My finger held its position on my current page as I looked up. “And if I decide to make a break for it?”
He pulled a gun off his hip and cocked it. “Then, I get to have a bit of target practice.”
“Seriously? You’re going to kill me?”
He placed the gun back into his holster. “If you run, yes.”
“Did Ranger give you that order, or something?”
He craned his gaze over his shoulder to look at me. “You haven’t pussy-whipped everyone, you know.”
I slammed the back door open. “Whatever.”
“One more thing,” Bury said.
I stood to my feet and stuck my head back into the car. “What?”
He turned his gaze forward. “The bartender’s one of ours. He knows you’re coming. So, my advice to you is to not do anything rash.”
“Jesus, you’re like fucking fruit flies,” I whispered as I closed the door.
Bury chuckled. “We’re everywhere, and you’d do well to remember that.”
I wasted no time in getting myself inside and picking out my favorite place in any bar: the corner booth. Kudos to any bar whose lights over their corner booths weren’t working. I didn’t want people staring at me. I didn’t want them knowing who I was.
All I wanted was a bit of peace and some fucking junk food.
“Hi there,” a cheery waitress said as she came up to me, “what can I getcha?”
I didn’t even need to look at the menu. “You guys got wings and fries here?”
“We sure do.”
I nodded. “I’ll have some wings in buffalo sauce, a double order of fries, and a bottle of chianti.”
She scribbled things down onto her little notepad. “Anything else?”
I cracked my book open. “Not for now.”
“Perfect. I’ll go get that bottle. You want it chilled?”
I flipped the page. “That sounds amazing, thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
I lost myself in the words of the book. In the adventure unfolding in front of me. I was a sucker for a good fantasy novel, and the way the author described her ice-wielding powers sucked me in. Icicles poured from her fingertips, slicing and dicing through enemies as they attempted to cross the threshold into her kingdom. And as all of her loyal subjects awaited their fate, I--.
“Here ya go,” the waitress said as she placed my food in front of me.
I looked up and found that there was also a glass of wine on the table, completely untouched.
With that bottle of chianti sitting in an ice bucket.
“I didn’t even realize, sorry,” I said.
“Ain’t no big thing,” the waitress said as she put my food down. “Been a while since a read a good book. You keep on doing your thing, and I’ll come back around in a bit.”
I smiled up at her. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
