The girl was obviously very young but she was also very attractive. Jailbait, Thomas thought. She was the kind of girl who was good-looking enough to spur you to try something that could doom you to a life of registering as a sex offender everywhere you ever lived. According to her name tag, she called herself Alicia. Jacob proceeded to pursue this fate.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” The cowboy said. He tugged her closer and moved to present his legs as a possible location.

She smiled but looked a little disturbed. She made a perfunctory effort to escape.

“Hey.” Thomas said gently. Here I go whiteknighting, he thought, already certain that he was going to cause himself trouble. “Hey.” A little more strongly.

The girl made more effort to get away, no longer smiling. Jacob grabbed one wrist.

“Now what’s this, honey?” Jacob twisted her arm so that all could see the tattoo there. She winced and cried out. Patrons were staring. The hostess had rushed into the kitchen.

“Nice.” Matthew slurred, leaning against Thomas to see better and enveloping him in the alcoholic stench of his exhaled breath.

The tattoo was a ram’s head inside a pentagram. Not so innocent, Thomas mused, shoving back against Matthew.

Alicia squirmed briefly out of Jacob’s grasp but he rose and grappled with her. Thomas also rose and grabbed at Jacob’s arms.

“Let her go, man. This isn’t cool.”

But Thomas was not really one of the cowboys. He was really a college boy, and his interruption was most unwelcome. Jacob turned on him fiercely, letting the girl go.

Next thing Thomas knew, he was on the floor. Idiot, he told himself, rising to his feet and dodging another swing from Jacob. At least I saw that one.

-from Sudden Cool Dark