Chapter４

He grabbed my drink and raised it to his lips before I could flinch away. As he drank without asking, I stared at him in shock. He held on to my hand, squeezing my fingers around the rim of the cup.

A grimace formed on his face, and he lowered the sugary drink before I could respond angrily. The moment his fingers slid away from mine and he was able to place my cup on the high table beside me, I let out a sigh of relief.

"There's a good reason you're not even drinking that cheap shite: it tastes terrible. " The wrinkles appeared on his nose. "Look, I get that this joint is a dive, but they need to stock more booze. "

He raised his glass and extended his hand to me, urging me to imitate the flavor of his drink.

Before we could make physical contact, I quickly yanked my hand away. Not again did I want to feel his cold fingers pressing against mine. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Come on, Emily. Don't be that way."

I bit my lower lip together and shook my head, showing that I didn't give a hoot about what other people thought.

My attempts to stifle my unease were met with the reassurance that he was, after all, just flirting. My stomach was in knots because of his proprietary touches, but I knew that was silly.

Even as recently as last weekend, I had practically encircled him in passionate kisses. Not some creepy random guy, that one. I had no reason to take his proximity as anything other than assured flirtation.

I'd previously let him get me drunk, but this time I was much soberer. I had no desire to repeat either the experience or the subsequent terrible hangover.

"All right then." The man placed his beer can on the table. His grin persisted, and I mustered a grin of my own.

I didn't want fear to dictate my choices, and I knew I'd be kicking myself if I let my anxiety prevent me from accepting Stun's invitation to the club's farewell party. If I were to tell Ella, she'd be overjoyed. In order to dispel the strange feelings that were making me uneasy, I concentrated on my friend's joy.

Stun barged into my personal space and the stale beer smell washed over my face. my body reflexively retreated, causing me to collide with the barstool behind me. My legs gave out from under me and I staggered, but he caught my upper arms.

"Thanks," I managed to mumble out. I shifted again to get away, but he held on.

He leaned in close enough for his hot breath to fan over my lips and said, "I think you owe me a kiss." He had a smoky, alcoholic aroma.

I retorted, "I don't think so," going for a tone of firm assertiveness. As a result, the denial came out a little haltingly. Despite the fact that we'd shared a kiss before, I felt extremely uneasy with him so close and so insistently holding my arms.

"Don't act so arrogant! If you want it, you'll get it. "

My gut twisted in knots as my worry turned to outright terror. It wasn't just cocky attempts at flirtation. His hands were rough and grabbing as we kissed in a drunken haze, but I wasn't exactly at my best, either. His pawing had been written off by me as drunken clumsiness.

Whether was inebriated at the time, there was no justification for him to refer to me as a cocktease. The places on my upper arms where he kept his grasp made me squirm.

"you're incorrect. Don't give it to me. Please release me. "I twisted in an attempt to free myself from his grip, but he kept holding on. On the contrary, he leaned in closer.

"Put your hands down. "The deep, manly growl sounded threatening, and it made me flinch.

With keen eyes, I peered beyond Stun in quest of my rescuer. Nicola's eyes were a fiery blue, and they seared into the lad who had cornered me. My throat tightened, but his rage wasn't meant at me.

I was released by Stun so that he could confront Nicola. In a matter of seconds, I had placed some space between us, my back eventually colliding with the wall. Stun made a blatant territorial display by positioning his body in front of mine and preventing me from passing.

"Let her go! "A deep, threatening rumble characterized Nicola's tone of speech. Even though the preppy youngster was just over six feet tall, he towered over Stun by several inches. Nicola's rippling, amazing muscles trembled with barely contained anger.

Stun didn't back down because he was either too drunk to realize what he was doing or too stupid to care.

"fuck off"

Nicola was lightning fast, and his hands were wrapped in the front of Stun's shirt. He shoved the youngster against the wall and yanked him away from me, creating an awkward gap of several feet.

"Go!" he said with icy tone.

"You're kicked out. You'll have to answer to me if I see you in here again, or if you come anywhere near Emily. "