Page 24 of Gravity of Love
“You’rehere!” a woman shrieked.
Liam turned as Poppy was wrapping her arms around his neck.
When she pulled back, she was smiling from ear to ear. “How long have you been here? I was just about to leave. I’m on at six tomorrow.” She blew a raspberry and gave two thumbs down.
The response to her start time and her breath were two clues telling him there was no way she was getting behind the wheel of a car. “I’ll take you home.”
She shook her head and shoved her phone in his face, so close he couldn’t actually see what was on the screen. He gently moved her hand.
“Uber will be here in two minutes.” She put up a peace sign, replacing where her phone had just been. “But…” She tried to snap with the fingers that had just been in a V formation but failed. Badly. “Can you make sure Frankie gets home? Tiana and Jenna already left because they both have to get up early too. And now I’m leaving, but she’s still dancing. I couldn’t make her leave, and she’s hada lottodrink.” Poppy mimed drinking, then placed her hands together as she begged him. “Can you take care of her, please?!”
“Yes, I’ll take care of her.” She didn’t have to beg or even ask. There was no way Liam wouldn’t have made sure Frankie got home safely.
“Thank you! You are the best big brother ever! Isn’t he the best?” she asked Alani, then tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows. “I don’t know you. Who are you?”
“Alani,” she replied.
“Oh. Hi.” Poppy smiled, then looked up at Liam, cupped her hands around her mouth, and whisperedveryloudly, “She’shot. Do you like her?”
Liam noticed the notification that Poppy’s Uber had arrived, which appeared because her phone was held near her mouth as she tried to be discreet.
“Come on.” He put his arm around his sister’s back and started to guide her towards the door.
Poppy twisted her upper body so she was looking over her shoulder as she waved back at Alani. “Bye, Hot Girl!”
Liam managed to get his sister outside and into the Uber. He made a note of the driver, and his car’s license andloudlytold Poppy that he had shared her location with himself and to text him when she got home safely. Liam was sure that the guy was perfectly aboveboard, but it was never a bad idea to take extra precautions.
He watched them drive away and wondered what had caused Poppy to drink so much. In all the years they’d known each other, which, granted, had only been around eight, she’d never been drunk like this.
By the time Liam made his way back into JT’s, Frankie was no longer in the cluster of dancers. Secure in the knowledge there was no way she could have left because he would have seen her, he scanned the room and came up with nothing.
Bathrooms. That was the only place she could have gone. He began to make his way to the hallway when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red hair. He looked, and sure enough, she was at the bar with a guy who had the aura of frat-boy entitlement he could smell from across the room.
Frat Boy grabbed a round of shots he’d ordered and then tried to press one into Frankie’s hand. She shook her head, tucking her arm behind her back with a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. At her refusal the shithead leaned in and triedagain, and this time she accepted just long enough to set the drink on the bar untouched with him watching to prove her point.
Liam had a feeling this was going to go south quickly, and he was quite a distance away from her. His height gave him an aerial advantage, but his size didn’t make it easy for him to get through crowded spaces without making a lot of people pissed. Anger was not great when combined with alcohol and a fragile-male-ego trying to impress women. It was almost always a recipe for disaster.
He moved as quickly as possible without causing a World War III of dick-swinging contests. As he did, Liam could see the douche bag’s moves with surgical clarity. He was working his way through every trick in the Me Too Starter Handbook: the lean-in, the hand on the small of the back, and the “accidentally” brushing his arm against her boobs. Each time Frankie countered with a sidestep, a raised eyebrow, or a block followed by a pointed glance at her phone.
Her reactions only turned him on, which was exactly how these jackasses operated. It was all a game to them. Frat Boy edged closer, his hand now resting possessively on her lower back. Frankie attempted to move away without making a scene, but the guy just grinned and doubled down, saying something into her ear that made her entire body stiffen.
That’s when Liam’s vision narrowed with blind rage. All he could see was that jackass’s head which he planned to put through the wall. His pulse jumped, and he didn’t give a shit who he pissed off. He shouldered his way through the crowd, quickly closing the gap with the kind of purposeful gait that made people instinctively step aside. He was two body lengths away when the guy’s hand slid down and squeezed Frankie’s ass like it belonged to him.
Liam’s fists balled of their own accord. He was ready to separate the man’s teeth from his mouth, but Frankie beat him to the punch. Literally. It happened in one crisp, beautiful motion—she spun on her heel and drilled the guy in the solar plexus with the point of her elbow first and then followed up with a right jab. Frat Boy doubled over, and Liam watched all the air whoosh from his lungs.
Frankie wasn’t done. She reached up, grabbed a fistful of his hair, and yanked his head down so their faces were level. Liam arrived just in time to hear her say, “If you ever touch another woman without her consent,” every word clear and sharp even though she was slurring, “I will break every bone in yourfuckingbody.” She let him go with a flick of her wrist, wiping her hand on her jeans as if she’d handled raw chicken.
Then, as if nothing at all had happened, she spun back to the bar, signaling for a drink as Frat Boy gasped for air.
He was just about to tap Frankie on the shoulder and tell her,It was probably time to go, Rocky, when one of the bartenders appeared. Liam had heard some people calling her Shelby. He couldn’t hear Frankie’s side of the exchange since her back was to him, but Shelby clearly suggested that she have water. Frankie replied, and then Shelby made it clear all she would be serving her was water. When he heard Shelby saying she’d be calling her a ride when she was ready to go, he stepped in.
“Don’t worry about it.” He leaned past Frankie. “I’ve got her.”
Shelby eyed him suspiciously, and rightfully so, then looked back at Frankie. “Do you know him?”
Frankie looked up at Liam. Her eyes widened, and she blinked. She reached up and touched his face, as if she thought he wasn’t real. When her palm barely brushed his cheek she pulled her hand back like she’d touched a hot stove and gasped.
“Frankie?” Shelby leaned over the bar. “Are you okay?!”
