“Hey,” Podge warned, coming to my defense.
“Stay out of this, Podge.”
“Don’t grab her like that, lad.”
“It’s okay, Podge, I’m grand,” I told him before turning my glare back on Paul. “This is a Halloween costume, and Podge is my friend. I’m allowed to have friends, Paul.”
“It’s too revealing,” he argued. “I can see the cheeks of your ass under that thing you call a dress. It makes you look like a whore. You’re better than that.”
“Whore?” Drunk and furious, I shoved at his chest. “You prick.”
“Aoife— “
“I was dancing with my friend – enjoying myself. I wasn’t do anything wrong, and you insulted me.” I glared at him. “Twice. That’s a hard fucking limit for me, Paul.”
“Yeah, but you’ve been drinking.”
“And?”
“And I’m not comfortable with it.”
“With what exactly?” I demanded, voice slurring. “Me drinking or dancing?”
Paul opened his mouth to reply but I quickly cut him off.
“You know what? Don’t answer that. Don’t even speak to me. In fact, why don’t you consider yourself relieved of boyfriend duties for the night. At least that way, you won’t feel embarrassed by me.”
“Don’t do this, Aoife,” he warned, snatching my hand up. “Not here. Not like this.”
“You started this, Paul.” Snatching my hand back, I wagged a finger in his face. “You called me a slut, remember? And a whore.” Shaking my head, I backed up a step or two, bumping up against a hard chest. “Whoops.”
“How are ya, Aoife?” Mack, one of the lads from my class, asked, offering me a friendly smile. “You’re looking well.”
“Hey, Mack.” I smiled back at him before returning to glower at my boyfriend. “You’re going to eat your words, asshole.”
With that, I turned back to dance with my smiling classmate, who was only too happy to dance with me.
“Yeah, girl,” Casey hooted in support, as she and Alec danced over to us. “You show that prick who’s boss.”
“Jesus Christ,” Paul growled, grabbing ahold of my arm and roughly yanking me back towards him. “You’re a messy fucking drunk.”
“And you’re just plain messy,” I snapped. “Now leave me alone before you ruin my whole night.”
“Let her go, Ricey, lad,” Mack said in a concerned tone. “She was only dancing with me. We’re friends, lad. No harm done.”
“Yeah, prick,” Alec interjected, with Casey’s red lipstick smeared all over his face. “I wouldn’t put hands on her, if I were you.”
“She’s making a fucking show of herself,” Paul seethed before dragging me away from our friends. “I’d call that a lot of harm done.”
“Hey,” Casey called out after us. “Let go of her arm, Paul!”
“No,” he bit out, as he began to make his way through the crowd, dragging me along after him. “You’re going to sober up and we’re going to talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk,” I complained, digging my heels into the floor. “I want to dance.”
“And make an even bigger show of me?” He shook his head and continued to drag me towards the exit. “Yeah, that’s not happening, babe.”
“Stop,” I argued, trying and failing to break free from his hold. “You’re squashing my wings –my halo! Stop, I’ve dropped my halo on the floor.”
One minute, I was pulling with all of my might to break away from Paul’s hold, and the next, I was on my hands and knees on the floor, having lost my balance when he abruptly let go of my arm.
“My halo!” I half-slurred, half-cheered, reaching out a hand to retrieve it. “You bastard,” I wailed, when someone’s big foot stomped down on it, cracking the plastic in half. “You broke my halo!”
“Put your hands on her like that again and see what’ll happen,” a familiar voice threatened, as the owner of said voice hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me to my feet. “She’s not a fucking rag-doll, asshole.”
Bleary eyed, I let my gaze wander up to the owner of said voice and beamed when his familiar green eyes landed on mine. “Well, hey there, Joe!”
“Molloy,” he acknowledged in his usual deep timbre. “Causing trouble again?”
“Always.” Grinning wolfishly, I hooked an arm around his neck for balance, feeling my pulse skyrocket at the sight of him. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking out for you, apparently,” Joey muttered, keeping one strong arm hooked around me.
“She’s mine, dickhead, back off,” Paul growled, running a hand through his hair. “I’ll look after her.”
Joey cocked a brow. “Looks like you were doing a real stellar job at that.”
“She’s drunk She’s a handful when she’s like this.”
“So, that’s your excuse for almost pulling her arm out of its socket?”
“Someone broke my halo, Joe,” I wailed, waving a broken piece around aimlessly in front of his face. “I’m a fallen angel now.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied with a shrug. “No one likes a saint, Molloy.”
“Aoife, come on.”
“So, what are you dressed as?” I asked, batting a random hand away, as my gaze trailed over the fitted white shirt and blue jeans Joey had on. “Let me guess,” I teased, reaching up to fluff his perfectly styled hair and then letting my hand move to the silver chain hidden beneath the collar of his shirt. “You’re a fallen angel, too.”
“Come on, Aoife,” Paul interrupted, catching ahold of my waist, and pulling me roughly to his chest. “We’re leaving. Now.”
“No,” I growled, huffing out a breath. “I don’t want to go with you. I want to stay and dance with Casey.”
“Now, Aoife!”
“It doesn’t look like she wants to go anywhere with you,” Joey interjected coolly, stepping in front of us when Paul carted me towards the exit.
“I don’t,” I agreed, nodding vigorously, as I slipped out of his hold. “I want to stay.”
“Stay out of it, Lynchy,” Paul warned, reaching for my arm again. “She’s my girlfriend, not yours. I’ll look after her.”
“Then why don’t you start by asking her what she wants?” Joey countered, taking a protective step in front of me. “Not fucking telling her.” Piercing green eyes locked on mine, when he turned back to me and asked, “Molloy, do you want to leave with him?”
“No,” I replied, and then hiccupped loudly. “He called me a slut.”
“You called her a slut?”
“I did not call her a slut,” Paul quickly defended, pulling on my arm. “I told her that she was dancing like one.”
“Same thing,” I shot back, yanking my arm free from Paul’s overly tight grip, as I leaned heavily against my protector’s tall frame. “I’m not dealing with you tonight, so just go away and leave me alone.”