I can’t let him get any closer to me.
Patrick
I continue to look at that twenty left on the counter
by Erin. Rain is standing next to me, not talking. I
can feel her disapproval, even if she doesn’t say a
word because I know her, and I know that she is
ordering me to do something right now, and I can’t
say she’s wrong.
I’m the one who creates this kind of situation,
because I’m the one who always lets women know
that I’m available. And it’s never bothered me
before, not until now. Not until I saw Erin’s
expression as she threw down the money in disgust
—money she earned by helping a cheap tart get
her hands on me.
I don’t want anyone to get their hands on me.
I don’t want anyone that isn’t her to put their
hands on me.
And in the moment this thought slaps me in the
face, and I feel my anger rising to my temples.
I take the bill, I jump over the counter into the
bar area, which is not being very sensitive to Ned,
who was calmly drinking his beer, not expecting
me to leap down beside him.
With a sudden feeling of fury, I go to the table
where the girl is, and I can feel all eyes in the
house on me.
Including hers.
“I’m not your personal barman, or your little
plaything,” I tell the girl who was after me. “Don’t
