First off no fisticuffs where exchanged

I was at the bar talking to 2 different groups of girls. Then one of the girls starts talking about one from the other group. The she asks me some kinda question about which one I thought was hotter, left or right. I said right. The girl then says something along the line of "what would the girl on the left think of that". But the other group clearly heard her and they got in a verbal argument. She tried to explain what she was talking about but they weren't buying it. Anyways defused to the point where the victim group walked away. Nothing happened with the other girls.

How have you guys dealt with this type of situation, and what sould I have done differently.