“Ladies…these are my friends.” The drunken guy slurred, yanking me back to reality.

The guys all said hello in unison and I watched as they postured to see who would get to talk to which girl.

Hot blue eyes stood up from the table and put his hand out to me. “I’m Jamieson Wellington,” he spoke in the deepest, sexiest voice I had ever heard.

“Hi, I’m Jenna Middleton.” I extended my hand out to meet his. The second I touched him, I felt a wave of heat run through my whole body.

“Well, Jenna Middleton can I buy you a drink?” he flashed me a smile that had trouble written all over it.

“Sure.”

“What would you like?”

“Oh, whisky sour please,” I told him.

Jamieson ordered my drink when the waitress had returned. He found me a chair; conveniently it was right next to his. I looked around the table as I waited for my drink, trying to stamp out my nervousness. Audrey was talking to a very handsome looking guy with the most perfectly chiseled cheek bones. Livy was talking to a guy whom I think said his name was Julian. He was obviously South American of some sort and completely hot. His accent alone was utterly intoxicating.

“So tell me, Jenna. Why haven’t our paths crossed until now? Are you from Huntsville?” Jamieson asked me, looking intrigued.

“Yes, I was born and raised in Huntsville, but I have been going to school in Knoxville. I’m a senior this year.”

“How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” Okay, kind of odd but I’ll answer him.

“Twenty-three. How old are you?” I asked him in return.

“A bit older. That probably explains why we have not met until now,” he drawled in his southern accent.

“Probably.”

“What is your major?” he asked and then took a sip of his drink.

“Computer science.”

“Wow I’m impressed, stunning and smart. That is a lethal combination,” he said flashing me a sly grin that sent my nerves back into overdrive.

I was totally blushing and I knew I was twelve shades of red by this time. “Thanks.”

Jamieson and I continued to chat back and forth for a long time. He asked me lots of questions, but rarely gave me any hints into his life. Not for lack of trying on my part, but he artfully avoided answering my questions. I realized quite quickly that I was in over my head. Jamieson was skilled when it came to ladies, he was an expert. He was a lion and I was his prey. If this was one of those discovery shows about wild African cats, I would have been the stupid gazelle that coyly looked at the lion begging to be eaten. The sadder part was I didn’t feel that bad about it. I was totally in awe of him. He was sexy as hell and funny too. He didn’t seem to have a problem making fun of himself or his friends for that matter. I thought that to be a bit odd considering I could tell this crowd was wealthy. Just from the way they conducted themselves, which was very intimidating. It wasn’t that my family was hard up or anything, we weren’t, but there was a difference between being comfortable and truly wealthy. I had a feeling Jamieson Wellington came from old southern money, the kind that I most definitely had no clue about.

“Oh shit! Mitch just got hit in the face!” One of the guys at the table shouted out. I snapped my head around to see a large husky guy punch their drunken friend in the face.

Chairs instantly flew backwards as the four boys jumped up to aid their friend. I looked over at the girls and we watched as the guys stormed out front of the bar.

“I’ve got to see this,” Liv said standing up and quickly making her way toward the exit. Audrey and I glanced at each other and then jogged to catch up with everyone.

When we got out to the front of the bar, there was a full on brawl taking place, it was hard to even understand what was happening. I could see fists flying and I think I made out the back of Jamieson’s head in the middle of the crowd. We pushed past the small crowd forming and I saw the guy we met earlier, Julian, had their friend Mitch up against the brick wall holding him back looking at his bloody nose. I felt bad for Mitch. He may have been kind of a drunken idiot, but he seemed harmless. I could see why the guys were protective of him, he didn’t mean to offend anyone—he was just clueless.

As I got closer to the center of what was happening, I saw Jamieson and my heart stopped. He was fighting the husky guy from the bar. It was a fairly even match but the big guy was definitely getting some good hits in.

I have no idea what possessed me but I took a step forward like I was going to intervene when a large arm stopped me. “Ladies, I think it’s safer if we stand over here.” The dark haired guy Audrey had been talking to ushered us off the sidewalk next to the parked cars. “Watch your step there is a curb there.”

I could tell this guy was a pretty boy. It was obvious from the fact all of his friends were fighting but he remained completely scuff-free. I don’t know why that bothered me but it did.

“Aren’t you going to stop them?” I asked him, my annoyance laced throughout my voice.

“Nah, they need a good fight every once in a while,” he explained to me like it was no big deal.

I saw something fly through the air and land in a clatter across the pavement. I crouched down to look at what it was and I could see it was a cell phone.

“Hey, I think your friend’s cell phone just landed under that car,” I pointed-out to pretty boy.

“Yeah probably.” He clearly gave a shit less about the phone or any of the events transpiring before him.

“Uh, aren’t you going to get it?” I asked dumbfounded. I looked at Liv and Audrey to see if they were paying attention but they were too concerned with the fight.

“Nah, I don’t want get dirt on my new shirt,” he said coolly.

That infuriated me. I stomped over next to the car and bent down to pick it up, not caring that I was in a mini skirt.

“Jenna, what the hell are you doing? Your butt is hanging out!” Livy exclaimed, freaking out.

“Well I think this is that guy’s cell phone and it flew off under this car. He may want it later,” I explained as I got down on all fours to reach under the car.

It took a minute but I grabbed the cell phone and climbed out from underneath the car. When I popped up there were three sets of eyes staring at me shocked.

“What?” I asked. “It’s not like he was going to get it.” I motioned to the useless pretty boy.

“You’re filthy,” Audrey gasped as she helped me dust off my skirt.

“Ah, it’s alright. It’s just a little dirt,” I told her unconcerned.

I looked around to see what was happening with the fight now. Climbing under the car had only taken a few seconds but it felt like longer because the fight had moved down the sidewalk.

“Alright, alright break it up you knuckle heads.” A huge bald headed man, covered in tattoos crashed in between Jamieson and the husky guy.

I recognized the big guy as a bouncer from Havens. He stood in between Jamieson and the other guy forcing them to go in separate directions. The husky guy hurled some insults at Jamieson and then slowly began to walk away with his friends. Jamieson made his way back up the sidewalk towards us. He stopped next to Mitch and Julian squinting at Mitch’s nose. He looked at it closely, clearly checking out the damage.

“I don’t think it’s broken bud,” he said in an even tone.

“I’m sorry man. I swear I didn’t know she was married,” Mitch replied looking a bit sheepish.

“It’s alright could've happened to anyone,” Jamieson reassured him, patting his shoulder.

I watched this whole exchange like I was watching a movie. It didn’t seem real somehow. I was in awe watching Jamieson go from raging maniac to calm concerned friend in seconds. I know it shouldn’t excite me, but somehow it did.

Jamieson turned around and looked over at the group of us as if he could tell we were watching him. He slowly began striding in our direction. I could see his white shirt was trashed. It had blood all over it, some of it was his and some of it was the other guy’s. He had a fairly large cut above his eyebrow which made my stomach turn a bit. I assumed he was coming to talk to his friends but instead he continued on until he was squarely in front of me.