I certainly had no regrets about my decision to stay.

Tamara put her cue back on the stand. “I need to go to the ladies’ room.”

“Me too,” Alex said, and Jess grabbed her purse.

“You coming, Grace?” Tamara asked.

I glanced at the table. We’d probably lose it if we all left. “That’s okay, I’ll hold our place here.”

“You sure?” Jess asked.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

The girls left down the little hallway toward the restrooms. I had to admit, it was true what they said about girls going to the bathroom in groups.

Asher and the guys were still waiting at the bar, so I decided to take a few practice shots. I knew the girls wouldn’t mind—none of us were serious enough about the game to care about the score. I wandered around to the other side of the table and picked a potential shot. Leaned over and lined up my cue.

I felt someone behind me, his body skimming my ass, and I wondered how Asher had gotten back so fast. “Watch it, big guy, I’m playing here.”

Hands rested on my hips and he pressed his groin against me. My heart rate jumped. That wasn’t Asher.

Straightening quickly, I whipped around, and my cue clattered to the floor. I had the fleeting thought that I should have held onto it in case I needed to hit this guy with it, but it was too late for that. My hands landed on his chest and I pushed.

“Get the fuck off me.”

He staggered back a step, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. I didn’t recognize him. Short blond hair, square jaw. The Tilikum College t-shirt probably meant he was a student.

“Whoa, hey.” He put his hands up.

“What the hell? You don’t just walk up to some girl and grab her ass like that.”

“When she’s wearing shorts like those, you do.” His eyes swept up and down. “Damn, girl.”

I couldn’t tell if he was drunk, or just that much of an asshole. Maybe both. He had a bunch of buddies behind him, most of them holding beers. A few of them elbowed each other, snickering.

“If that was supposed to be a pickup line, it sucked.”

His friends moved, fanning out around the pool table. They acted casual, but I didn’t like the way they made me feel penned in. I glanced toward the bar, but I couldn’t see Asher from where I was standing.

“Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry, princess.” He took a step closer. “Give me another chance.”

“I’m not your princess. And I’m engaged, so you’re wasting your time.”

“Oh shit, is he here?” the guy asked. “Hey, you guys, wanna watch me take some dude’s fiancée out from under him?”

One of his friends sat on the edge of the table. “Yeah, right.”

“You don’t think I can do it?”

Warnings were going off in my head like a fire alarm. I needed to get away. The guy had me backed up against the pool table, so I tried to move past him, shoving him aside with my arm.

His hand clamped around my wrist. I twisted, shouting for him to let go, and an instant later chaos erupted around me.

I stumbled a few steps before regaining my feet and whipping around. A knot of men had formed next to the pool table—shoving each other, voices raised. Asher was in the middle of it.

An arm hooked around my waist and pulled me back, whoever it was telling me to get clear. Matt, Randy, and Christian were in the thick of the fray with Asher. The group seemed to swell, people pouring in around the pool tables. I couldn’t tell what was happening, or if the asshole who’d grabbed me was even still in there. Someone moved in front of me, pointing their phone, ready to record.

“Asher, don’t,” I shouted, but I had no idea if he could hear me. I certainly couldn’t see anything.

It looked like shoving broke out in the middle. More yelling. My stomach knotted. I kept getting pushed further back by the crowd.

Someone grabbed my arm. It was Tamara.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Some dicks were harassing me.” I got up on my tiptoes, trying to see. “The guys came back, but I can’t tell what’s happening in there.”

“I think the bar staff is breaking it up,” she said. “I just saw the bouncer muscle his way in.”

That was a relief. Tamara and I pushed through the crowd to get closer. It didn’t seem like things were calming down, but it didn’t sound like anyone was throwing punches, either.

Except… oh no.

I stepped around a guy in a baseball cap in time to see Asher taking slow steps backward, his hands up as if to indicate he wasn’t a threat. Matt, Christian, and Randy were with him, and the bouncers were herding all four of them toward the front.

Great. They were getting kicked out of the bar.

Why the fuck were they getting kicked out? Where was the asshole who’d been harassing me?

At least some of his dickhead buddies were getting kicked out too. Another bouncer was ushering several of them out the door.

“Asher,” I called, although I knew he wouldn’t hear me over all the noise. I waved and he met my eyes, his expression apologetic. I mouthed that I’d be right there.

“Do you think they’re going to get in trouble?” Tamara asked.

“I don’t know, but we better get out there. I just need to get my purse.”

“Okay,” Tamara said. “We’ll meet you out front.”

God, what a mess.

The crowd inside was already dispersing now that the show was over, although a group still bunched around the pool table. I didn’t see my purse where I’d left it, but maybe it had gotten knocked over in the commotion. I circled around, back toward the restrooms. More yelling broke out near the front door. One of the asshole’s buddies was shouting at the bouncer.

Dumbass.

An arm grabbed me from behind and a hand clamped over my mouth before I could so much as gasp. I tried to break free, but my feet dragged across the floor and a second later I was in the dark hallway outside the men’s room. Another set of arms grabbed my legs, hoisting them up.

What the fuck was happening? And how could they be so strong?

I thrashed as hard as I could, but there was nothing I could do against the force of all that muscle, bone, and sinew. They hauled me through a door and cool night air hit my face. My heart raced and I could feel the flood of panic trying to take hold. Where were they taking me?

Someone grunted. Another guy laughed, a harsh snicker that sent a sharp stab of fear down my spine.

“Get her down.”

It was all happening so fast. Rough hands shoved me to the ground. A weight slammed over my hips—someone straddling me. I managed a strangled yell before the hand gripped my face harder, making it hard to breathe.

“Hold her.”

Someone jerked my arms over my head and the weight on top of me made it impossible to move. Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. Tears of fear and rage.

A face moved down, close to mine. It was him. “Hey, princess. Told you I was going to take you.”

I tried to struggle, but his weight held me down.

“Go ahead, princess.” His breath smelled like beer. “I like it when they fight back. Makes me hard.”

Someone laughed. I couldn’t see how many guys were here, but he had help.