. “You wanna stay to see if the concert resumes?”
Before she could answer, the lead singer returned to the stage. Logan and Tess were in the walkway, outside one of the entrances, but heard him call everyone back.
“Great news,” he said, relief palpable. “Because of the quick thinking of our pretty brown-haired friend, docs say Ivan needs surgery, but that he’s gonna be fine.”
The auditorium erupted in cheers.
“Where is our hero anyway?”
Logan peeked into the arena and saw the speaker shielding his eyes from the spotlight, searching the area around where he and Tess had been.
“He means you,” Logan said. “Come on. We gotta go back so you can get your accolades.”
“Nah,” she said. “Let’s bail.”
“You sure?” At her nod, he acquiesced. “Okay.”
They were still laughing about the fight when they tumbled into the hotel room.
“Oh, your face.” Tess gently touched the spot where the drunk man had connected with Logan’s cheek.
