Page 3 of Sky Full of Stars

“You’re definitely not a dog,” he agrees, as he looks me up and down again. “Nice shirt. You’re into Alice in Chains?”

I roll my eyes and he chuckles. The waitress returns with two bottles and he hands me one. I take it, he takes a seat in an empty booth and looks at me questioningly. I heave out a sigh and take a seat, as far away from him as I can. He slides closer and I scowl, taking a long swig of the beer. It’s cold and feels good going down. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

His face turns serious as he gets a good look at my knuckles. “Shit,” he says, taking it in his larger hand, gently touching the skin.

I look down at my bruised and swollen knuckles. It was nothing new, although I hadn’t punched bare knuckle in a while. I pull my hand back. “It’s fine,” I say, although now he’s pointed it out, I realise it hurts. When he gets up and heads to the bar, I watch curiously. He returns with a cloth full of ice and presses it to my knuckles.

“Is this a usual Friday night for you, breaking guys noses?”

“Only when I find them finger fucking someone else.”

He blows out a low whistle. I immediately regret speaking and lower my head in shame. How stupid am I not to know what Lance is like? How many other girls has he done this with? How much further has he gone? I feel sick.

He puts his hand on my back and strokes up and down. I would usually have jumped up and told him not to touch me, but his touch is reassuring, it feels nice, and I’m tired and finally crashing from the surge of adrenalin. I close my eyes and lean forward.

“What’s your name Slugger?”

He doesn’t look like he’s taking pity on me, he looks like the story I told him is nothing out of the ordinary to him.

“I’m Adam,” he says as he pulls his hand from my back and holds it out.

“Jenna,” I say eventually, I let him shake my hand, he’s gentle with it.

“Nice to meet you Jenna,” he smiles and his face, if it’s possible, becomes even more handsome. He has one dimple on his left cheek and I stare at it. “I’m genuinely impressed with that punch.”

“I box,” I tell him and his brows rise. “Don’t look so surprised,” I say. “Women box.”

He nods. “Self-defence, that’s good.”

“No, not self-defence. I box at a boxing gym, my friend owns it, he trains MMA fighters.”

“Seriously?”

I frown at him. He holds up his hands in defence of his scepticism. “Remind me to stay on your good side.”

“Give me my phone back and you will.”

He looks down at it, like he’d forgotten he still had it. It vibrates in his hand again. “Lance is worried about you, he wants to know where you are,” he shows me the text on the screen.

“Screw him,” I mutter, drinking more of the beer.

“That’s the spirit.”

“Hey,” a man in the booth besides us leans over and shouts to Adam. “We’re heading out in ten, you coming?”

“In a sec,” he calls back.

That is my cue to leave. I put my drink on the table and stand. I press the ice to my knuckles a few seconds longer then put that down too. “Thanks for your help, and the beer.” I took my phone from him before he could stop me.

“Wait,” he says, standing too. “Let me at least walk you out, get you a cab. I don’t feel comfortable letting you leave on your own.”

“No need,” I say and walk away. “I can take care of myself,” I hold up my injured hand.

“You think you can punch with that again?” He follows me anyway, opening the rope for me. He puts a hand at the small of my back, gently guiding me. There is no point arguing, he wouldn’t hear me anyway. I give in and let him take me outside.

He nods at the bouncers, one of whom half follows us on to the sidewalk, looking shocked and annoyed. Maybe he recognised me as the one causing fights and wanted to kick me out, instead of letting this guy do it. My phone rings drawing my focus away. Lance.

“Shit.”

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