With My Heart Wide Open

Chapter 6

"There you are! I have been looking for you everywhere!" Macy shouted, walking towards Audrey. She stopped when she saw a very good looking man holding her friends arm, looking at something.

"Oh I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" she questioned with an intrigued smile, as she nudged Audrey.

"Oh, hey! Sergio, this is my best friend, Macy. Macy, this is Sergio. He...ummmm....helped me out a little while ago" she said. She didn't really want to relive the altercation with the drunk man, but knew she didn't have a choice.

"A drunk guy grabbed me and wanted to dance, but I didn't want to. He wouldn't let me go. That's how we got separated, but Sergio came to my rescue" she said, smiling up at him. She had no intention of repeating any of the things the man had said to her. Sergio stared at Audrey, getting angry all over again. The sight of the dirty drunkard with his hands and face all over Audrey, made him sick to his stomach. He had no idea why he felt so protective over her. He knew nothing about her.

"Oh! Are you the guy that knocked some other guy on his ass? I heard people talking about it while I was searching for Audrey."

Sergio shook his head, "Yeah, he deserved it."

"Well good! He should feel lucky that I wasn't there!" she laughed.

Sergio really didn't find anything amusing about the situation, but knew that it was probably best to lighten the mood, for Audrey's sake. She had been pretty shaken up, even if she didn't want to admit it. He didn't know many girls that drank straight whiskey regularly. He shared the laughter with the two girls, as he spotted his friend, Luka, motioning for him to come back upstairs.

"Ladies, I have to head back upstairs. My friends and I are having a small get together up there. You are more than welcome to join us. Less people....much more quiet. Not to mention bottle service..."he said, looking into Audrey's eyes with a wink.

"You had me at bottle service!" exclaimed Macy, as she grabbed Audrey and headed for the stairs.

Walking across the club toward the stairs, Audrey noticed that everyone was staring at them. Some were even whispering. She figured it had everything to do with the events that took place earlier. When they made their way up the stairs into the private area, where Sergio walked over and greeted his friends, Macy nudged her.

"Look at this! It's like a candy store....so much man candy!"

"Macy, for real. Calm down" Audrey said.

"Hey....it looks like you already have your candy locked down. Me, not so much. Let me browse the selections."

Audrey rolled her eyes at Macy, as Sergio made his way back to her. The butterflies hit her stomach like a ton of bricks when he reached for her hand to lead her over to the group.

"This is Audrey and Macy. Ladies, these are my friends, Luka, Marcelo, Dani, and Karim." The men stared at them as if they were waiting for something to happen. Both girls greeted them as they all stood there, not sure what they were waiting for.

"Are any of you single?" Macy blurted. The group laughed, thinking that Macy was joking. Audrey knew that her friends wasn't joking in the slightest. Just then, a man walked up them and whispered something into Sergio's ear. Turning back to the group he looked upset.

"Guys, we gotta go. Apparently the guy I knocked out called the cops. The manager said we can go out the back. He has already called the cabs. Wanna head to my place? We can hang there."

The guys agreed and started filing out, towards the stairs. Sergio turned to Audrey.

"What do you say? You up for a low-key house party? I promise, nothing crazy. Just hanging out" he asked. He looked in her eyes. He wanted her to say yes. No he needed her to say yes. He wasn't ready to leave her. She looked at him, biting her bottom lip.

"Okay...sure. Sounds like fun."

Relief flooded through him. He thought for a moment that she was going to turn him down. He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her down the stairs, as Macy followed them. He still felt a strong need to protect her. There was just something about her that he couldn't quite comprehend. It both excited and scared him. The last thing he needed was another woman in his life that would only use him for his fame and money. He had a feeling that she had absolutely no clue who he was and that confirmed to him that Audrey was different. Different than any other woman he had ever met before.