13
Scar
The bar was packed. Apparently, all my customers were pissed that I closed up for a single night because they had to go to some other bar, which—by their tones—they clearly didn’t enjoy as much as mine. That filled me with a bit of pride. My customers weren’t exactly my friends, but at least they missed my presence enough to be upset about it.
“Hey, man, where the hell’ve you been?” an alpha at the bar asked, visibly happy to see me back. I recognized his face as a regular, but not his name, even though it was on the tip of my tongue. I knew it was kind of rude of me not to remember everyone, but it became hard to keep track of so many drunk alphas in one place.
I shrugged as I wiped down the counter. “I had something to take care of. I’m here now, ain’t I?”
The man grinned. “Damn straight. Get me a scotch.”
“Right away.”
Scotch, scotch… Oh, right, I know who he is now. His name is Nate. I think.
“So,” the man who might-have-been Nate said, leaning on the counter, “who’s this guy? New employee of yours?”
I knew he meant Ryu, who sat behind the counter with me. He held Angel’s carrier in his arms. He could have held her on his lap, but we wanted the extra support and protection of the carrier, since she would be here all night.
Ryu offered him a smile. “Something like that.”
Nate shot him a curious look. “What’s that you’re holding? Wait a sec… Is that ababy?”
“Yeah, and if you got a problem withmykid being here, then tough—you can find another bar to get drunk at,” I growled at him.
Instantly Nate raised his hands in appeasement. “Whoa, no, I don’t got a problem! I mean, I just never saw a kid at a bar before. Didn’t know it was allowed.”
I glared. “Well, it’s my kid and it’s my bar. I can do whatever I want.”
“Wait,yourkid?” Nate’s brows shot up. “I didn’t know you had a baby, Scar.”
Clearly Nate thought the idea of me bearing a child was wildly unrealistic. I scowled, even though he wasn’t entirely wrong—before Angel showed up in my life, I never thought I would have a child of my own, blood-related or not. But it still stung to know that everybody else thought the same way of me.
“I didn’thaveher,” I admitted. “She’s… adopted, I guess.”
Nate smiled nonetheless. “Ah, that makes sense. Right on, man. Good for you.” He took another glance at Angel, who was gurgling happily, and said, “She’s beautiful.”
His strange remark was lost under the sudden praise of both me and Angel, taking me off guard. I turned away so nobody except Ryu would see the flush across my cheeks. I wasn’t used to any kind of positive remarks. I slung his scotch back towards him and muttered, “Thanks.”
“What’s her name?” Nate asked.
“Angel,” I replied.
He lifted his drink in the air. “To you and Angel, then.”
I caught Ryu’s huge smile from the corner of my eye. Unfortunately, it made me blush even harder. I wasn’t cut out for all this mushy-feeling bullshit. I rolled my eyes and Ryu chuckled.
When Nate sauntered off to finish his drink with his buddies, Ryu sidled up to me. “I guess it’s true.”
“What?” I asked.
“That an omega with a child makes him more attractive to other alpha.”
“The hell are you talking about?”
Ryu laughed. I didn’t miss the way he slipped an arm around my waist below counter level. “Didn’t you see? That guy was borderline flirting with you once he found out Angel was yours.”
I groaned. “Oh, shut up. He was not.”
