“Come on.”
“No. Let go of me.”
“Or what?”
I punched him in the nose with my free hand—my left wasn’t as strong but it did the job—stomped on his foot, kneed him in the balls, and then elbowed him in the jaw, just for fun.
“Don’t touch women without consent, asshole.”
He hit the ground, so I threw in an abdominal kick for good measure.
“Damn.” I turned to find Avalanche grinning at me. “I was coming to lend a hand, but clearly you got it handled.”
“Sure,nowyou want to be Prince Charming.”
His grin widened. I rolled my eyes. He couldn’t help me with all the muggers that crossed me while he insisted on walking me home but now he wanted to play hero? Sounded about right.
“I have a table, if you want to join me.”
Okay, so maybe hewasmy hero.
I nodded for him to lead the way—the crowd was already engulfing the asshole on the ground, his cries drowned out by the music. Avalanche’s high-top table was in the back corner. Everyone was steering clear, so it was the only place in the whole bar that had breathing room. He had a drink that looked like coke on one side and some kind of blue drink on the other.
“Cozy.”
“I got you a blue raspberry margarita. I knew you liked tequila, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted shots again. Figured this was a safer bet.”
He needed to stop doing nice things for me. This was so far past falling in love territory. I was going to end up with a shattered heart.
“Why blue raspberry?”
He shrugged. “For a girl whose name is purple, you have a suspicious amount of blue.”
Case in point, the blouse I was wearing under all the layers I was working off now that I was inside.
“Very observant. Careful there, Av, or I might think you have a crush on me.”
“Av?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Eva called you that last night, thought I would try it out. Didn’t feel right. Probably won’t be doing that again. But I’ll need something to call you when we’re out in the world, since you insist on spending so much time with me.”
I paused to study him while I sat and took a drink. His hair was still shaggy, falling into his eyes to keep the general public from noticing how blue they were. He wore a white t-shirt, dark-blue jeans, and combat boots. Something in the back of my mind was saying Austin, but I ignored it.
“I think I’ll go with Blondie, since you love it so much.”
He rolled his eyes, sliding into his seat across from me.
“I’m not blond.”
“What do you have against blonds? Did one break your heart?” I was teasing, but he didn’t seem to like that very much. Subject change. “Anyway, what brings you here? I was only supposed to meet Eva.”
“I’m here every night. You seem to forget that this ismyhang-out spot.”
“You seem to forget that I followed you around for weeks. You’re never here this early.”
“Oh, right.” His grin was wicked as he took a sip of his drink. “My biggest fan.”
“You wish.” I scoffed.
