I smirked. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were a girl who liked to have fun. Must have been another Chelsea that I had here last Friday.” She turned to walk away and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well…” She stopped but didn’t turn around. “I could go for a drink or ten right about now.”

She turned and tossed the dress at me. “I’ll call us a cab, you’ve got fifteen minutes.”

The base of the music racked my body, thumping through my chest and head. My brain protested, the amount of crying and moping I’d done in the last couple days had left it foggy and full. But I powered through. Rose was right, I needed to do something to take my mind off Optimus or I would still be sitting in her apartment, wondering what he was doing and whether I should go back.

Rose pulled at my hand, dragging me toward the bar and pushing me into a free stool. Her eyes were scanning the club, even as she ordered us drinks from the preppy looking blonde girl who was tending the bar.

“Who are you looking for?” I asked, moving my mouth close to her ear so she could hear me over the music.

She laughed. “No one. Just checking to make sure there are no big scary bikers following us, about to drag you away again.”

I didn’t mention that I’d already tagged Ham as soon as he walked through the doors before he disappeared into the crowd. Ham had become a permanent fixture. I knew Op had someone on me constantly, more often than not it was Ham. I felt bad for him, having to watch me night and day. But he didn’t seem to mind. We’d fallen into a comfortable routine.

I shook my head. “Nah, I left remember?”

Rose was nervous around the brothers, Blizzard in particular. I wasn’t sure why. I know sometimes they caught a bad rep, but they would never hurt her. We sat and drank our drinks for a while, the alcohol soothing my body but only a little. My mind was still running wild. Rose seemed to be enjoying herself, I wasn’t sure how much she’d had to drink as she seemed to be talking a lot more than normal, and really about nothing. I smiled and nodded, wondering whether this night out was really for me or if she had just needed an excuse to get out. Either way, I wasn’t bothered. Rose had been a great friend to me since Harmony had left for Troy, and I was willing to do whatever I could to take some of the stress that I knew she held on her shoulders.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

I turned my head to see a good looking guy standing beside me. He was dressed well, dress shirt, expensive looking jeans, and his smile was wide, but it was the predatory look in his eyes that I didn’t like.

I lifted my still half full glass. “I’m okay for now, thanks,” I told him politely.

I heard Rose giggle and turned to see another man who looked much the same standing next to her, licking his lips like he’d found his next meal. It didn’t take much to guess that these guys were here together and had picked us out of the crowd.

“Come on babe, just a drink? We could go find a seat and have a chat if you’d like?” I turned my attention back to the man at my side who was still smiling at me despite the fact his body was tight and rigid.

“I’m fine. But thanks,” I said my voice a little sterner this time. One thing I wasn’t was a pushover. I hadn’t got to where I was today by letting anyone, especially men, force me to do things that I didn’t want to.

I reached over and touched Rose’s hand, pulling her attention away from the creep that was basically on top of her, he was standing so close.

“Do you wanna go somewhere else?” I asked, fully aware that the man at my side had not moved an inch, even at my decline to want his company.

Her eyes flicked to him before they came back to me. “Grant invited us to go to a party with them,” she said gesturing over her shoulder, “we should go!”

The creep eyed me with an intensity that made my stomach sink.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, trying to use my eyes to portray to her that we needed to get away from these guys and fast.

“Come on, Chel. Please?” she said gripping my hand in hers.

How much had she had to drink?

There was no way I was going anywhere with these two. I knew to trust my gut when something didn’t feel right. But no way in hell was I going to let her go with them alone.

I decided to try a different tact.

Smiling, hoping it looked genuine and not like a grimace. “I came to have some fun remember, get my mind off that stupid alpha male. How about we have a dance first, let our hair down and then if these lovely gentlemen are happy to wait, we can go party with them?”

“You don’t dance,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

I cringed but forced myself to shrug like it was no big deal. “My life just took an epic turn. Maybe that’s a sign I need to start doing things differently.”

She beamed at me. “Is that okay?” she asked, turning to creepy McWeirdo.

He looked over at his friend, whom I had completely blocked out by giving him my back before he nodded. “Yeah, we can wait.”

I immediately jumped off the barstool, yanking Rose with me as I headed for the dance floor. Rose stumbled a little but managed to keep up on her sky-high heels. Her body started moving to the music even as I plowed my way through people to get to the middle of the dance floor, attempting to put as much distance between us and them as possible.

I wasn’t afraid to stand up for myself, I could throw a punch just as well as any guy. The need to prove that had arisen more than a few times growing up. But I also knew when I was outnumbered and needed to get out of a situation before things turned to shit. There was an aura coming off those two men that I didn’t like, and I wasn’t about to sit around and find out if my instincts were correct.

The nightclub was busy and I managed to hide us in the crowd. Rose moved her body, closing her eyes and swaying as she sang along to the pop music that the DJ was blaring. I bopped as I stood beside her, not even attempting to dance really, but instead searching the room for Ham. We hung out there for a few songs, every so often I would yell that I was having a great time and she would grin and nod. I cursed not bringing my cell phone with me or I would have just text messaged Ham to meet us somewhere. Even as a prospect, Ham was tall and broad and with a Brothers by Blood cut on his shoulders, people instantly stepped away.

“Damn it,” I muttered as another sweep of the club found not Ham but the two men I was trying to avoid, pushing their way through people and heading straight for us. Obviously they were done waiting.

I felt a body come up behind me. I was ready to turn around, punch whoever it was, grab Rose and run until a voice I recognized cooed into my ear, “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Deacon,” I exclaimed, a sense of relief flooding me as I spun and took him in.

Rose stood just to the side, her eyebrows creasing together in the middle as she stared at him. I gripped his T-shirt and pulled him closer, not missing the look of surprise in his face as I plastered my body to his and tiptoed up so my mouth was next to his ear. “There’s some guys coming over that want us to go to a party with them. They give me the creeps, but Rose is really drunk and wants to go. Help!”

I felt his arm wrap around my waist, holding me snug against him and I couldn’t say that I hated it. With my heart and my head running one hundred miles an hour, I appreciated the comforting feeling of protection.

“Let’s go,” I heard the deep voice thunder from behind me. I turned, but Deacon held me firmly against him, his head resting on my shoulder.

“Sorry guys. Seems like the girls have had a change of heart,” Deacon called, stepping backward and pulling me with him.