Page 4 of Draven

I couldn't bear it any longer, so I decided to break it.

"Um, I might not have plenty of experience when it comes to this, but this is the part where you tell me your name," I said, trying to inject a bit of humor into the tense atmosphere.

He looked at me again, his gaze piercing, and I swallowed nervously.

It felt like he was silently drinking me down, and strangely enough, I didn't mind being the center of his attention.

"Draven," he finally said.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, relieved that he had broken the silence.

But then he asked, "What do you mean by 'when it comes to this'?"

I felt a flush of embarrassment heat up my cheeks as I stared down at my beer bottle. Was he really going to make me say it?

The sound of a chuckle from somewhere behind me only added to my discomfort.

Someone was laughing at my expense, and for a brief moment, I was transported back to the most humiliating memory of my high school years.

Confessing my feelings to my crush, Justin Moore, had been a disaster. He had laughed in my face, joined by the chorus of laughter from his friends.

I had wanted to disappear, to hide away in my room for weeks.

"At dating," I whispered, feeling a surge of bitterness welling up inside me.

Just great. The first guy who showed any remote interest in me turned out to be a jerk, just like Justin Moore.

"Look at that, Tobias is so desperate to get any action he'd proposition the first outsider he'd see," a familiar voice sneered from the background.

Justin. My fists clenched instinctively as I rose to my feet, ready to exit the bar.

But before I could move, Draven's hand gripped my arm firmly, and I shot him a glare, torn between anger and embarrassment.

I had a storm of words ready to unleash on Draven, words that I knew I would regret as soon as they left my lips.

But as I stood there, bracing myself for the confrontation, I realized that Draven had risen from his stool as well.

Standing, he practically towered over me, his presence commanding the attention of the room.

Somewhere behind me, someone laughed again, but the sound barely registered in my ears.

Instead, all my focus was on Draven, on the firm grip he had on my wrist.

His hand was large and callused and I always appreciated a man who wasn’t afraid of hard work.

Now wasn't the time to be noticing such small details, I reminded myself sternly.

"Hurting or humiliating you wasn't my intention, Tobias," Draven spoke, his voice surprisingly gentle as he looked down at my wrist for a moment before releasing me.

Then, he turned his attention to where Justin and his cronies were standing.

Justin may have been human, but he was the mayor’s son and he practically got away with anything.

He stared Draven down, or at least attempted to, but I could see the tension building in Draven's posture, the subtle shift in his breathing.

His teeth lengthened to wicked fangs and I knew I had to do something before someone ended up injured or worse, dead.

I reached out and touched Draven's arm.