would be any less offensive if they were sober.
‘Aww … The ladies are leaving.’ Their voices are slurred.
‘They need to be tucked up in bed by eleven.’ Rupert’s words seem general, but I suspect they’re directed at me.
‘I wouldn’t mind tucking them up,’ Gideon slurs.
‘Don’t leave this early, ladies. The night is young.’
Immy rolls her eyes and tries to walk past Piers, then shrieks, ‘Hey!’
My God, did he grope her ass?
‘Do you really have to be so predictable, Piers.’ Immy sounds brave, but I can tell from her stiff back that she hates him touching her.
He edges closer, reeking of booze and cigarette smoke. ‘What’s your problem, Imogen? Don’t you like male attention?’
‘I have no problem with male attention; I do have a problem with gorillas.’
‘Oh, touch-y-y. You’re not a rug-muncher, are you?’
‘So your parents spent all that money on your education for you to come up with that gem?’ I ask.
He snorts, spraying me with spittle. ‘Just a little joke. Why do so many American girls have to be so uptight?’
‘Why have so many British men undergone frontal lobotomies?’
As he glares at me, his eyes hold something almost feral behind the drunken glaze, but I’m not scared. I’ve dealt with creeps like him before at Brown, frat boyswho thought they were God’s gift to women while secretly hating and fearing us. The only difference is his accent, but I don’t want us to turn into free entertainment for the evening and I can see Oscar, Chun and Isla twitching nervously, unsure whether to intervene.
‘If you don’t mind letting us past,
gentlemen
?’
‘Shall I, Gideon? Shall I let these totties past?’
Totties
? Is this the twenty-first century? I actually laugh at this.
Gideon sneers. ‘I don’t know, Piers.’
Losing patience, Immy pushes Gideon’s chest and my heart sinks as his eyes darken with fury.
I keep my voice calm. ‘Boys, I can appreciate that a request to move out of our way may take up a great deal of your brainpower, but I’d hoped you might have comprehended my meaning by now.’
‘You’re wasting your time, Piers. I crashed and burned with her on Saturday night. Leave it.’ Rupert’s arm is at Piers’s elbow, his voice bored. I
think
he’s trying to defuse the situation, but it’s not helping.
Piers’s face crumples in mock hurt. ‘Gideon and I had rather hoped Lauren would be keen to develop the Special Relationship back at our rooms. Now, it looks like I’m going to have to spend a long lonely night with only the thought of you boys to keep me warm. Boo hoo.’
Immy holds her hand to her ear. ‘Hear that? It’s the sound of the saddest song being played on the world’s smallest violin.’ She sniggers and in unison we try to push past Piers and Gideon, as Oscar leaps up from his seat, stung into action.
‘Stop being such a pair of tits. You heard them, now fuck off.’
It ought to be funny, this tiny little guy squaring up like a terrier taking on two pit bulls, but this is turning nasty and I hate seeing anyone bullied. With one hand, Gideon shoves Oscar back into the table and a bottle smashes. His glasses fall off and shatter on the tiles.
What happens next is all over so fast, I barely have time to breathe.
Chapter Four
One second I’m inches from Piers’s face, the next someone grabs my arm and pulls me aside while the whole pub erupts in flying glass, a sickening crack and lots of hooting and girly screaming. When I look down, Piers is on his back at my feet, surrounded by shattered glass, blood pouring from his nose – with Alexander towering over him.
‘When a woman tells you to get out of her way, you obnoxious cunt, you get out of her way. Now is that clear?’ He barely raises his voice, but his words silence the bar. His shiny brogue prods Piers’ thigh. ‘Speak up, I can’t hear you.’
Piers burbles, propping himself up on an elbow as he stares at the red liquid trickling down his
‘Aww … The ladies are leaving.’ Their voices are slurred.
‘They need to be tucked up in bed by eleven.’ Rupert’s words seem general, but I suspect they’re directed at me.
‘I wouldn’t mind tucking them up,’ Gideon slurs.
‘Don’t leave this early, ladies. The night is young.’
Immy rolls her eyes and tries to walk past Piers, then shrieks, ‘Hey!’
My God, did he grope her ass?
‘Do you really have to be so predictable, Piers.’ Immy sounds brave, but I can tell from her stiff back that she hates him touching her.
He edges closer, reeking of booze and cigarette smoke. ‘What’s your problem, Imogen? Don’t you like male attention?’
‘I have no problem with male attention; I do have a problem with gorillas.’
‘Oh, touch-y-y. You’re not a rug-muncher, are you?’
‘So your parents spent all that money on your education for you to come up with that gem?’ I ask.
He snorts, spraying me with spittle. ‘Just a little joke. Why do so many American girls have to be so uptight?’
‘Why have so many British men undergone frontal lobotomies?’
As he glares at me, his eyes hold something almost feral behind the drunken glaze, but I’m not scared. I’ve dealt with creeps like him before at Brown, frat boyswho thought they were God’s gift to women while secretly hating and fearing us. The only difference is his accent, but I don’t want us to turn into free entertainment for the evening and I can see Oscar, Chun and Isla twitching nervously, unsure whether to intervene.
‘If you don’t mind letting us past,
gentlemen
?’
‘Shall I, Gideon? Shall I let these totties past?’
Totties
? Is this the twenty-first century? I actually laugh at this.
Gideon sneers. ‘I don’t know, Piers.’
Losing patience, Immy pushes Gideon’s chest and my heart sinks as his eyes darken with fury.
I keep my voice calm. ‘Boys, I can appreciate that a request to move out of our way may take up a great deal of your brainpower, but I’d hoped you might have comprehended my meaning by now.’
‘You’re wasting your time, Piers. I crashed and burned with her on Saturday night. Leave it.’ Rupert’s arm is at Piers’s elbow, his voice bored. I
think
he’s trying to defuse the situation, but it’s not helping.
Piers’s face crumples in mock hurt. ‘Gideon and I had rather hoped Lauren would be keen to develop the Special Relationship back at our rooms. Now, it looks like I’m going to have to spend a long lonely night with only the thought of you boys to keep me warm. Boo hoo.’
Immy holds her hand to her ear. ‘Hear that? It’s the sound of the saddest song being played on the world’s smallest violin.’ She sniggers and in unison we try to push past Piers and Gideon, as Oscar leaps up from his seat, stung into action.
‘Stop being such a pair of tits. You heard them, now fuck off.’
It ought to be funny, this tiny little guy squaring up like a terrier taking on two pit bulls, but this is turning nasty and I hate seeing anyone bullied. With one hand, Gideon shoves Oscar back into the table and a bottle smashes. His glasses fall off and shatter on the tiles.
What happens next is all over so fast, I barely have time to breathe.
Chapter Four
One second I’m inches from Piers’s face, the next someone grabs my arm and pulls me aside while the whole pub erupts in flying glass, a sickening crack and lots of hooting and girly screaming. When I look down, Piers is on his back at my feet, surrounded by shattered glass, blood pouring from his nose – with Alexander towering over him.
‘When a woman tells you to get out of her way, you obnoxious cunt, you get out of her way. Now is that clear?’ He barely raises his voice, but his words silence the bar. His shiny brogue prods Piers’ thigh. ‘Speak up, I can’t hear you.’
Piers burbles, propping himself up on an elbow as he stares at the red liquid trickling down his
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