FORTY ONE

Lila turned to him and laughed before pulling him off the dance floor. She was panting as if she had run a marathon. "That's enough dancing for today," she said casually, still holding his hand. 

"Should we head back to the room?" He asked, and she nodded. 

"I think we have enough experience for ourselves and the paparazzi." 

"Wait here," he said, and before she could ask him why he was out of sight. She clutched her bag tightly as she looked down at her feet to realize her shoes were still gone. She hoped that Levi had gone to get the shoes for her because they were a pair she really liked. 

Levi approached the bartender and bought a bottle of water before sighting Lila's shoes still in the same place she had kicked them off. He picked them up, smiling from ear to ear for no reason, before happily going to meet her. 

"Why not dance with me?" A man asked. He looked up and saw the man close to Lila. He was so close that there was barely any space for her to escape. 

He was big and towered over her. Lila raised her head to him and frowned. She shook her head at him, but it seemed like he was not interested in taking no for an answer. 

"Why not miss? Why don't you want to dance with me?" He asked with a smirk on his face. "You seem to be a very good dancer. I saw you on the table and then on the dance floor; not everyone can dance like you." 

"No, thank you," she said, shaking her head. 

"Why are you playing hard to get?" He asked, holding her by the wrist as she struggled to get out of his grip. "If you don't want to dance here, then we can go back to my hotel room," he finished, but before he could say anything else, Levi was holding his hand tightly. 

He tugged on it till he released Lila from his grip. "What are you doing?" The man winced in pain as Levi's grip kept tightening. 

"Why are you making the young lady uncomfortable?" Levi asked through gritted teeth. 

"And did she beg you to save her?" The man asked, pushing his face into Levi's face. "I hate all these attention-seeking men who always want to act like a knight for all women. I was having a nice conversation with this woman, and then you think it's okay to creep up on us like that break us apart?"

"It's men like you that make all women think all men are scum," Levi said, his hand still holding his hand tightly while his other hand held onto the bottle and her shoes. 

"Levi, let go," Lila slurred from the corner. 

"You heard the lady," he said, raising his eyebrow at Levi as if he had won. "Let go," he said, shaking his hand as if that were going to allow him to go at once. 

Levi pulled him to himself and then pushed him away before quickly letting go of his grip on him. This caused the man to stumble and then land on the floor. 

For him, it seemed like his ego was hurt. Levi had humiliated him, so he stood up and rushed towards him, landing an open-fisted punch directly on his face. "How dare you?" He screamed as his hand dropped to the side. 

Levi had been trying to keep his cool. He had been trying his best not to make a scene; they did not need any of that. If he fought with that man, he knew that images and videos of him fighting would spread too quickly. Now that the man punched him first, he could not let him go easily. 

Before anyone could react, Levi was in this man, punching his face multiple times. He hated that he had tried to take advantage of Lila while she was drunk and that he had been so proud while doing it. He hated that the man also thought he could punch him in the face and get away with it. 

Soon people gathered with their phones out, recording the entire thing. The bouncers were at the scene moments later, and they were finally able to pull them away from hurting each other a few moments later, even though Levi seemed to have done much more damage. 

"I'm going to sue you," the man screamed from behind the bouncers. He thought that since he was bigger than Levi, he would have won in a fight against him. 

Levi manages to pull Lila out of the club after speaking to the manager and asking that he ban the man from the establishment. Lila struggled to walk, and Levi, who wanted to be far from the club, carried her on his back. 

After walking a few steps, Lila begins to struggle; she wants to get down and walk herself. Levi could not believe that she was not that much different, even though she seemed to be drunk. He put her down, and she rushed to his front to check his body. 

"Why did you fight? Do you want to get hurt?" She asked, hitting him on the arm. Levi was shocked at how strong she was and how much it hurt him. 

"You are the one hurting me, and I'm fine," he said. It was cute that she was worried about him when she could barely take good care of herself. 

"Don't do that again." She said with a pout sticking out her pinky in his face. She waved her finger and bent her head. "Promise?" Levi stood looking at her; he knew that once she remembered this in the morning she would be embarrassed, and as if it would bring him much more joy, he decided to add to her embarrassment by crossing his pinky with hers.

"I Promise"