everything. Every once in a while, I’d buy her something as a thank you, but she would insist on paying for most, if not all, of our girls’ nights.
We giggled our way through the tray and ended up ordering another. The night was exactly what I needed. A night to unwind.
Before I knew it, I had a healthy buzz and all three of us joined Bri’s sister on the dance floor.
A couple of guys tried to dance with me, but it wasn’t a big deal. I smiled and pushed away from them, working my way between Bri, Kaylee, and Bri’s sister, whose name I still didn’t know.
After a while, I had to break for a drink. My throat was nearly sore from laughing so hard during our dance. Kaylee had been dancing like a big dork, doing the robot and the sprinkler among other dances that made me laugh.
Back at the table, one of the guys that had tried to dance with me walked up. “Hey, baby.”
I chuckled and looked around for the server. She caught my eye right away. I lifted my glass, which had contained an appletini, and indicated I wanted another. She nodded that she understood. I’d been raised by my father and a shop full of mechanics, so I knew not to leave a drink at the table to be roofied. I’d finished my drink before heading out to dance and would finish this one before going back to join my friends.
When I turned, the man was still there. He smiled, but his gaze was glued to my chest. “Would you like to dance?”
“Thanks, but I’m here for girls’ night,” I said over the music. “I appreciate the offer, though.” I edged to the side, putting some space between us, but he advanced when I retreated. Damn it. Guys like this were so annoying. I was entirely capable of handling myself, but it took away from my night.
“A pretty little thing like you. Why don’t you smile?”
And with that, I was done being nice. “Look, you’re handsome enough, but your attitude sucks. Leave me alone, please.”
The sleazy smile on his face faded and it darkened. “You bitch.” He didn’t say it loudly. I couldn’t actually hear it over the music, but it was easy to read his lips.
I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but then he disappeared. Damn. How many appletinis had I had? Speaking of my drinks, the server walked up with her jaw hanging. “Here,” she said.
After taking my drink, I followed her gaze to find the asshole on the floor halfway across the room with Anthony standing over him.
Dr. Mason. Dr. Mason stood over him.
“What the hell?” I walked over with the server trailing behind me. When I got closer, I saw Anthony’s foot was planted firmly on the asshole’s neck. Even over the noise, I heard a low rumble come from Anthony, and it vibrated through me. He leaned over and said something in the guy’s ear. I couldn’t hear most of it until the end when he said, “...burn you to a crisp.”
I exchanged a glance with the server and realized Kaylee and Bri had walked up behind her. All three of them had matching shocked facial expressions.
“Are you okay?” Anthony put his hand on my arm and peered down at me. “Did he touch you?”
I shook my head and tried to remind myself that I was an independent woman who didn’t need a man to fight my battles.
But shit, seeing him scare the balls off of that guy had been so freaking hot. It set me all atingle. “I had it handled,” I said.
Anthony stepped back. “I’m going to pretend you said thank you.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But I had it handled.”
He rolled his eyes. “I have no doubt you could have taken care of yourself. But I happened to be here, so you didn’t have to.”
Anthony grabbed the guy by his shirt and yanked him to his feet. “Get the fuck out of here,” he said loudly enough for all of us to hear. The creep shot me a dark look before hurrying across the dance floor and out the front door.
“Can I buy you a drink?” Anthony asked.
I still had a full appletini in my hand, but after all that shit, I needed another. Throwing my head back, I downed the sweet, green drink and handed it to the server. “Okay. Buy me a drink.”
Anthony grinned and led the way over to the bar,