Hanging On (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2)(55)

“Oh yeah, thanks for ratting me out,” Ty said, looking odd without Candace leaning against his body. The two were freaking inseparable. Which was only cute when you were in high school.

At the bar we did an easy shot, and ordered a Tequila for Adam and the boys. We figured we’d give Claire a fighting chance. Being that Adam was only tipping into drunk, and Claire was firmly entrenched, she didn’t complain.

“Wow, your dresses are so pretty!” Candace said.

“Do you ever have anything negative to say?” Jane asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Excuse Jane, she is a bit snarky lately,” I tempered.

“And horny. Where did Brad go?” Flem asked.

“He got stuck down at the lower bar with Jim,” Candace made a big show of choking down her shot. “I heard about you girls from the bouncer, then from every single guy that greeted Ty and I on the way up. And they were right, you girls are knock-outs!”

“Nice to know we’ve been talked about!” Lump beamed.

“Let’s go earn our reputation. Dance!” Jane retorted.

We towed Candace to the dance floor, assuring her that Ty would hear where we went from everyone else, then see her from the railing. The fog had come in, and I wasn't at all sure what was going on. I did recognize that the good sir bouncer helped us down the stairs. We were all clutching him and giggling. He probably never had so many girls grabbing onto him at one time. He tried to look all serious the whole time, but that crack in his crater face, when we all reached the bottom and each gave him a kiss on the cheek, gave him away.

Once on the dance floor, we did some moves that would probably make us sore in the morning. I got my ass grabbed, twice, and I took it as a tribute to my hard work at the gym. Caring was too hard, and I was too drunk. Especially because Lump took it as a green light to punch him in the stomach and then kiss him on the cheek to make the “I just got beat up by a girl” pill go down easier.

It was all going swimmingly for a while. For a while being the operative words.

I knew there was trouble when I saw Adam, William, Moose and Ty heading toward us on the dance floor with warrior faces. William, I knew, was way over protective these days, and Moose and Adam would get riled up if any of our feminine crew was in dire straits, but Ty wasn’t prone to overreaction. Him pissed meant there was real trouble.

I stopped and looked around me. Claire and Flem were with me. The others weren’t.

Where the hell did Lump go?

I couldn’t remember how long it was since she was dancing next to me.

I threaded my way through the grinding bodies in the direction the boys were headed. It wasn’t until I was nearly on the opposite side of the dance floor that I saw more guys from our party. Names unknown. Mostly.

The main focus was Lump, who was talking animatedly to three guys. Candace was trying to get her shirt straightened out, tears streaming down her face, and Jane was rubbing her backside with a helluva scowl. Looks like someone got grabby and Lump was sorting it out before the bouncers got there. No new news.

I headed over, even though I wouldn’t be helpful or needed, and even though I would have rather just kept dancing. Claire and Flem, having followed me, shrugged and followed along, even though they were probably also thinking this was something for the bouncers to deal with instead of us.

Speaking of, where were the bouncers? In L.A., bouncers would be swarming the floor by now. Men were the same in any town, but they acted less foul if they didn't think they could get away with it. It seemed as though here they obviously could.

Which meant it gave Adam, Moose, William and Ty, not to mention all their friends, which numbered a great few, reason to fight.

The last thing a bunch of drunk men needed was a reason to fight.

Claire saw it, too. “Not good, Jess!” she yelled over the music. “We shouldn’t make it worse.”

There was already a crowd gathering when we got within arm’s reach and saw that the star attraction was the guy that groped me earlier.

“Gonna be a fight, Jess,” Claire warned.

“What do we do?” I shouted.

Lump was wasted. She could barely stand. Which meant she was very low on control. Which meant a fight could really, seriously end in permanent damage to whoever touched her. Worse if someone touched any of us. Not good.

What made it worse still was that Candace was crying. You get a lot of drunk, pissed off men together and add a crying girl that has been sexually wronged somehow, then add her boyfriend to the mix...oh man. I wanted to get out of there. Back to a booth and a beer. Or a bed.

I was way too drunk for this. We all were.

And here came the cavalry. Adam walked up right behind Lump, grabbed her by her shoulders as he had done to me once, and put her behind him as he might an oversized doll. She said “hey!” or something to that effect, but was too drunk to do much about it.

Flem and I stepped up, Claire guarding us from whoever was behind.

"What happened?" I asked, desperate to be heard over the loud music. I wanted a quick risk assessment, to collect Jane and Candace, and to get the hell out of there.

Lump answered, "That ass**le guy pulled your friend’s shirt down and grabbed her tit. What a dick! He was obviously looking for a fight, though. Where the hell are the bouncers?"

Adam was yelling something. We all turned our attention that way. The muscles in Adam’s shoulders, back and arms were rippling, tensing for action. William was pushed in beside him, putting himself into the fight, with an equally hard and delicious physique. I didn’t know Adam too well, but William I did, and he was two seconds from caving someone’s head in.