I spin on my heel. “We’re not prostitutes, asshole.”
He leers, his gaze never meeting my eyes.
Jerk.
“She talks,” he says.
“Not to you,” Nessie says, grabbing my hand again.
“Good. I prefer girls who are silent.” He reaches forward as though he’s going to touch one of us and stops when I swat his hand away.
“You’re drunk,” I tell him. “You’re being an asshole, and you’re likely going to forget this moment tomorrow, but I’m going to warn you that girls stand up for each other. I scream for help and every woman here is going to be ready to kick you in your useless balls.”
Two women standing near us step away from the fence. They look around our mom’s age. “I prefer to use my knee,” one of them says, her attention on the stranger.
He raises his hands and takes a step back, chuckling like the situation is funny. “I just assumed twins, Vegas…” He shrugs.
Nessie looks at me, her eyebrows lowered with anger, then looks beyond him at his group of friends who are still several feet back. “Friends of Neanderthal, your buddy needs a leash before he gets punched in the face.”
A couple stops beside us, the guy glancing between the burly bearded jackass and us. “Everything okay?”
The dark-haired friend of the jerk jogs over, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and redirecting him. “Sorry. Sorry,” he says, steering him back to their group.
“You guys okay?” the guy asks again, his demeanor friendly but cautious.
Nessie nods. “Yeah, thanks for stopping.” She looks at the two women. “And thanks for offering to knee him in the ballsack.”
The woman who made the threat smiles. “I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get to do it.”
We’re still laughing when Cooper and Tyler appear, dressed in their suits as they laugh about something. The sight of them together—Cooper happy, Tyler unguarded—tugs at that space in my chest that has always noticed too much about Tyler. His friendship with Cooper is how, aside from all of his negative traits, I always knew he was a good guy because Coop’s acceptance and tolerance for bullshit is so low thanks to having wasted so much of it on his dad.
Cooper’s smile falls as he looks at me, his gaze becoming severe as he scans the others around us. “What happened?” he asks, his focus jogging between Nessie and me.
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
Ty’s eyebrows are drawn as they come to a stop. “What’s wrong?”
“Some guy just got mouthy with them, but they were amazing. You guys should be impressed with your girlfriends because they were strong and fearless and complete badasses,” one of the women who had stopped tells them.
Ty’s eyebrows jump as he pulls his hands out of his pockets, still scanning over the crowds. “What happened?”
“Which guy?” Cooper asks.
Nessie glances at me and then the others. “Thanks again, guys. Have a great night.” She wraps both hands around Cooper’s arm and leads him to the corner so we can cross the street.
Tyler’s unease is apparent, which has me offering a quick wave to the strangers and weaving my hand in his.
“Let’s go,” I tell him.
His muscles are constricted, reluctant to leave. “Is that him?”
I glance up at where the bearded man is waving at us like the moron he clearly is. “While I really enjoy seeing new sights, jail is not a place I want to see,” I tell him. “He was dumb and drunk, and he’s going to go to bed and wake up with a killer hangover and likely a broken nose if he continues this. Meanwhile, we can go and celebrate our last night in Vegas. Alone. Not in a jail cell.”
His jaw flexes with irritation, and then he pulls out his phone and hits a few buttons before slipping his arm securely around my waist.
We catch up to Nessie and Cooper, who’s still growling out threats and asking for details as they wait for the crosswalk.
“It was nothing,” she assures him.
“I saw your face.” He looks at me. “I don’t understand why you guys won’t just tell me what happened?”
“Because we handled it,” Nessie says, placing a hand on her chest. “You heard that woman. We were badasses.” She tries to dazzle him with a smile, but Coop’s got his protective growly side on, the one that he’s always had toward us, even when he was the scrawny book nerd before the muscles and height kicked in to make him a legitimate threat.
Cooper swings his gaze to mine. It’s a challenge, a demand that stands on ten years of friendship and not keeping (many) secrets from one another.
I sigh, glancing across the street where the guy is still standing with his friends. “The guy was being a douche. He had some liquid courage and backwoods audacity and asked if we were hookers.”
Tyler stiffens, and my grip on his hand tightens reflexively. “And we handled it,” I repeat Nessie’s words. “Team badass.” We high five each other.
Cooper’s eyes are sharp as they search mine to see if I’m withholding any additional details before he releases a deep sigh. “Next time, just kick the asshole in the nuts.”
I grin. “Deal.”
“I sent his picture to the head of security at the hotel. He’ll contact the cops and have him followed, make sure he doesn’t act like a fucking tosser to others.” Tyler says before taking a long breath through his nose.
“Good. Hopefully, he fucks up again and gets arrested.” Cooper stabs the elevator button with his finger.
I glance at Nessie, releasing a heavy sigh. I was hoping this night would be filled with laughter and fun as we celebrated our final night in Vegas, rather than being accused of being a hooker for the second time in two days. I glance at my reflection in the doors, studying my dress and hair and makeup. At the beginning of this night, I’d been concerned I hadn’t looked sexy enough, my pink dress looking more
