Page 70 of One of Them Girls

I walk toward the end of the bar, spotting her instantly.

Fuck, does she take my breath away. She’s a walking wet dream. In a black, lace dress that barely covers her ass, her legs look sexy as fuck. She has her hair curled, falling across her back, ending just above the hem of her dress. Her tan legs peek at me between the material of her dress and her high, cowgirl boots. She looks like she just stepped out of a country music video.

The group she’s with burst out with laughter, shaking me from the trance she pulled me under.

Walking up to her, I let my hand fall to the small of her back as I whisper in her ear, “Fuck, you look sexy as hell right now. I could just eat you up.”

She stiffens. “Xavier, what are you doing here?”

Her voice is emotionless, which tells me that look I saw earlier was something.

“Tinsley invited you to come with us. You said you were busy.” I can feel myself getting defensive.

Why is she acting like this?

“I guess I just assumed this wasn’t her scene.” She gestures to the table that has gotten eerily quiet.

“Can we go somewhere to talk?” I change tactics.

“Nope, I’m busy. Run back off to your little girlfriend,” she dismisses me, turning back to her friends.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her my girlfriend is sitting in front of me, but before I can say a word, one of the guys from the table stands up, offering his hand to her.

“I would love to dance, Ian,” she answers his unasked question, getting up from her stool.

Seeing her hand in his snaps something inside of me. Before I know what I’m doing, I pull her from his grip, placing my body in front of hers.

“Get your hand off my girl,” I grit out.

“Sounds like she doesn’t want to be your girl anymore. Take the hint, buddy.” He tries to step around me, but I sidestep to block him.

Cassi pushes me back. “Get away from me, asshole.”

“No,” I say over my shoulder. “You’re not going with him.”

“Oh, and who is going to stop me?”

“Me. Your boyfriend. Now we need to talk.” I turn, facing her, but her face is pure fury.

“I’m not going anywhere with you and you’re not my boyfriend. You made that abundantly clear earlier with your size two model.”

Fuck, she’s feisty when mad, but I’m not deterred.

“That’s not what that was. We need to talk.”

The man, Ian, reaches around me, gripping Cassi’s arm, pulling her around me.

I don’t hesitate. I let the red take over, throwing my fist until it connects with his face.

Within seconds, he goes to swing back, hitting my cheek. I don’t hesitate, surging forward until I see Cassie step between us. I stop immediately, but he doesn’t. He continues forward, swinging as he comes.

I see the second he realizes that Cassi is screaming in front of him, but he can’t stop his momentum.

I can, though. I pull her into me, turning, feeling his fist connect with the side of my head. My ear rings as I keep her in my arms, shielding her with my body.

Then a bouncer is beside me, pulling me away. She walks behind us screaming as I’m pulled from the bar.

Outside, they separate us, telling us both to chill out while they figure out what happened.

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