There are at least twenty people we have to shove out of the way to make a path.

The guy leering at Sarah stands up and starts to dance, but since he’s standing on the floor and she’s on the table, he’s at the exact height of her crotch, staring right at it. Freaked out, she backs away and loses her balance, falling backward off the table where she can crack her head open.

I catch her just in time. “Whoa now,” I snarl.

Reflexively her arms go around my neck and her eyes lock onto mine in shock. She’s fucking wasted, all blurry and confused by my timely appearance. Within a fraction of a second the realization that I saw her dancing launches into her, clamping her mouth shut as shame flashes across her face.

“Hey, thanks, man,” the black-haired guy who’s about to die says.

I set Sarah carefully down because her trembling legs don’t want to hold her up. “You got this?” I ask her.

She nods.

It’s noisy and Simone’s so drunk that she didn’t even notice her dancing partner vanished.

Justin’s waiting for my lead.

I tap on Simone’s gyrating ass to get her attention. I know this was her idea. Gifted or no, this girl is dead to me.

As she turns around the black-haired fuckhead starts for Sarah.

“Jason…” Justin snarls.

I turn just in time to punch the guy before his hands lock onto Sarah’s hips.

He reels back and does a dog-after-a-bath head shake, staring at me. His eyes shift to fury and suddenly as if they’re one person, the two guys who were sitting down watching Simone rise up to get into the action.

Simone shouts, “Jason?!!”

She’s just realized I’m not a mirage.

Justin clocks one of the guys while I punch the black-haired one, then turn and hit the third. The fight gets gruesome quick because other guys itching for a brawl for no reason except their testosterone demands it, jump in, some on our side, some not.

“Get back!” I yell to the girls as I throw punch after punch, dodging and weaving and taking on whatever drunken slob comes at me. Simone and Sarah push their backsides into the crowd behind them to escape the building eruption of fists.

I feel a punch in my side and grab the guy around his neck to headlock him, slamming my knuckles in his chin while he grunts. Someone grabs me from behind to pull me off the guy and I resist. Then I feel women’s heels flopping against my hips. I look back to discover that Sarah has jumped on the guy’s back and is slapping his head, her little legs flailing and hitting me. He swats her off him and she falls down. I try and go for her but Simone shouts, “Jason!” pointing behind me.

I feel a punch to the back of my head.

It’s not the first time that’s happened, so I don’t go down. Reeling around and bending, I take the guy to the floor by wrestling him at the waist and knocking his legs off balance with my foot hooked around the back of his knee. His tail bone smacks hard onto the ground and he shouts in pain. I clock him in the head.

Rising up I grab a guy off my brother while two guys fight each other behind me. Justin’s punching one huge, bearded guy while another is trying to make him pass out by choking him from behind. I take that guy down in three punches. As he goes unconscious he releases my brother’s neck. Justin knees the bearded guy in the balls, then elbows him hard, cracking his nose open.

Justin gasps for air and locks on me.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” I growl, waving the girls over with my hand, shouting at them, “Come on!”

Justin and I make a path for them by fighting our way through.

Simone screams. Even over a bomb detonating I’d recognize that voice. I flip around and see one of those guys she was dancing for earlier is now carrying her off. Sarah’s smacking the guy’s back but he’s not feeling it. His mind is set. He has what he wants and he’s not going home without it.

Sarah’s wild-eyed, yelling, “JASON! HELP!!!”

I have to shove past and punch people to get over there. He’s made some distance and the place is in riot mode. When I finally reach them I hit the guy so hard both he and Simone topple over.

Justin leaps and grabs Simone. I kick the fucking asshole who tried to kidnap her to the ground.

Sarah grabs my bicep. “Look!” She points the way to where people are so distracted by battling each other they’ve unwittingly left a narrow path between them and the bar.

I grab her hand, lacing our fingers tightly together, as Justin carries Simone.

She’s curled into his shoulder, shaking with sobs.

Checking on Sarah I glance down to see her chin set in brave determination. Her eyelashes rise and almond-colored eyes lock onto mine.

“You okay?”

She squeezes my hand and nods once. “Yeah.”

I tighten my grip and push a guy back with my other hand. He was about to crash into us. “Let’s get you out of here.”