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her friends with their boyfriends, she wondered if her time would ever come.
    And then Ben swept her off her feet…
    Leaning on her elbows, with empty glasses on the counter either side of her and the lively dance floor below, a cocktail was placed in front of her.
    ‘You had this when we first met, Jenny.’
    She knew it was him, before she looked. He sat down next to her. ‘Thanks, Ben.’
    He cocked his head. ‘You remember my name. That’s good.’
    ‘I remember your friend, too.’ She must have had eight drinks by now, and she could feel the difference.
    ‘Yeah, you made a mistake with him. He’s a creep.’
    ‘You hang around with creeps?’
    ‘He’s not a creep to me, but he is to girls.’ He nodded slowly at her. ‘But I knew you’d work him out.’
    She relaxed a little, even smiled a bit. ‘Why?’
    ‘I talked to you that time. I could tell you were smart.’
    Jenny shook her head. ‘He used to go on and on about how brilliant I was, just like you are.’
    ‘Except I mean it. I’ll tell you you’re smart, beautiful, and easy-going, ’cause that’s as much as I know so far. Oh, and that you pick bad boyfriends.’
    ‘Who else did you know, other than Geoff?’
    ‘Didn’t know any of the others, but I saw you with a couple in here.’
    ‘Were you spying on me?’
    He looked down briefly and smiled. ‘I’ve wanted to buy you a drink for a while. This is the first time I’ve seen you on your own.’
    ‘You didn’t try to get my number from Geoff then?’
    ‘Nah, that’s wrong. He was gutted when you dumped him.’
    ‘Gutted that I didn’t sleep with him.’
    Ben nodded. ‘Yeah, he was, is.’
    ‘So you know quite a lot about me really? I’m sure Geoff told you I’m a waste of time.’
    ‘No. I think he wants to get back with you.’
    ‘That won’t happen.’
    ‘Good.’ Ben swigged from his bottle, and Jenny sipped some of her drink too. ‘I don’t care about sex right now,’ he said. ‘I want to settle down with someone.’
    Jenny slowly slid her glass along the counter. ‘I don’t trust anyone, I’m afraid. I’ve heard so much bullshit.’
    ‘I’m not a creep like the others. I don’t beg and I’m not needy. You could at least come out with me one night.’
    ‘No, come out with me!’ a drunk shouted from the other side of Jenny, as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his body.
    Ben grabbed the drunk’s wrist and twisted it. His body involuntarily sprang towards Ben.
    ‘Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…’
    Ben pulled him up close, and pressed his other hand into the guy’s face. The screams became muffled, and Jenny gasped when she saw blood running from his nose.
    ‘Ben, he’s bleeding. Let him go!’
    Ben removed his hand, stood up and pushed him hard in the back. Jenny watched the guy crash into the floor, and eventually get to his feet and stumble away.
    Ben picked up his beer.
    ‘You just assaulted him,’ Jenny said.
    ‘He assaulted you first.’
    ‘What did you do to him?’
    ‘It’s only a burst nose. He’ll clean it up in the toilet and stop being a dick.’
    Jenny was shocked, but strangely not discouraged. The boy was an idiot, and if she’d been on her own, he probably would’ve groped her. He deserved to be frightened off. And she deserved to be protected. If he’d not interfered with them, nothing would’ve happened. And she felt appreciated. Ben could be arrested for what he did, but he did it for her.
    ‘Let’s go somewhere else,’ she said. ‘I want to dance.’
    ‘I don’t dance.’
    ‘Then you might as well go and find someone else,’ she teased.
    Ben laughed. ‘Okay, I’ll dance, but you need to know that every single arm and leg move I do mortifies me.’
    She laughed too. ‘Don’t embarrass me. I can dance…’
    Jenny sat up on the edge of her bed and warned herself not to hope for too much. She didn’t need more hurt. But she felt so excited, and after making her way down the winding, oak