What in the actual fuck? Shit like this didn’t happen at The Lodge.
“William, what can I do?” I called out when I got closer. The drunk snarled at me, slurring
something about the pretty little twink trying to save the day. William’s sense of humor was non-
existent as he tightened his hold on the drunk. Drunk asshole cried out, saying William had broken his
nose. I let him handle that situation while I checked on John. “You okay?”
“Fuck man, I don’t even know what in the hell happened.” His eyes were unfocused. There was
blood everywhere. I sucked in a sharp breath, willing myself to stay calm. “He wanted to go out back
and I told him he couldn’t because he’s visibly intoxicated.”
“I’m assuming that didn’t go over well?” I asked. I glanced over my shoulder, grimacing when I
noticed how big of a crowd they’d attracted. I stood, turning to face the crowd. “As much as we
appreciate your diligence, I need to ask that you go back to what you were doing before. As you can
see, William has the situation under control.”
A few of our customers chuckled. Theron and my dad appeared by my side. I jerked my head
toward William, and both of them immediately moved to shield the sight of one of our managers
restraining a customer on the ground.
“Cops are on their way,” Corey told me when he made his way through the mass of sweaty
patrons. He bent down, checking on his Daddy before stepping in front of me. “You have things under
control here?” I nodded. “Cool. I’m going to call out a discount. You and Jack can bitch at me for it
later, but we need to pull people away from here.”
“Do whatever you need.” I pulled out my phone, knowing Jack needed to be notified any time the
cops were called. This wasnothow I wanted my family to see where I worked.
“Theron, help William make sure that asshole doesn’t go anywhere. Dad, can you make sure no
one goes into the back deck? Until this is sorted, no one else goes back there.”
“Got it.” Dad stood in front of the door. If I wasn’t mistaken, he was all too pleased to play the
role of sentry.
With that sorted, I crouched in front of John, pulling the shirt away from his face. Blood cascaded
down his face and his nose didn’t look right. When I touched it, he sucked in a sharp breath as he
flinched away from me. “Warn a guy next time, would ya?”
“Sorry, man,” I apologized. I looked over my shoulder. When I caught my mom’s eye, all it took
was a jerk of my head towards John and she nodded before disappearing into the crowd. “We’re
