I ignored him, brushing Cactus’s arm as I set his beer on the table, in a reasonable spot this time. I wasn’t playing around with them anymore, but that was when I felt it. The man for whom I had brought the ketchup had his hand on the back of my upper thigh—just beneath the hem of the shorts.
“I mean, if you’re not interested in an old man like him, I’d sacrifice my dick. You know, for the greater good of humanity?”
Aces was still working his angle, but I froze. My skin crawled as my stomach lurched, threatening to vomit all over their table.
“Hey, I meant nothing by it. Well, I did, but you’re looking a little pasty, and my dick shriveled. He likes to be only where he’s wanted.” Aces leaned forward in his chair.
My grip tightened around the neck of the bottle until I thought it would break in my hand.
Cactus turned in his chair, brushing against my arm that held the other three. My mouth opened to speak, but the words were stuck at the back of my throat. He hit my arm with his shoulder. The bottles tipped forward. The beer spilled down his back.
“What the fuck!” he yelled, and that was when I finally woke up. I jumped backwards, but all it did was give the man behind me a better grip as the bottles hit the floor. His grip was so tight that I couldn’t move as the glass shattered. Thank fuck no one was filming this shitshow.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Cactus roared even louder, jumping from his seat. The glass crunched underneath his boots as the beer ran off the back of his club cut.
I could have told him it was his fault that he had bumped me, but I didn’t know how he would react. It was easier if he let out the brunt of his anger on me. The only thing I wouldn’t tell him was the truth. The man’s wife had excused herself to the restroom, but the boys were still at the table. I didn’t need them to be subjected to violence because their father was a creep.
I’d thought I could survive the first day. I was wrong.
Chapter six
Stiffed on the Tip
Cactus
“Why do you constantly take in strays, Ang? Haven’t you learned yet? They’re only out for themselves,” I yelled at her. She’d come running when she’d heard the breaking glass, ushering me into her office to dry off. My club cut hung from one of the office chairs, but the beer seeped into the leather pores. I was going to have to figure out how to dry-clean it without taking it to a professional. “If she can’t keep her shit together, she’s a liability. I’ll have Aces fix her car, and she can be gone in a few days.”
Ang didn’t understand that this wasn’t about the beer. It was about Roxy’s reaction in the heat of the moment. She’d frozen. If that was her first instinct, she’d have more accidents the saloon would be responsible for.
“That’s rude. You always jump to the wrong conclusion,” she said, throwing a towel at my chest.
“How much do you know about her?” I pushed. This wasn’t the first time Ang had tried to save someone, but she’d honestly be better off if Roxy didn’t show up for her next shift. I wasn’t the only one to think so, which was why Scorpion hadn’t barged back here. He was busy watching Roxy’s every move.
“I know enough.” Ang crossed her arms over her chest, sticking her hip out. “You only see the negative in people, which is why you’re still pretending to be big and bad at your age.”
“You saw her. She couldn’t even last one shift. What if she had bumped into something? Or what if it had been a kid trying to get her attention?” I dropped my shirt on the tiled floor, picked up the towel and rubbed it against me. “Do you really want to lose everything you’ve worked for? You exposed the saloon the last time you tried this.”
“You’ve always been the protector, and if you hadn’t been busy maintaining your image, you would have noticed the moment she froze. I know you. You would have clocked it and made sure she was safe. Instead, you stood there yelling over your bruised pride.” She tapped her heel against the floor, making a clicking sound. “Maybe you’ve been an Outlaw too long because you can’t see your salvation when it’s staring you in the face.”
“How did that work out for you?” I asked, knowing she’d button up quickly. Her lips pursed, and I was in the clear. Angelica would stop pushing me. She never liked to be reminded how many times I’d pulled her ass out of the fire. “She dumped beer down my back.” I huffed, drying my neck with the towel.
“Lulu said the father behind you had his hand on Roxy. That’s why she froze, but you would rather assume the worst because it fits your narrative a little easier.” She walked towards the door, placing her hand on the handle before she turned back towards me. “It was an accident. Get over it, because I can guarantee Roxy is trying to figure out where she went wrong.”
***
I watched Roxy cross the street to the cheap motel, still dressed in her saloon uniform. There were a few catcalls, but she ignored them. I did not, threatening violence with a look at the offenders as I passed them. There were a few who wanted to test me, but one look at the patch on my back, and they thought better of it.
Who is she?One minute I thought I had her pegged as a rich daddy’s girl, but nothing else fit that mold. Her car was a shitbox, and she waitressed like she was a veteran. A daddy’s girl would never have set foot in this dump. I was no closer to the truth, and each piece I learned contradicted the one before. She was a puzzle, and I had all the wrong fucking pieces.
Roxy stopped in front of the third door on the second floor, and I crouched between two cars parked in the lot. She opened her purse and started digging for the skeleton key they actually gave the patrons here, but it was shit like this that made me think I was wrong. Any poor chick would have had the key in her palm, with the blade sticking out to cut a bitch.
Her door slammed shut, and I started the countdown.
Three minutes.Pulling my wallet out of my back pocket, I reached for the fake credit card I had stored for this exact purpose.
Two minutes.A smirk danced at the corner of my lips as I took the stairs one at a time to the second floor. I wanted to savor the anticipation.
One minute.It didn’t take long to reach her door. Placing my ear against the grain, I listened for any sound. She should have been moving around the room, but there was nothing. Too quiet.
