But I managed. Barely.
Besides, tonight wasn’t the night for my shenanigans. Over dinner, she’d mentioned what had happened with her grandmother’s ring. While she knew it was a risk, she was disappointed at how things had played out, and I was doing my best to lighten her mood.
I thought the slots would be a good place to start.
So far, no such luck.
“Okay,” she muttered, feeding another bill into the machine. “This one’s got to be it.”
The lever clanked. Lights spun, and then, nothing.
“Oh, man. Tough luck.”
She sighed, and she gave me the most adorable pout as she said, “I swear, these things hate me.”
“They sense fear.”
“I’m not afraid of it,” she scoffed.
“That machine just stole another twenty from you.”
“That’s because I’m jinxed. Not afraid.”
She laughed, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. And that got me right in the gut. I’d hoped a quick win would distract her, but clearly, luck wasn’t on her side tonight. After another loss, I reached over and gently placed my hand over hers.
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled, “You got some secret slot magic skills I don’t know about?”
“I have my moments.”
I pulled the lever, and the machine exploded with sounds and blinking lights. Coins clattered in the trough at the bottom of the machine as the screen flashed WINNER over and over. Presley’s mouth fell open as she gasped, “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
“Look at that! You won two hundred bucks,” I replied proudly.
“Technically, you won it.”
“It was a joint effort.” I gave her a nudge. “I’d say drinks on you tonight.”
“Oh, most definitely,” she giggled, and just like that, her mood lifted a notch. “You thinking a glass of wine here or take a bottle back to my place?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but I was cut short when Memphis came up next to us and said, “I need a word.”
“Alright.” I took a few steps back, leaving Presley to collect the money on her own. “What’s up?”
“Rusty and Skid were with Smitty atGin and Bailey’s, grabbing a cold one on the way home, and they got jumped.”
“Who?” I growled through clenched teeth.
“The Rebel Coyotes,” he answered, sounding as pissed as I felt. “They’re new around here. Still growing their numbers, but from what I hear, they’re pretty well-known up North.”
“How am I just hearing about these guys?”
“They’ve been playing smart. Moving in quiet. Under the radar, but they weren’t quiet tonight. Pretty sure one of them broke a few of Smitty’s ribs, and both Rusty and Skid are with Blade getting stitches.”
Rage washed over me. Rusty and Skid were both brothers, but they were young. And they weren’t exactly the biggest and strongest of our bunch. In fact, you couldn’t have picked three with less muscle power. Those assholes probably took one look at them and saw an easy take-down.
They were wrong.
“We going after them?”
