Mister West by R.J. Lewis (animal farm read .TXT) 📕

hand, is getting drunker. I barely pay attention to him as he wraps his arms around me and moves with me. He says something in my ear. I think he calls me beautiful. He spins me around and takes my hands into each of his. He wraps them around his neck, and I shake my head and drop them. I’m really not in the mood to get close to a guy right now. It just feels wrong and gross.

“Come on,” he urges, smiling at me.

I try to smile back. “I’m not here for that, Dave.”

He comes closer to me. “I won’t touch you, then. How’s this?”

He moves forward pressed up against me, and I step back, bumping into others around me. “Really not here for that,” I repeat calmly.

He seems to understand and steps back. “How about this?”

I blink hard, a little annoyed, but he’s away from me now. I nod shortly and eventually move away from him completely, finding another spot. My head is starting to pound. I run a hand through my hair, gripping a chunk.

I’m aware Dave is back again, never straying far from me. I look around, searching for Ana but she’s not on the dance floor anymore, and I can’t see Brett either.

“Are you okay?” Dave asks me, coming close to me now. He runs a hand through my hair, and I move away. “Calm down,” he tells me, sounding frustrated.

“You keep getting close to me,” I snap, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “I don’t want you close to me, okay?”

He moves closer. “I’m just checking if you’re okay –”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t be a bitch about it, alright?”

“I’m not trying to be a bitch about it! You just keep coming, and you’re doing it again!” He’s back in front of me, his hands at my hips. I push him back, and his face falls. Funny what happens when a person has a bit too much to drink. They change into a different person completely. I’ve seen this look in Derek’s eyes every time he’s guzzled too many beers. Brett stares at me in shock, like me pushing him away was the last thing he ever expected I would do. And then he’s stepping forward and pushingme. I fly back into a random person’s back.

I glare at him. “You’re an asshole!”

“And you’re a fucking tease,” he hollers, coming up to me again.

“Leave me the hell alone!” I go to walk away, ignoring the attention around me. People have stopped moving to stare. The guy’s literally not going away. I can feel him at my back. I spin around to deliver another scathing curse when I feel a hand wrap around my arm. I get tugged back suddenly.

“She said to leave her alone,” a voice cuts in.

I look up in surprise as Aidan steps in front of me, his huge back blocking Dave.

Dave sneers, staring back at him in surprise. “Don’t tell me these bitches have your gold card.”

“Back away,” Aidan warns. “You’re drunk.”

But Dave must not be moving away because Aidan steps forward and shoves him back so hard, Dave falls on his ass. Aidan’s hands are balled into fists as he stares over him. I don’t have to see his face to know he’s pissed.

“You’re lucky I haven’t beaten the fuck out of you,” he growls at him now, and I’ve never heard that scary tone from him before. “In another life, you’d have been ground meat, motherfucker.”

Before he gets up, Aidan turns to me and takes me by the hand.

“Let’s go, Ivy,” he says, sounding annoyed.

“Where are we going?” I ask, glancing back once to look at Dave. He’s still on the ground.

“Out of here before they start talking.”

“But Ana –”

“Gaston is taking her back to her home as we speak. She was hardly able to stand on her own two feet.”

Aidan’s moving really fast, and I’m struggling to catch up. He ducks his head down so people don’t look at his face. He really doesn’t want anyone to recognize him. We hurry down the stairs and to the doors. Aidan’s firm grip on me keeps me from tripping over my feet.

“Slow down, Aidan,” I tell him.

He only slows down when we’re out of there. It’s spitting outside, which makes it chilly as hell. He looks back at the club a couple times, his eyes dark. He’s so angry, I’m not used to it.

“What’s wrong?”

He doesn’t answer.

I grip his arm with my other hand and tug him to a stop half a block away.

“Stop,” I tell him in a calm voice. “Talk to me.”

He swings his dark eyes at me. “I’m angry, Ivy.”

“At what? At me?”

“I came this close to fucking hitting that guy!” he growls. “I haven’t hit someone in a very long time, Ivy –”

“You didn’t hit him, though. You pushed him away. Nothing happened.”

“You’re not understanding,” he says, angrily. “I came too close, Ivy. Too fucking close. You know, I sent you and your friend to that club because I thought it would stop this sort of shit from happening.”

I shrug. “What can I say? Even the loaded men are capable of being sleazebags, Aidan.”

“That’s not what I meant at all.”

“I know –”

“You shouldn’t imply I give a fuck about that. I meant I had people I know in there and they were supposed to make sure shit like that was under control.”

Wow, he was looking out for me.

I blow out a breath. “Look, Aidan, it happened –”

“If I wasn’t there, he would have kept at you –”

“And I would have continued to lose it at him! Shit like that has happened to me before, Aidan, and guess what? It’ll probably happen again!”

I’m only making him angrier. “No more clubs, Ivy.”

I let out a hard laugh. “Are you kidding me, Aidan?”

“It’s Mr West in public,” he has the nerve to correct me.

I roll my eyes. “Are you kidding me, Mr West?”

“Sir,” he corrects again, watching me closely, and now I don’t know whether he wants to strangle me or fuck me.

“You’re