Page 12 of Idaho

"I'm sorry," I told him again, trying to be polite, "but no."

"You're getting on my nerves," he growled. His hand shot out and grabbed my arm in a painful grip.

I gasped, trying to yank free, but it only made him tighten down harder. "Please let go," I requested, trying to be as polite as I could without losing my temper.

"Hey!" Jo's voice cut through the air like a whip crack. "Let her go!"

He turned toward her and I saw Brad moving alongside her. The look on his face was furious as he took in the man holding onto me. "You heard her. Let go of her."

I jerked my arm free while he wasn't paying attention. Paul and Brittney were standing near my friends now. The drunk man was between me and them. I tried to step around him, but he kept shifting, keeping me stuck between him and the wall I'd been sitting near.

"I'll call the cops," Brittney threatened, glaring at him.

"Fine," he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't want to dance with her anyway." He turned to glare at me. "Stuck up bitch." He spat the words at me, then stumbled off toward a group of guys that were watching us.

I rubbed at my arm where he'd grabbed me and sighed. "Thanks for coming over."

Brad nodded at me, then looked over toward the guy who'd been bothering me. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I gave him a small smile. "I'm fine."

"Come on," Jo said, "let's get out of here."

"I think I'll head home," I said, looking around the bar again.

"We all will," Jo insisted.

"We'll have to walk," Brad cautioned. All of us had been drinking, so no one could drive. "But it's not far."

Nodding, I followed them out of the bar, trying to ignore the dirty looks I was receiving from the group of men in the corner. I wasn't trying to be a stuck up bitch. I just wasn't used to any of this and was floundering a bit as I tried to figure things out here. School was fine. That was the easy part. And my new friends made it incredibly fun to gather socially and hang out. It was the men I couldn't quite get my footing with. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but both men who'd shown an interest in me hadn't made me feel safe. More than that, they scared me. I wasn't some wilting wallflower, but my instincts were screaming at me that they were no good.

We stopped at Brad's car and I grabbed my leather jacket out of it for the walk home. It was cold enough that the night air invigorated me and cleared my head a little. We'd only gotten a few blocks and Jo was gasping with each step. "I love these heels but man they hurt." She slipped them off and walked barefoot.

"Your feet are going to freeze," I told her, worried about her getting sick.

"Better that than them falling off," she replied with a smile. "I'm going to have to scrub them with bleach, too."

Raucous laughter floated through the night air, and I turned to see where it was coming from. Dread pooled in my stomach. "Those guys are following us," I whispered when I looked forward.

"From the bar?" Brad asked, not bothering to turn around. He sighed when I nodded. "I hoped they'd get the fucking hint."

"They're catching up fast," Jo said, her head turned, watching them.

Brad and Paul stopped and put themselves between us and the men. There were five of them to our two, "What's your problem?" Brad called out.

"You took that bitch away before we could teach her a lesson," one of the men called back. They were still a ways behind us, shouting across the distance.

Jo grabbed my hand and squeezed as she pulled out her cellphone. "I need your help." She didn't bother to explain the situation to whoever was on the other end of the phone, just looked around for street signs and gave an address. "I'm so sorry. Please tell them to hurry."

"You're not teaching anyone a lesson," Brad said as Jo had her conversation. He didn't sound scared, even though there were only the two of them standing up to the larger group of men.

I pulled out my own cell phone and hit a number. "Thomas?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

I explained the situation while the tension in the air grew thick as the drunk men hurled insults at each other.

"I'm on my way," he told me. His voice was the epitome of calm. I'd seen Thomas in action once before when someone tried to grab my younger sister from a parade we attended. He was a formidable man, and I was so grateful he was on my side. "Stay on the phone with me."