I took a deep breath and reached for my beer, taking another sip, all the while, keeping my eyes glued to the scene.
The woman tried to walk away from him, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back toward him, making her stumble a bit in her heels.
Well fuck that. I slammed my drink onto the table, stood, and quickly made my way over.
“Everything all right here?” I asked once close enough.
Startled, the guy spun around.
I could instantly tell he was sloppy drunk. Although he was approximately the same height as me, he didn’t have any muscle to back it up. The button-down shirt he wore was only half tucked into his pants, and even from where I stood, he reeked of whiskey. His hair was disheveled and became even more so when he ran a hand through it.
“Nope, everything’s fine,” he said, his words slurred. “Just talking to my lady, here.”
“Excuse me?” the woman said, disgusted. “I am not your lady.”
“Not yet,” the guy said, giving a lewd laugh that turned into a hiccup. He reached for her wrist again, but I grabbed his arm before he managed to touch her. “Hey bro—knock it off,” he said.
“No, you knock it off. I’m going to give you until the count of ten to back away from her and carry on with your night.”
“Oh yeah? Or what?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to find out,” I snarled, applying pressure to his wrist.
“Owww! Hey! Knock it off! Fuck you!” the guy said.
With a shove, I let go of his arm. He stumbled backward and glared at me as if he wanted to hit me. But when I stepped defiantly towards him, he backed down.
“Whatever. She ain't all that,” he muttered and then walked off.
I shook my head and muttered a few choice words of my own before remembering my manners. I turned toward the woman. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
“No problem,” I said. “I can’t tell you how much I fucking hate guys like that. I never miss a chance to rattle them up, if I can help it.”
The woman laughed, and for the first time, I fully took in her appearance.
I had seen that she was beautiful from afar, but up close, she was positively stunning. She had long dark hair, the most gorgeous hazel eyes I’d ever seen, a flawless complexion, and curves that filled every inch of the slinky dark dress she wore. Her appearance gave off the impression of exotic, yet innocent at the same time.
But then I reminded myself that she had just been getting harassed by a creep so it wouldn’t serve me well to start drooling over her.
However, I couldn’t help noticing that her posture had relaxed considerably. She smiled at me and extended her hand. “Hi. I’m Arianna.”
I took her hand in mine. “Giovanni, or just Gio for short.”
“Nice to meet you, Gio. You can call me Ari. And thanks again. I guess that’s what I get for deciding to come out on my own tonight though. I was supposed to be meeting with friends, but I had decided to go out at the very last minute, and none of them had been able to clear their schedules.”
“Well, that sucks,” I said. “But on the plus side, I’m here solo too. So, if you’re looking for a friend for the night, I’ll gladly play the role.”
Ari laughed again.
“Can I get you a drink?” I asked.
She hesitated for a second and then nodded. “Yeah. Sure, friend.”
I smirked and waved over the bartender. I then turned back to face Ari, pulling out a chair for her. “So, what made you decide to come out at the last minute? Celebrating anything special tonight?”
Ari smiled, although it didn’t fully reach her eyes this time. “I guess you can say that. I’m recently…employed.”