By Chance (Accidentally In Luck #1)

25. Tiny Dates Can Totally Have Spunk - E

*E*

"Hey, sweet thing." For the record, that line doesn't work without the accent, boots, and cowboy hat. "You're pretty easy on the eyes, ain't you?"

Elle looked up from the picture Jay was showing her on his phone of the beloved dog he used to have. Her bright smile faded. "Excuse me?"

The guy was just rudely interrupting what's been a great night at this point and I felt my mood go sour. He had some height to him, dark hair, a day or so worth of beard, and dark eyes that said he could handle a fight. I'd seen that look enough times in the ring and that's when I knew this guy had to be one of the fighters in the tournament. Judging by the smell that I got from all the way across the table, however, "shower" and "bathe" weren't in his vocabulary. I couldn't imagine how Pip and Elle were functioning being that close to him, it was B.O. central on their side of the table.

I decided to call him Tall, Dark, and Ugly.

"Do you want me to get you outta here? We could go back to my place and have some real fun."

I felt Pip twitch with anger beside me and I stole a glance at Jay and found him pulling the same face I was at the guy: disbelief mixed with disgust mixed with confusion. I get we were probably supposed to step into this but I was frozen to my seat because 1) I had no idea how I was supposed to move with Pip being between me and the guy and 2) I still couldn't believe it was actually happening.

Elle did better than Jay and me though, and just looked at him, a thinly veiled disgust in her eyes as she did a once over on him. "Hard pass on that one, buddy. I like these guys just fine," she said motioning to the rest of us with a sweep of her hand.

Tall, Dark, and Ugly grinned a grin that made me wonder if he ever realized that the rest of us were sat right next to Elle. "C'mon, baby," he coaxed. "A little bit of fun won't hurt ya. Besides, I bet that body would be a little bit of fun for me later."

That was the last thing I heard before Pip flung herself off the bench we were on and towards the guy's face.

For the record, all the guy did was make a pass (albeit a disgusting one) at Elle, but I guess Pip wasn't as used to that sort of thing as Jay and I were. Not that we supported it or defended it by any means, but Jay and I were in dives like this a lot more than she obviously was. And now Cora, my little Pip, was throwing herself at him in a pretty decent attempt to claw out his eyes. I grinned inwardly like a madman.

God, I love being with Pip. She can't not make life fun.

Before Pip could cause too much of a scene, I jumped out of the seat after and grabbed her biceps to hold her back. For such a small girl, she sure had some strength in her.

Nothing to match mine, but still a lot.

I lifted her up, spun her around, and deposited her back onto the bench before I stood in front of her, both blocking her from the man and the man from her. See, I have no doubts that she could take him.

"Go away," I said, my teeth clenching and my voice raising in pitch on 'away' thanks to Pip. I'm trying to be menacing, but she just had to go and put her hand on my lower back, just above the waistband of my pants, to push me out of her way so she could get back at TD&U.

I didn't budge, but I also can't focus with that kind of touch.

"Look man," Tall, Dark, and Ugly said, turning his eyes to me instead of Elle's chest, "this ain't got nothin' to do with you, so back the fuck off." Turning back to Elle, he continued, "Beautiful, you gotta keep better company. Come on back with me and the guys. We'll show you a good time."