“Hey, we’re sorry about last night,” the blond one says. “We were just a little too drunk.”
“Yeah,” the dark-haired one adds. “We didn’t mean to be assholes. I’m Larry, and this is Scott.”
“It’s all good, Larry and Scott. Your food should be up. I’ll be back.”
They nod as I hurry away. Sure enough, their food is ready. Keegan catches my eye as I make my way back through the bar, but I nod as if to reassure him that everything is fine.
He raises his chin in return.
We’ve gotten really good at non-verbal communication.
“Okay, guys, I have an order of wings with fries, and a burger with fries hot out of the kitchen.” I pull ketchup and mustard out of my apron and set them on the table, as well. “What else can I get you?”
“Your phone number.” Scott winks.
“Haha. What can I get you from the kitchen?”
“This looks good,” Larry says, and the boys dig into their food.
When I walk up to the bar, Keegan gestures to them. “Everything still good there?”
“Yep, just normal flirtation. And they apologized for last night.”
“Good.” He wipes the bar and sends me a heated look. “It’s easy to flirt with you. You look damn good tonight, love.”
I toss my ponytail over my shoulder. “So nice of you to notice.”
He laughs, and I saunter away with an extra spring in my step. I stop at Larry and Scott’s table to check in with them.
“How’s it tasting over here?”
“Great,” Scott says, and I notice his eyes drop to my boobs. “I bet those taste good, too.”
Larry scoffs at his friend. “Good one, man.”
“Don’t ruin this,” I say. “You’ll just piss everyone off again and get thrown out. There’s no need for that.”
Scott rolls his eyes, and I turn to leave, but suddenly, he grabs my wrist and tugs me onto his lap.
“Hey!”
“I didn’t say you could walk away from me.” His hand gropes my breast, his beer-laden breath hot on my cheek as he says, “I’m paying you to be nice to me, you stupid bitch.”
“Fuck y—”
Strong arms pull me out of the asshole’s lap. I glance up to see Cameron, his steely blue eyes hard on Scott as Keegan grabs the man by his shirt and yanks him out of the chair.
“Outside, you piece of rubbish,” Keegan growls and hurries out the front door as Scott flails about and yells for Larry.
Cameron and I, along with Maeve and Maggie, hurry after them. Just as I round the corner of the building, I see Keegan bury his fist in Scott’s face.
“You think it’s okay to touch women like that?” He hits him again.
“Fuck you,” Scott growls.
“You’re probably a fucking rapist.” Keegan plants his knee in Scott’s stomach.
“She asked for it,” Scott wheezes.
“Someone needs to teach you a goddamn lesson.” Again, Keegan’s fist connects with Scott’s face. Over and over, until blood runs from his nose and trickles from the side of his mouth.
I look up at Cameron. “Aren’t you going to stop this?”
“Hell, no, that prick deserves it.”
I don’t know if I should feel scared, amused, or turned on.
“I’m going to fucking sue you, asshole,” Scott says.
“Do it.” Keegan’s nose is millimeters from Scott’s. “Fucking do it. I bet you have sexual assault charges the length of my arm against you, you wanker. And where’s your friend now?”
We all look around, and I see Larry walking quickly down the street. He jumps in a car and zooms away.
“He just left,” I call out.
“If you ever touch any woman like that again, I’ll be there, and you’ll get it worse than this. If you ever make her or anyone else uncomfortable again, I’ll fucking kill you. Do you understand me?”
“Fuck you.”
“Jesus, man, just stop the macho bullshit,” Cameron warns him. “In case you missed it, you lost.”
“I’ll rape her, and then I’ll fuck her pretty little mouth,” Scott says.
Keegan rears back and plants his elbow square in the middle of Scott’s face, knocking the other man out. He lets him fall to the ground.
“Should I call an ambulance?” Maeve asks.
“No,” Keegan replies.
“Probably,” Cameron counters.
As he walks over to me, I see that his knuckles are bleeding. “Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine. You’re the one bleeding. Jesus, Keegan.”
“He thought he could touch what’s mine, and I assured him that wasn’t the case.”
Holy hell. “Yes, you did.”
The last words Scott said sit in my brain like acid. How can people think that saying shit like that is okay?
“Did he think he sounded badass talking that way?” I wonder aloud as we file back inside. “Like, are there girls out there who would find that sexy?”
“He doesn’t care what they think,” Cameron says. “He doesn’t respect women at all. Or anyone, really.”
Maeve walks in behind us, putting away her phone. “I called an ambulance for him, but I’ll be damned if I wait out there. I hope you didn’t kill him, Keegan.”