“Oh, Aaron. That’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you. I’m sure your parents are very proud as well.”
“Thanks. They are. Oh, these are my friends.” He introduced her to them and she shook hands with all of them.
“So, are you here with a date?” he asked.
She blinked, certain she was reading him wrong. “No, I’m just here with friends.”
He grinned. “Great. Then can I buy you a drink?”
She hadn’t been wrong. Her former student was definitely hitting on her. That was a first. He couldn’t be more than twenty-four at most, which put him firmly in the way-too-young-for-her category. He might be amazing-looking, but she did not date former students. Ever. “Oh, well isn’t that sweet of you, Aaron, but I can’t. I should get back to my friends.”
He looked over at the table where she’d motioned with her head, then moved in a little closer. “They don’t look like they’d miss you if you just had one drink with me.”
He was persistent, like a lot of young guys. And then he put his arm around her.
Bold, too. A little too bold. She thought she’d smelled alcohol on his breath, but she’d hoped he was sober. Apparently not. She plucked his arm from her shoulder. “I don’t think so, but thanks for the offer.”
Obviously he wasn’t taking no for an answer, because he came back with, “Just one drink, Chelsea. We can rehash high school.”
Now he was overstepping. She was going to have to shut him down in a very firm way. “No. Good night, Aaron.”
And then he grabbed hold of her wrist, tugging her forward. It hurt. She was about to pull away, but suddenly Bash was there, and he had extricated her from Aaron’s grip. He had grabbed Aaron’s arm in a firm hold. Aaron winced.
“When a lady says no, buddy, she means no. The first time. She shouldn’t have to say it three fucking times.”
“Hey. Let go,” Aaron said, trying to fight off Bash.
Bash had twisted Aaron’s arm around his back. “Your night at the bar is over. And you can take your friends with you.”
Aaron’s friends didn’t take kindly to Bash’s treatment of him. Chairs got pushed back in a hurry, but Bash didn’t look concerned. Especially when Will, Luke, Logan, Carter, and the other two bartenders quickly appeared to back him up.
One look at Will and Luke’s badges on their belt buckles put an end to any possible skirmish that might have erupted. Aaron’s friends put their hands up in surrender.
“All right, all right,” Aaron said, his teeth clenched tightly together. “We’re going.”
“Damn right, you are.” Bash let go of Aaron, who rubbed his wrist, but he and his friends made their exits. Will and Luke went out the door to make sure they all took off.
And now Chelsea had the entire bar staring at her.
“Okay, so much for your free entertainment,” Bash said. “Next round of drinks is on the bar.”
That took care of everyone gawking at her, because there was a rush of drink orders. Bash’s bartenders and waitresses hurried to fill the orders, but he turned to her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, though she was a little more shaken than she would have expected. “I had it handled. Or I thought I did, until the idiot jerked at my wrist.”
Bash picked up her hand. “Dumbass. I should have punched him for touching you like that.” He gently rubbed at the spot where Aaron had grabbed her.
She looked from her wrist to Bash. That eye contact was electrifying, and her wrist no longer throbbed. Just him touching her gave her that ping of awareness she always got whenever he was near.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Are you sure you’re okay? I can get some ice for your wrist.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine. And I appreciate you stepping in.”
“I’d still like to go find that punk and beat the shit out of him. What was he thinking? Did you know him?”
She nodded. “Vaguely. He’s a former student.”
Bash’s lips curved. “Hot for teacher, huh?”
She laughed. “I guess so.”
“Can’t say as I blame him for that part. But the manhandling part? Absolutely not.”
He picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to her wrist, causing flutters of awareness to skitter across her skin. “I need to get back to the bar. If you need anything, you let me know.”
“Okay. Thanks again.”
His gaze met hers, and the heat she saw there nearly melted her to the floor.
“Anytime.”
Gathering in a deep breath, she made her way back to the table and took her seat.
“Are you all right, honey?” Emma asked, rubbing her back.
“Fine now.”
“I can’t believe that jerk,” Jane said. “I had him for math his freshman year and I’d like to kick his butt. I’m going to talk to his parents.”
“Oh, God, Jane, don’t do that. I think he’s likely embarrassed enough that Bash threw him out. And Luke and Will followed him. He was likely terrified he was going to be arrested.”
“And he had tears in his eyes, too,” Samantha said with a triumphant gleam in her eyes. “That was quite the move Bash put on him.”
“I think Bash has had his share of bar drunks to deal with,” Carter said. “He knows how to handle himself.”
“You all helped. Thanks for that,” Chelsea said, giving a loving smile to every man there.