My Protector

A month ago we flew to Nebraska to visit my college roommate (miss you!) and JD’s two best friends from the Marine Corps.  We spent Saturday afternoon at a sports bar watching football.  If you’re from the Midwest, you understand that college football is a way of life, so any bar on a Saturday in the fall is bound to be over-crowded.  We were lucky to find 2 tables next to each other so we could all sit together.  JD and his friends sat at the table behind me.  After a while, a guy came over and proceeded to sit down next to me, uninvited.  We were pretty close to the TVs, and since it was overcrowded I figured he was just trying to claim a good spot.  He started chatting with me and it was soon evident that he was a little on the tipsy side.

“So what part of Ohio are you from?” he slurred.

“East of Columbus”

“Is Columbus in the west part of the state?”

“No, that’s Dayton.  Columbus is in the middle of the state.”

Long pause.

“So you live West of Columbus?”

“No.  East.”

“Like Pennsylvania?”

“Not that far east.  I did live IN OHIO.”

It was about this time I turned around to glance at JD.  By the way he was glaring down at this guy (literally down because he was sitting in a much taller chair), it was clear he was NOT amused.  His whole body had tensed up.  The thought never entered my mind that my geographically-challenged friend was trying to hit on me, but I was later told that he was doing the “lean-in,” a common pick-up move. 

“I’d appreciate it if you backed off,” JD interjected.  

A sober man might have taken one look at JD and decided it was definitely time to leave.  Not this guy.  He smiled, “No, it’s alright man, I’m cool.”  

“No, you’re not cool.  You need to back off,” JD said, waving a hand in between us, indicating there was an invisible line he wasn’t allowed to cross.

The man repeated, “I’m cool,” and turned back around to the TVs.  Although he didn’t leave right away, JD had clearly made an impact because the man didn’t try to talk to me anymore and he only stayed for a few more uncomfortable minutes before he finally left.  JD's friends were suppressing laughter, but he was livid. I have to admit, I thought his protective (jealous?) reaction was adorable.

Love you, babe. :)