No Attachments - By Tiffany King Page 0,68

way of finding guys who don't match your personality, but we just need to change that. First things first: Your date with Captain Jackass out there is over."

She looked at me incredulously.

"What?" I asked, wondering if I'd stepped over the invisible friendship line and pissed her off.

"Nothing. I've just never seen you like this. Usually you seem so even-tempered. You're almost a badass."

"When it comes to my friends, you should know, I can be a complete bitch. It was all I could do to bite my tongue when you were with Jackson, but I knew there was a history there. You don't owe this monkey-ball-licker out there anything. I—"

My next words were cut off as she threw her arms around my neck. "I seriously love you. I'm so glad you moved here," she said, giving me a smacking kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too, but I don't swing from that tree," I teased, linking my elbow through hers. "Let's go get you out of this date from hell."

Neither of the guys were talking by the time we reached the table. I had the distinct impression that wasn't the case the whole time we were gone. Judging by the scowl on Travis's face and the smirk of satisfaction on Nathan, something had gone down in our absence.

"We have to go," I said to Nathan, keeping my arm linked through Tressa's. "Tressa's not feeling good," I lied. Nathan jumped up without hesitation, obviously eager to leave.

"What the fuck? Your friends show up and you're suddenly ready to bail," Travis said, reaching out to snag her wrist. "I'm not ready for the night to be over."

"I am. This was a joke," she said with some of the fire I was used to seeing as she jerked her wrist from his hand.

Tressa and I grabbed our purses and turned to leave with Nathan trailing behind us.

"I'm proud of you," I said, giving her a one-armed hug as we headed across the dance floor toward the exit.

"Yeah, but now I have to face him twice a week in class. That ought to be fun," she said sarcastically.

"He'll probably ignore you," I said as someone stepped in front of us, abruptly cutting us off. I was startled to see that it was Travis.

"Babe, don't leave. We were just starting to have fun before your friends showed up," he cajoled, shooting a disdainful look my way. "Stay for a while," he pleaded, grabbing her hand again.

"Look, Travis, you're a nice enough guy, but I just don't see things working for us," Tressa said, tugging on her hand.

"Why, because your morbid bitch friend shows up and convinces you to leave," he snarled, tightening his hold on her wrist.

His comment seemed to start a ripple effect. Tressa may allow guys to treat her like a doormat, but she was obviously over it. She thrust her knee up into the poor bastard's groin, just as a fist streaked out from behind us, connecting with his jaw. Travis dropped at our feet in a matter of seconds after the confrontation had started.

The funny thing is no one around us seemed to miss a beat as they continued to dance around Travis lying on the ground. We didn't stick around for questions as Nathan propelled Tressa and me out of the club.

"Dude, your fist came out of nowhere," Tressa crowed as we stepped out into the brisk night.

Nathan merely nodded his head, not saying anything. It was hard for me to get a read on whether he was mad at Travis for his comment or at himself for hitting him.

"You both were pretty awesome coming to my defense like that," I said, trying to smooth things over.

"As if I'd let some dick talk smack about one of my besties," Tressa said, glancing at Nathan who was walking several paces ahead of us. She sent me a questioning look, but I shrugged my shoulders. This brooding side of him was something new to me.

"You just have to remember that attitude if he tries to give you any shit at school," I said, acting like everything was fine.

"I will. Something in there made me snap. I'm not going to be a doormat anymore. I want a relationship where the guy is willing to punch some dude in the face to defend my honor," she said, making it clear that Nathan could do no wrong in her eyes now.

It was on the edge of my tongue to tell her Nathan and I weren't in