Rocket led me back to the table and sat me down.
“What are we doing?”
Rocket ordered three cokes, for us and the other guy, and sat me down in the seat he’d been in when I arrived.
“Why aren’t we going with them?”
“This is Has-Been, one of my brothers. Has, this is V, a terrifying fucking lady.”
The guy called Has-Been laughed, looking a little brighter than he had looked so far.
“Nice to meet you, V. We’re staying put for a bit. Don’t worry.”
I turned to face Rocket, who’d dragged another chair over to sit beside me.
“But-”
“We’re wearing our cuts,” he said, leaning close, “so we can’t look connected to those fuckers, see?”
I glanced around the pub, noticing that nobody was really paying attention to us anyway.
“That doesn’t make any sense, you just dragged me away from them.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Sure, and that’s problematic, but easily explained as me taking my wayward woman in hand, when she’s flirting with other assholes.”
There was so much to unpack there, but I went for the last part.
“Suggesting you’re an asshole yourself.”
Has-Been laughed, still a slightly ragged sound, and petted Nixie’s head after he’d inadvertently startled her.
“She’s got your number, man.”
“Bite me. Listen, V… those guys aren’t going to be seen alive again, you feel me?” Rocket was whispering in my ear at this point, and his warm breath on my neck sent a shiver down my spine. I shouldn’t be finding that hot, when he was just telling me they were going to kill those guys.
“Why?” Maybe I shouldn’t have asked, but Rocket shrugged, turning to look at his brother Has-Been, and that poor guy shuddered.
“Let’s just say they’re uh… problems from my past.”
“Vague much?”
Rocket pushed my drink at me. “Shut yourself up with this, woman. We can get moving in a few minutes. We’ll meet the others at the uh… place.”
I reached over and flicked his ear, because I was too much of a lady to throw the drink at him, but he’d just pissed me off. He cursed, slapping a hand over the stinging ear as he shot me a horrified look.
“What the fuck is it about my ears? First Nixie, now you!”
Has-Been was chuckling, and murmuring to the pup he was cradling against his chest once more, and I’ll admit it took me a moment to remember the picture of Nixie trying to lick or bite Rocket’s ear, but it came back to me when I caught sight of that wounded look on his face again.
“Don’t talk down to me, Rocket. I get it, there’s some kind of club… I don’t know… justice system, and they’ve done something, and I don’t get to know because I’m just a littlewoman, but how you talk to me determines what happens to your ears. Got it?”
He rolled his eyes, rubbing at his lobe.
“You already abuse them enough with all that yapping at me anyway.”
His phone buzzed on the table, disturbing me before I could give him hell for that statement too. Honestly, I wasn’t mad at him really, just I was starting to really enjoy the banter with him.
“They’re ready for us, brother,” he said quietly to Has-Been, who took a deep breath and nodded once, seeming to be working on gathering his strength. Whatever those men did to him was bad enough that it was taking all of his courage to face them. He was cute, in a boyish way, with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. There was a little blonde scruff on his chin, but it didn’t add any age to his looks. Maybe he’d always look young and cute, except for that tiredness in his eyes. The haunted look that said he’d lived a hundred years in hell, probably at the hands of those monsters.
