Page 7 of Wish You Were Mine
Which had never happened to me before.
“I’ll take another water,” Nora answered first. Then with a smirk, she added, “And your phone number for my friend here.”
“Nora!” I gasped, my eyes going wide before I elbowed her in the side. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
But Owen’s eyes sparkled with amusement as he glanced at me and said, “Didn’t our mutual friend Theo mention you have a long-time boyfriend?”
2
OWEN
“Oh no, that’s not…”the cute blonde sitting at the bar started to say, clearing her throat. “I mean, I used to?—”
But before she could finish her sentence, a sudden commotion erupted behind her. And when I looked to see what was going on, the guy I’d seen with his arm around the girl I was currently talking to suddenly wound up his arm and threw a punch straight into another guy’s face.
Oh no. This is definitely not happening.
“Excuse me, ladies,” I muttered. “I need to go take care of that.”
But before I could take even two steps, the chaos exploded even further as the two guys, probably drunk out of their minds, went at it.
And by the time I reached the altercation, there were a few other guys trying to break up the fight. But the bigger guy—the one who had thrown the first punch—was belligerent, looking like he was out for blood.
I hadn’t had to break up too many fights since I started managing The Garden two years ago, but I should have knownthat a team of college hockey players coming in after a big game would make for an interesting night.
The noise was almost deafening as the two guys continued to throw punches at each other, completely oblivious to the chaos they were causing. My heart rate kicked up as I made my way through the mess, my eyes scanning the crowd for a way in.
“Hey, guys, you need to break it up!” I shouted, trying to make myself heard above the ruckus. But my voice was lost in the sea of shouting and the clinking of glass.
I pushed forward, trying to get closer to the fight, but one of the hockey players grabbed my arm like he thought I was about to join in.
“Hey, I work here,” I said, shaking him off.
“Oh, sorry,” the guy muttered, releasing my arm just as my security team showed up.
“Josh, calm down!” a female voice shouted through the chaos. “You’re gonna get kicked off the team if Coach finds out about this!”
I froze for a second, looking toward the opening in the crowd where a woman had stepped forward. It was the girl I’d just been talking to at the bar. I think Theo had said her name was Lucy. My mind raced as I watched her shout at the guy who was obviously at the center of the fight. The guy whose name, I assumed, was Josh.
It had seemed like she’d been about to tell me that the guy I’d seen her with earlier—the one she was currently yelling at—wasn’t her boyfriend. But from the way she was going after him, I couldn’t think she was anything but his girlfriend.
Either that or she was his sister.
The bouncers had a grip on both guys now, but Josh—big, angry, and way too drunk—was still fighting back, struggling to break free. And instead of staying on the sidelines where it wassafe, Lucy was right there, pushing her way closer like she was trying to stop the fight.
She’s gonna get herself hurt.Sure, she was probably pretty strong for a girl—I had noticed how toned her arms were in her sleeveless dress as she’d been sitting at the bar with her friend. But strong as she might be, she was still tiny. From the looks of it, she was barely five feet and could easily get hurt if she got too close to a guy that was enraged.
“Hey!” I called, stepping forward, my hand reaching out for her. “Let my security team handle them, okay?”
Lucy looked up, her gaze going to my hand on her shoulder before meeting my eyes. “Are you guys gonna call the cops?”
“If he doesn’t start cooperating, we’ll probably have to,” I said, eyeing her boyfriend who was still thrashing against the bouncers.
“Josh,” Lucy yelled, stepping out from my grip and pleading with him. “Please just calm down. He’s not worth it. Whatever is happening isn’t worth it.”
I wasn’t sure her boyfriend could even hear her over the noise and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. But then—thankfully—he noticed her and seemed to snap out of his rage. And with a deep, ragged breath, he gave in and let the security team guide him out of the bar.
Lucy stood there for a moment, watching them. Then she turned to me, a tight, apologetic smile forming on her lips before she said, “Sorry about all this. I don’t know what happened.” She shook her head, and then seeming to speak to herself, she added, “He was in such a good mood earlier.”
