Hanging On (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2)(53)

I yelled for Lump and pushed at the red faced dumb-ass in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jane throw an elbow. The guy that grabbed my butt was now trying to push against me, his hands working their way up my legs. I couldn't get myself turned around to shove him off, and fought with a different guy that was trying to dance with me from my front, so I loudly asked Lump what the status was. I was not intending for the yuck-up behind me to get a proper feel up my dress. My foot would connect with a room full of balls before that happened.

I saw William struggling to get in, and realized he would not think this was standard practice. Especially with my history. If I didn't want to have to kick someone in the balls, I really didn't want to have to bail him out of prison for kicking someone in the head.

I gave the guy in front of me a good shove, no longer waiting for Lump-the-Hero. I helped Jane push hers off, then we tried to confront the idiot wanting to cop a feel. Lump was with us a second later, a guy rolling around on the ground in her wake. The guy behind me was ripped away, a loud grunt sounding before he hit the deck. Lump wiped her hands on her dress. Apparently the offending moron had been sweaty. Gross.

The great thing about a girl kicking the shit out of some trashy guy was that everyone applauded and no one got in trouble. Especially when that someone was as efficient at it as Lump was.

We pushed through the rest of the crowd, running smack into the wall of William, Adam and Moose. Lump pushed Jane and I away and starting pushing and turning the boys. One minute Adam was charging past her, the next he was walking the other direction, his eyes scrunched up in confusion, with no idea how he got there.

I grabbed William, pleading that I was alright. It wasn’t the time for a flashback.

Moose was held back by his girlfriend and Jane working together. Adam was blinking down at Lump, who was still trying to get him to walk away.

William’s face cleared a little, seeing I was okay. He allowed me to turn him, his anger kept in check by strength of will and reason. Also by Moose clapping him on the back and saying next time they’d be quicker.

Whatever worked.

Adam and Lump didn’t move. They were having a stare down. I could see Adam was really pissed off that a girl man-handled him.

She was glaring back, mad that he was so dense and wouldn't just do as instructed. It was unusual for a man to stand up to her, as odd as that sounded. She was usually so laid back that when she did assert her stead-fast, bull-headed, do-as-you-are-told side, guys and gals alike, old or young, it didn’t matter, usually reacted exactly as she meant them to. Her friends included. It took a lot to rile her, but when she was, she usually had infallible logic. Ass backwards, sometimes, so I thought, but she’d gotten me out of plenty of sticky situations so I didn’t question.

Adam looked over her shoulder and saw that the dude was looking around him for whoever attacked him. That would have been Lump’s guy. He looked straight at Adam, who reacted by quickly moving Lump out of the line of fire. Wrong move. Icould see the anger creeping up from her toes, tensing every muscle as it passed to her eyes, which shot venom.

This was starting to be a good show.

"This is the wrong time to have a battle of the wills." William said, reading my mind but coming up with a different conclusion.

I could hear Moose chuckling. “About time a girl finally called him out.”

“Yeah, but he's gonna end up outside fighting,” William responded.

“Hell, that’d be fun, too. I’m sure there'll be enough to go around!”

Boys!

Lump was now pulling Adam's hand to try and get him to leave the dance floor. She was a strong woman with a lot of training, and she was using her leverage to get him off balance. Adam was an even stronger man, though, used to bulls and horses and God knew what. He wouldn't budge.

His head bent down intimately, looking deep into her eyes, and said something.

She jolted back, hand coming to her chest like a chick. After stared at him for a moment, she flung his hand away and stomped off the dance floor.

Apparently Adam hadn’t whispered sweet nothings.

He turned back to the joker, stared at him a second longer, all his muscles taught with tension, daring action, before calmly turning and following us off the dance floor. He'd pissed her off just to assert his manliness. Whadda douche!

Men really knew how to ruin a good time. If penises weren’t so fun, I’d have the whole lot of ‘em removed.

Lump reached us in a cloud of red. Without an upward glance, she swooshed past and away toward the front entryway. She’d get herself a beer, hang out for a while and calm down, then be good as gold. She knew how to get herself back to her happy place, and preferred to do it alone.

The next person to pass in a whirl, though a much less impressive one because he wasn’t wearing a flowing dress, was Adam. He watched Lump go with calculating eyes, but he didn’t follow. Instead, he met Claire and Flem at the stairs and held out his arms. They were happier to grab on than to ask what happened, and away they went.

“Well,” I said to those around me, "that was eventful.”

Moose laughed. “You sure got colorful friends. I’ll say that much. Shouldn’t you go check on…what’s her name? Lump?”

He knew her name! He was just hamming it up for his girlfriend!

And by the look on her face, and how she followed Lump with her head, she knew it. Big mistake Moose!