MJ was again looking over in the direction of the guys, her attention drawn by the celebration. The guy who had smiled at her, was gesturing her over to join the game. MJ politely shook her head, but the guy gestured to her more emphatically, almost totally dismissive of the fact that she was with me.
“Daddy, can I go and play that game with them?” She was alternating the direction of her head between the guys and me, using those same puppy-dog eyes with me.
I pondered the rights and wrongs and all the possible outcomes of what I would be letting my daughter in for if I agreed. I rationalized to myself that I had to be a responsible parent, but then I had already allowed her to come to a pub and drink alcohol. I kind of decided that nothing much could possibly happen to her as I was there, and I was pretty sure that Dave would not put up with any nonsense in his pub. In reality there was probably nothing I could do if things got out of hand, but I didn’t want to spoil her fun and experience her pouty, unhappy expressions, which her mother received any time she limited something MJ really wanted to do.
I nodded my head and with that, she grabbed her glass of wine and scurried off to where the guys were standing. They all greeted her, introducing themselves one by one. MJ looked so small compared with this well-built group of guys. She stood there, watching the game and how it was played, periodically taking sips of her wine.
Then the attention of the group turned to MJ and it was clear that she was expected to take a turn at the game. She took a dart and somewhat awkwardly aimed and threw it at the board, missing completely. The guy who had invited her, moved over and took up a position behind her, his sizeable frame partly obstructing my view. He rested his left hand on her hip, while the other took hold of her right forearm and guided her aim. Together she threw again. The dart flew towards the board, dropping slightly before hitting a 17. The guys cheered and MJ took another dart. The guy, still positioned behind her, guided her right hand, leaning a little closer to her head. She released the dart, which again few towards the board, this time with a little more power, landing on the 4. 21 announced one of the guys noting down her score and deducting it from the total.
MJ and the guy stepped aside, as another guy took his darts and started to aim. 20 with the first and again with the second, and then double 20 with the third. 80 announced the scorer. I turned my attention once again to MJ who was standing next to the guy who had helped her. I couldn’t fail to notice that his arm was still around her, his hand on her thin waist. I felt a slight pang of concern, a little irritated with him for taking the liberty to keep touching her. They were chatting and she was continuing to take sips from her wine, clearly seeming to be happy, so I again decided to let it go so she could have some fun.
A few more rounds later and it was MJ’s turn again. She moved over and took a dart. The guy positioned himself behind her, this time pressing close to her and putting his left arm around her tummy as he pulled her into him. His right arm stroked slowly down her bare right arm before taking hold of her wrist to help her aim. MJ released the dart, barely missing the 20 to score a 5. The guy shuffled against her, adjusting her position and pulling her into him a little tighter. She scored a 20, followed by another 20. 45 announced the guy keeping score.
MJ happily jumped up and down, letting out an impromptu squeal. As she moved out of the way for the next player, she was followed by her new friend. She took a big gulp of her wine, still seeming elated about her achievement. The guy sidled up alongside her, closer than he maybe should have and immediately put his arm around her. I watched closely as almost immediately he started gently rubbing the small of her back. This rubbing went on for a few minutes, but although in my book, his actions in touching my daughter seemed somewhat inappropriate, I concluded that it was relatively harmless and decided to let it be. He was alternating between stroking her hair, which hung freely down her back, and gently circling his hand on the small of her back, slowly working his way lower, to the point where his hand was resting on her butt, which he gave a little squeeze, but MJ seemed too enthralled with the game to notice or pay much attention to.
One of the guys had called for another round of beers and I was surprised when someone handed MJ a pint. She gulped down the remaining wine, putting the now empty glass down and happily accepted the pint of beer, glancing with a somewhat sheepish look over in my direction, hoping maybe that I hadn’t noticed or that I wouldn’t call her back from what she was doing. This made me increasingly nervous, but I again rationalized that at least she was still in my sight but determined that if things started to get out of hand, then I would have to find a way to extricate her from the group.
I’m not sure where the thought came from but part of me started to wish that I was the lucky guy subtly enjoying her attention, a thought which I quickly tried to dismiss from my mind. Dave was right, she was definitely turning into a sexy woman and I was quietly contemplating how I was going to keep her from venturing off into the world of horny guys and dating.
I finished my beer and wandered across to the bar offering my empty beer glass to Dave, he took it and filled it again.
“I see she’s made a few friends”, said Dave.
“yeah, was just thinking about whether to intervene or not, but I don’t want to spoil her fun, not as long as it’s relatively harmless, and I’m not quite sure how to disengage her, without upsetting her”.
“go sit yourself down and leave them to me, those lads are constantly on the prowl for fresh meat and they’re a rough bunch, but they won’t mess with me”, responded Dave, winking at me and nodding in the direction of my booth for me to go and sit down.
I took my seat and returned my attention to the game, or more specifically to guy gently squeezing her ass. For whatever reason, MJ didn’t seem to be objecting, so rightly or wrongly, I let it continue. I found myself starting to wonder how that was making her feel and whether she was not only enjoying the alcohol, but the guy’s touch too.
MJ had been steadily doing her best to work her way through her pint of beer and was already half-way down it, encouraged by the other guys who kept clinking her glass with theirs. She definitely seemed to be one of the boys. Some of the guys even suggested downing the pint in one, but MJ was far from being able to accept such a challenge.
A few moments later it was again MJ’s turn, so she put her beer down on a ledge and again took the offered darts. Once again, her new-found friend came up behind her and immediately wrapped his arm around her tummy and pulling her intimately close to him, the other hand gently stroking her arm before taking hold of her forearm to guide her aim. Her dart flew through the air and sunk into the segment Daveed 20. The guys cheered. The next dart too landed in a 20 to another round of cheering from several members of the group. The guy lowered his head next to hers and I swear he was sniffing her hair. I glanced over at Dave, who was loading a tray with several beers that he had poured. A roar erupted from the group as MJ scored a double 20. Apparently, she had thrown the dart that finally won the game and was excitedly jumping up and down again. She grabbed her glass and downed the final half in one go.