wants attention. If I ignore him, he'll leave me alone.
Except he doesn't. His finger dips forward onto my chest, and reaches under my halter top and down onto the top of my breast. I jerk away violently and turn to scream at him that he's a pervert and an asshole, when I see him grinning at me.
“Is that how you like it, princess?” he drawls. “Soft and gentle? Or perhaps a little rougher? Yeah, I think it's more fun that way too. When we get to San Jose, I'll take you up to my suite and I'll show you how to have a good time.”
I gape at him, and look wildly around to see if there is anybody listening, or if there's anyplace else to go—but the bus is full, and of course everyone is just minding their own business. “Look, sir,” I say firmly. “That's never going to happen. Don't talk to me, don't touch me,” I repress a shudder. “Just leave me the fuck alone. Okay?”
“I brought some toys,” he continues as if I hadn't said a thing. “Always do, on trips like these. You never know what kind of girls you're going to meet. You look like you'd be into—”
“Hey babe,” Jess interrupts, leaning over my seat. “Have you cooled off? Are we over our fight now? Because I forgive you if you forgive me.”
I look up at him, my eyes wide.
“Why don't you come sit with me, honey?” Jess says. “You know, over there?” He points at the seat next to his, which is miraculously still available.
“Hey now,” sailboat cover salesman protests. “She has a seat.”
“Thanks for keeping my girlfriend company,” Jess says smoothly. “You know how these little tiffs can be. But are we all good now, sweetie-baby?”
I finally get it. “Yes! Yes, I forgive you. I'm sorry I was mad. Let's go sit back there.” I scramble out of my seat, and Jess grabs my bag. I shuffle down the aisle—I'm still wearing Jess's flip-flops, I realize—as quickly as I can, and step aside to give Jess his window seat back.
He hands me my bag, and we sit together silently for a moment.
“Um, thanks for that,” I say. “That guy was extremely creepy.”
“Yeah, well, I'd rather have punched him, or watched you slap him, or something,” Jess grumbles. “But I figured the best way to get through this as quickly as possible was to play the boyfriend. Guys like that are pretty much all talk, and they'll back down if another guy steps in. I hope you don't mind,” he finished awkwardly. “It just seemed like the best way to get you out of there.”
“No, of course, it's fine.” I sigh regretfully. “I'd liked to have slapped him—I should have slapped him. Or punched him. Or thrown him off the bus. I just kind of froze.” I bite my lip. It's what I always seem to do. “I would've thought I was tougher than that.”
Jess shrugs. “You looked pretty freaked. Which makes sense—I bet you don't really encounter a lot of guys like that.” I snort. If only that were the case.
“Well. Thanks for rescuing me, anyway.” I look around the bus. “Not like anybody else was jumping at the chance.”
“No problem,” Jess nods, and smiles at me sideways. “Sweetie-baby.”
I laugh, and shake my head. Jess gives me a we're-cool nod, and turns back to staring out the window.
It's weird. I go to an all-girls school (private, with appropriately slutty uniforms and no one to show them off for, of course), I get picked up after school, and I immediately go home. I don't have a whole lot of normal, day-to-day type experience with guys. Not that I think Jess is your average guy, by any means. Apart from the unfortunate style choices, the idiot really seems to have a thing for picking fights in public places, he's traveling across the country with only eighty dollars to his name, and yet he spent what I can only assume was a fair percentage of his travel savings doing shots at the seediest-looking bar in Santa Barbara. And missed his bus on account of it.
Dude clearly has issues. And so while I might be feeling somewhat warmly toward him on account of the rescuing that, come to think of it, I totally didn't need—I was like half a second away from taking out that toy-toting sailboat cover-selling asswipe—it's clear that Jess just wants to stare out the window at the fascinating dead brown grass of California.