For a moment he looked ready to grab me and pull me over the bar, or at least attempt to, anyway. But then his face contorted in mocking laughter.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” he spat.
“You destroyed that jukebox,” I pointed.
Cole turned his head in that direction and snarled. “I’ve never seen that thing in my life.”
“Tell that to the cameras,” I pointed again, this time upward.
The big asshole paused, as uncertainty settled over him. Could his Neanderthal brain register that those cameras were the size of car batteries, and probably hadn’t worked since the first Bush administration? Probably not. But the amount of dust on them might’ve told him otherwise.
“Where’s my girlfriend?” Cole spat again.
“You mean the woman you chased in here?” I shrugged. “No idea. Haven’t seen her since Halloween, when you trashed the place.”
“You mean when your whole bar attacked me?”
“I’m not sure she was ever your girl to begin with,” I said, ignoring him. “She stuck around just long enough to tell us what an asshole you were, and how she regretted ever talking to you again.”
Cole stiffened and curled his hands into fists. We were walking a tightrope now. The unchecked rage boiling just behind those crimson eyes made it obvious he could snap at any moment.
“Maybe you should just leave her alone.”
Bodie spoke the words so nonchalantly, I almost laughed. That would’ve been it, though. If I had laughed, we’d be on the floor already, rolling around.
Instead, Cole whirled on him. His eyes narrowed furiously, in non-recognition.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?”
Bodie rattled the ice in his glass a little, before setting it down. Then he stood up. At his full, impressive height of six-foot-five, he was almost as tall as Cole.
“I said, maybe you should forget about Hayden,” Bodie replied, clearly and plainly. “If you’re in here looking for her three days later, it’s obvious she doesn’t want to see you.”
Cole was shaking now. His fists were clenched so tight, his fingers were stark white.
“In fact, she told us so,” Bodie went on.
Cole inched forward, but Bodie stood his ground. In direct contrast to the giant fighter, there was nothing but calm in his eyes.
“And how’s that?” Cole grunted through clenched teeth.
Before my friend could answer, I hopped over the bar and landed beside him. Cole took a defense step back, situating the two of us on what seemed to be a legitimate fighting angle. It was something he’d probably done a million times before. The movement was fluid and practiced.
“‘Your girl’ stuck around here Halloween night, after you rage-quit the bar,” Bodie said evenly. “She told us she was through with you, and that she never wanted to see you again. She also told us you might not take no for an answer.” He dropped his gaze momentarily, to Cole’s tremblings fists. “Seems she was right.”
Cole’s red-rimmed eyes shifted back and forth between us. His expression was lethal.
“Maybe I’ll just take the two of you apart, then,” he threatened.
“You could try,” Bodie shrugged.
Cole let out a laugh. “Try? Are you kidding? Do you know how easily I’d—”
“Look,” I cut him off sharply. “This whole thing is lose-lose for you. You know that, right?”
The skin around the fighter’s jaw was so tight I thought his mandible might pop out. He glared at Bodie for an extra long second or two, before his gaze shifted to me.
“Oh yeah? Why?’
