I noticed that the vegetable trays were looking pretty empty, so I began pulling extra carrots and celery out of the fridge. I was bent at the waist, trying to reach a container that had been shoved toward the back, when all of a sudden a hand grabbed my ass. It wasn’t a brush or a pinch; it was a full-on entire-hand grab.

I’d spent my teenage years in New York and I’d dealt with my fair share of creeps, but I’d never been so blatantly groped in my entire life, and I was embarrassed by the way I froze in horror. My first thought wasn’t that someone was assaulting me or even that I was angry someone would touch me without permission. No, my first thought was that I shouldn’t have worn the tight jeans that accentuated my ass. I knew that was complete bullshit. It didn’t matter what I was wearing. I hadn’t done a damn thing wrong. Shame was almost instantly replaced with rage as I jerked away, practically diving toward the back of the fridge.

“The fuck are you doing?” Alex’s angry voice thundered.

I stood up and turned just as Alex’s fist met the face of a guy I’d never seen before in my life.

“You like it when people put their hands on you without asking?” Alex asked, hitting him again. “Feel good?”

“Man,” the guy said, clearly drunk if his slurred speech was anything to go by. “She was shaking it right in my face—what was I supposed to do?”

Alex’s expression grew even darker as he slammed the guy against the wall. “You motherfucker,” he said, raising his fist again.

“Evans,” a man called, pushing through the crowd. The man stopped Alex by wrapping an arm around his waist and lifting him off his feet. “Beating on civilians is a good way to get thrown in the brig.”

“That fucker—” Alex replied, pointing at the bleeding idiot standing against the wall.

“I know, I know. I saw what happened,” his friend said soothingly as he dragged him back a few feet. “We’ll take care of him, all right?”

Alex’s eyes met mine from across the room, and I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment and something very close to gratitude. My rescuer didn’t relax until a couple of guys grabbed the groper and shoved him out of the room. As the people around us went back to what they were doing before the drama, Alex mouthed, Are you okay? At my nod, he turned and let the big guy lead him away.