Before Hannah could respond, Matt stood up, holding up his hands palms out. “Hey, man. Calm down. There’s no need to act like that.”
Derek turned on Matt, brown eyes blazing, trying to hold onto his intimidating look in the face of Matt’s taller, more muscular physique, his laid-back attitude lulling Derek into thinking that he could still try to control the situation. Derek pointed a finger in Matt’s face, and Matt straightened even more. “You stay out of this. I don’t even know who you are. I’ve never seen you before. And we don’t need you here sniffing around Hannah, messing with our project. So either sign the petition or leave.”
Matt chuckled, his hands in his pockets. “Whoa there, little man.” Derek’s face turned red at Matt’s insult, and Hannah stifled a snort. Chelsea stood off to the side wide eyed. “I came to see Hannah. Your accusations about her professionalism are a bit ridiculous, especially with you acting like that.” He shrugged, crossing his arms and tilting his head back a little. “Of course, there still isn’t anyone else around, so criticizing your professionalism is about as stupid as you criticizing hers. So why don’t you settle down and let her eat. If you’re so worried about her eating at your table here, we’ll happily relocate somewhere else. Of course, I can’t guarantee I’ll have her back as quickly as you might like, but …” He shrugged, cracking a little grin, seeming to enjoy needling Derek.
The patches of color on Derek’s cheeks grew redder and his nostrils flared. “Look, man, I don’t know who you think you are—”
“Oh, my bad. Hannah didn’t mention it. I’m her boyfriend.” Matt’s tone had grown harder, and Hannah recognized the signs of him losing his patience, the stiffening of his shoulders and straightening of his spine, his laid-back attitude falling away. “And I don’t appreciate little anal retentive pissants like yourself trying to throw his weight around like it means something, especially with her.”
Derek turned his attention to Hannah. “Really, Han? You’re going to let this juiced-up meathead talk for you? Since when are you okay with anyone speaking for you?”
Matt’s nostrils flared, and he moved to place himself between her and Derek. Hannah took that as her cue to step in. She stood up, her amusement at their conflict fading. She laid a hand on Matt’s arm, his muscles hard under her touch. He didn’t look at her, never taking his eyes from Derek. “It’s okay, Matt. I’ve got it.” His head moved a fraction of an inch in a tight nod, but he didn’t unclench his jaw or divert his hard stare.
Sighing, she faced Derek, done dealing with his pompous ass. Picking up her burrito, she carefully wrapped the foil around it again, not bothering to look up as she spoke. “Look, Derek. We should all just call it a day. This isn’t the best use of anyone’s time. We’ve gotten two signatures in the last three hours.”
Derek interrupted her with a loud, frustrated sigh. “Hannah, you’ve given us your opinion more times than I care to remember. This is what we’ve decided to do. If you can’t be supportive, you can just quit. I know you wanted to anyway. I’m not even sure why you’re here.”
Matt moved to step between them again, but Hannah stopped him with a hand on his arm once more. “Derek, don’t be ridiculous. You know I care about the club and what we do. I just think—”
“You’re not here to think. You’re here to get signatures. And you aren’t even doing a good job of that.” He picked up a clipboard, making a show of examining the few signatures they’d managed to collect that day. “Chelsea and I were gone for almost an hour and you didn’t manage to even get one.” A large clap sounded when he tossed the clipboard back on the uncovered table. Hannah flinched, her cheeks heating, that damn blush kicking up again.
“That’s not fair, Derek, and you know it.”
She saw Derek open his mouth to say something else, but Matt spoke next, his hand coming around her waist. “And we’re done. Come on, Hannah. We’ll have lunch somewhere else. Let this jackass sit here all day by himself if he wants. You don’t need to take this shit from him. Let’s go.”
He tugged her away, and she went, not wanting to deal with Derek anymore, but Derek couldn’t let them go without a parting shot. “Yes, that’s it. Run along, Hannah. Let this guy tell you what to do. Maybe he’ll have better luck than I did. God knows you never listened to me.”
She turned to face him, but Matt urged her to keep going. “Ignore him. He’s obviously just a little man that feels the need to compensate by making himself seem more important than he is. Save your breath. Nothing you say can change anything, and it’ll only make it harder for me to walk away without punching his smug little face.”
Hannah chuckled at his assessment. “You have no idea how right you are.”
“Oh yeah?” A grin tugged at his lips and he raised his eyebrows.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
Derek still kept going. “If you leave, Hannah, you’re not welcome back.”
That had her stopping in her tracks. Matt turned too. “Threats now? Come on. Hannah’s probably the best thing that ever happened to your club, and you’re too stupid to realize it. You know what I think, though? You’re just a jealous little asshole who wouldn’t know what to do with someone like her even if you had the chance.”
Derek let out an ugly laugh. “Jealous? Not hardly. That bitch and I broke up weeks ago.”
In three long strides, Matt was back in Derek’s face, bunching Derek’s shirt in his fists, lifting him onto his
