“Who do I need to hurt?” June’s glare bores through me. She’s ready to pounce and I adore how willing she is to defend my honor.
My body trembles with equal parts fear and adrenaline. I’ve never taken such a tone to Griffin before. He’s always the one dominating our conversations and doing his best to make me feel small. There’s something incredibly empowering about giving him a tiny taste of his own medicine.
The mixture of emotions is sobering, too. Despite the copious amount of alcohol running through my veins, everything has become crystal clear.
“My turn,” I say through a grin. I leave them behind and head through a swarm of people toward the bar to get our next round.
Three hours later, I’m quite literally falling off the pool table after Cora and Steff insisted that we dance on top of it.
Gentle but firm hands appear under my arms and lift me from the ground.
I open my blurry eyes and settle my sights on a beautifully broken man.
“Get the fuck off her,” Cora snaps and shoves the guy.
I swallow and blink, a pathetic attempt to stop the room from spinning out of control. Like I’m stuck in a low gravity situation, I pivot my head slowly around to piece together what’s happening. I must be really out of it if I’m hallucinating him.
“I’m trying to help.” He holds his palms up and out in front of him. “Why’d you let her get this drunk?”
Cora grips my shoulder and spins me toward her too fast. “Do you know this guy?”
I stumble and frantically fail at regaining my footing. I close my eyes and brace for impact on the floor, but it never comes. Instead, I’m caught by him again. I squint up at his bruised and busted face, noticing one of the freckles I had tried to wash away.
“What’s her name then, if you know her so well?” Cora pulls at me to break me away from him.
He parts his mouth, but nothing comes out.
“Johnny,” I whisper while raising my hand to his cheek to verify that he’s real.
He shifts his attention to me, his emerald eyes piercing through my soul. Is it the alcohol, or is he really this intense up close? It was one thing when he was in and out of consciousness from being beaten, it’s totally another while he’s fully alert.
“It’s me,” he assures me tenderly.
“Oh.” Cora blurts out. “Well, okay.”
Johnny turns back to the boss girl of our group. “I think she’s had enough for tonight.” He glances down at me. “Can you stand?”
I tilt my head. “I’m not already?”
He helps me onto solid ground, putting his arm around my torso to stabilize me. His fingers graze an exposed piece of my side, and my knees quite literally go weak.
“Come on, I’m taking you home.”