Make It Count by Megan Erickson Read Free Book Online Page B

stood up. “I need to run to the john. Can you watch Kat and make sure no jackass puts his hands on her?”
    So now he was a babysitter? This night was getting better and better. He nodded and didn’t take his eyes off of the dance floor. The guilt of watching her eased slightly. Max told him to, so it was okay, right?
    Of course a minute after Max left, some guy walked up behind Kat, his eyes glued to her wiggling ass. Kat’s back was turned so she didn’t see him. The dude was huge, too, like six-five easy, and he was looking back at his friends, giving them a thumbs-up.
    This was not Alec’s night.
    He stood, knowing his own height of six feet was going to look puny. He motioned to Cam, hoping he knew some sort of black ops trick to bring Big Dude to his knees with a strategic finger poke. “We gotta get the girls. Some guy is trying to get all over them.”
    Cam’s eyes swept the dance floor, and his face hardened. “I got Tara and Shanna, you get Kat.”
    Course.
    Alec pushed his way through the writhing bodies on the dance floor, eyes on Kat. By now, the big dude had started grinding his crotch against her ass, his hands clamped on her hips.
    When Alec was five feet away, Kat dislodged the guy’s hands and whirled around to face him, all of five-three with her heels, her face only coming up to his pecs. She put a hand up, right in the guy’s face, and Alec saw her lips say, “No.”
    His heart started beating five times harder, and if he were a sap, he would have said he fell in love with her right then. Babysit Kat? She could take care of herself.
    Big Dude didn’t want to take no for an answer. He grabbed her hips again and leaned in, pressing his face against her neck. Kat recoiled, yelled “Ew!” which Alec heard clearly over the blasting music, and then she shoved Big Dude’s shoulders.
    Big Dude wasn’t amused.
    Alec took three more strides and was by her side. Kat whirled on him, the fight still in her eyes, as if she expected him to be Big Dude’s backup. When she saw it was him, her face lit up.
    “Alec!” she yelled, flinging her arms around his neck. She nuzzled her face into his chest, then leaned back. “Pretend to be my boyfriend,” she whispered.
    Did Kat realize that was like a death sentence when Big Dude was rolling his cannonball shoulders and fisting his fingered hammers? But he couldn’t say no, not with Kat’s scent in his nostrils, the warmth of her still-dancing body pressing against his.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Cam led Tara and Shanna off the dance floor and that spurred his brain into working again.
    “Uh . . .” Yeah, that was all he had. He never claimed to be an actor. So he gripped her waist and turned around, walking side-by-side, ignoring Big Dude.
    Big Dude didn’t like to be ignored.
    “Yo!” He grabbed Alec’s shoulder and wrenched it around. Alec didn’t have time to unwrap from Kat, so she came with him.
    Alec didn’t like to fight. When they were younger, Max fought all the rich assholes for both of them. Alec liked to sit down and talk it out. Like adults. Or as Max called it, a “pussy pacifist.”
    “You need to keep a better leash on your girl,” Big Dude said. Kat stiffened beside him, about to launch into a tirade. Was she afraid of anyone? Guys weren’t supposed to hit girls, but that didn’t mean none did.
    Alec grimaced at the guy’s mention of a leash. “Sorry, her collar is getting dry-cleaned.”
    Big Dude looked like he was contemplating stomping the life out of Alec. Kat snorted a laugh beside him, seemingly unconcerned about Alec’s imminent pounding.
    Before he could determine the best way to diffuse the situation, a body stepped in front of him. Max had finally stopped pissing and graced them with his presence. How generous. “Fuck off, Brant.”
    That was Max. No mincing words.
    Alec didn’t stay to hear the rest. He pulled Kat along with him off of the dance floor while she craned her neck around, shooting death