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“Absolutely.” She was good company, but I was pretty much done socializing for the night.
“You probably get up early with your kid, huh?”
I nodded. “Yep. Pretty early.”
She poked her lip out. “Bummer. Well, if you ever go to a playground at a reasonable time, text me. I don’t get to swing as much as I’d like since an adult hanging around playgrounds without a kid gets side-eyed.”
I snorted into my drink again. Meeting Adelaide tonight made all the awkwardness with Natalie and Marissa worth it.
I took a long swallow of my margarita while Adelaide started talking to the group of girls behind her about...well, something. I couldn’t quite hear over the rising din of conversation and music clouding the air.
Someone grazed my back, bumping me forward. I leaned my elbows on the bar to get out of their way and set my glass down. I took a deep breath and froze. My nose and throat were coated with cloying, heavy cologne so familiar to me, I didn’t even have to look to know who’d sidled up beside me.
Edwin brushed my hair aside and placed his lips right next to my ear. “Hey, mami. What are you doing here?”
“I’m leaving, actually. Sorry.”Shit, I had to stop apologizing!
“Come on.” He gripped the back of my elbow. “Stay. I never get to talk to you.”
His lips grazed my ear, and my stomach lurched. I really didn’t like this man.
“Back up please.” I hated that I couldn’t make myself sound more forceful. I felt it. In my head, I was wielding a sword and shield, releasing a battle cry that put dread in my enemies.
“Aw, mami.” His hand slid from my arm to my back, tracing down my spine. “We could be good friends. The best friends. I don’t know why you keep being so stuck up. I’m a good guy. I’ll take care of you...in every way.”
I’d had enough. His rape-y flirtation had been going on for two long years. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I turned him down. He wasn’t getting it, or he chose not to.
“You don’t even know me,” I said.
His head cocked. He hadn’t heard that from me before. “I know all about you. You’re sweet and shy. Some men might be turned off by that, but I think it’s sexy as hell.”
“What’s my son’s name?”
That seemed to stump him, but not for long. “Details, baby. I’ll get to know him in time. He needs a man around the house to show him things.”
His hand inched lower and lower until he was fully palming my ass. Bile rose in my throat, and I lurched sideways to escape him, but he only pressed closer, trapping me against the bar.
“Oh yeah, that’s nice. Nice and thick,” he purred like a fucking lecherous cat.
I shoved at his arm and whispered for him to stop, but he was enjoying taking liberties with my body too much to even give one iota of a damn about my reaction.
Suddenly, Edwin’s head was slammed down on the bar beside me. A massive hand gripped the back of his neck, holding him immobilized.
It happened so fast, I whipped around to face the attacker, and the air was sucked from my lungs. Callum’s face was etched in fury, the razor-sharp planes of his jaw and cheeks strained, his eyes narrowed into angry slits. His wrath wasn’t aimed at me, but I staggered back anyway, my spine colliding with the bar.
“Don’t touch her,” Callum gritted.
Edwin’s arm flailed, harmlessly bouncing off Callum. He changed tactics, clawing at the hand holding his nape like a vise. “Man, get off me. I’ll kill you!”
“You don’t get to touch her.” He bent over Edwin and drove his elbow deep into his spine. “You won’t have hands if Ieversee you try to put them on her. You won’t have legs if you ever try to walk close to her. I will feed your tongue to the feral cats who live in my alley if I catch you talkin’ to her. You hear me?”
“You’re crazy!” Edwin screamed. “Get the fuck off me. I don’t want that bitch.”
The people around us were watching, but no one was stepping in. They were eating up the drama instead. From the corner of my eye, I saw one camera pointed at them, but there had to be more. I just couldn’t bring myself to look away from my furious man to find out.
Adelaide reached for me, to pull me from the fray, but I shook my head. I wasn’t leaving Callum, even if he looked like he could tear the bar apart with his bare hands.
“She doesn’t wantyou,” Callum gritted out. “You see her, you turn the other way. Do. You. Hear. Me?”
