Before I could bite his head off, I caught an orange blur in my periphery. It was Garrett’s has-been, leaning in on Lily like he had a broken leg and she was a set of crutches. She looked surprised to have his arm around her, like she wasn’t quite sure how it had happened. But in true small-town-girl style, she still had a strained smile on her face. Halley would have decked the asshole and rammed a heel into his insole by now.
“Garrett,” I said, my voice a growl.
“Keep telling yourself that then,” he said, throwing his hands up. “See if I fucking care.”
“Garrett,” I repeated, stepping around him. I had it in mind to tell him to get his client under control, but my body wasn’t willing to wait. My fists bunched up, the tension running all the way up the length of my arms, into my shoulders. I felt spring loaded as I moved toward Lily and the jerk wad who had his forehead leaning against her temple. He was whispering, and she was wincing. Likely at the smell of his breath, but maybe by what he was saying.
The idea of him talking to her like she was one of those sad, groupie girls who clung to anyone who was even halfway famous infuriated me, taking me from a level seven to a level ten so quickly I didn’t process the escalation. I just reached out. My hand clamped down on his shoulder, fingers digging in like a bear trap. My other arm was cocked back, seemingly of its own accord.
“Con!” Lily gasped as I jerked the asshole away and angled myself between them.
“Con!” Garrett yelled in unison with her, finally realizing what was happening. Both he and Lily grabbed me before I could do anything else. He had me by the crook of the elbow, she was holding the tense arm that was still holding onto the other man. I had her worried face on one side and Garrett’s concerned one on the other, but I had tunnel vision. All I could see was the asshole in front of me. His eyes were bleary, and he had a dopey smile on his face.
“No harm done, no harm done,” he kept saying, trying to raise both his hands up, palms out. “I didn’t know she was yours.”
Offended, Lily started to explain to him that women weren’t property, but I didn’t want to muddy the waters. Guys like this needed things to be black and white.
“Well she fucking is,” I said. “And if you ever touch her again, I’ll rearrange your face so badly you’ll need new headshots.”
“And you really can’t afford them right now,” Garrett said quietly. “So come on, man. Let’s get you home, all right?”
“No harm done,” the guy repeated as Garrett led him off. “I didn’t know. No harm done.”
I watched him go, half hoping he’d make a break for it so I’d have a reason to deck him and release the tension that was immobilizing my body. And also so that I didn’t have to look back at Lily, whose gaze was a blue beam in my periphery. When Garrett and his actor disappeared into the throng, I had no choice.
As I expected, her eyes were filled with confusion, and there was a question on her lips.
“I’m taking you home,” I said roughly, finishing my beer in one quick gulp and slamming the pint glass down on the table. Fuck, if Garrett and Lily hadn’t stopped me, I’d have smashed it into the asshole’s face. Half of me couldn’t believe I’d lost control like that. The other part of me still wasn’t sure I’d regained it.
Lily arched one golden brow and said acidly, “As I was explaining to the other guy, women aren’t property. I’ll go home when I feel like going home.” She started to turn away.
Frustrated, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back around, careful to keep my grip loose. She could pull away if she wanted. But she came willingly, even if there was blue fire in her eyes now.
“Lily, I’m leaving because I don’t want to spend another second surrounded by assholes like the one I just pulled off you. And you’re going with me because there’s no way in hell I’m leaving you here alone.”
When I’d pulled her around, I’d unconsciously pulled her up against me. I could feel her chest rising and falling in quick, tremorous bursts, like she was angry. Or excited. Her gaze had fallen to the hollow of my throat, and the pressure of it felt like it was strangling me. I should let her go. I had to let her go. Even if it meant she refused to leave, and I had to stay in this fucking bar all night to make sure no one else bothered her. I couldn’t keep holding onto her like this.
Finally, she tipped her head back and looked up into my face, but the pressure in my chest didn’t ease. “I don’t want you to leave me here alone,” she said quietly.
I wanted to pretend like I didn’t know what she was saying, but I couldn’t. Blame it on the beer or the adrenaline or the fucking dress she was wearing, I couldn’t keep lying to myself, much less her.
I had to have her.