Kellie was pretty. Blond hair, blue eyed, heavy-makeup pretty. The kind of pretty that most guys would fall face-over-feet for.
Her rapt attention on Knox wasn’t a total shock, given that he had a reputation for only being a dick when he wanted to or when he was hangry. He could be decent, too. With a little effort, he could pull himself out of asshole territory permanently. He just had no desire to do that.
The song ended and, thank fuck, the set was complete.
Linx gave a nod to Mach. “You and Tanner want to meet the rest of Dimefront?”
Maybe it made Linx a bit of a chicken’s ass because he had ulterior motives. Those being that he’d very much like to have extra back up when he engaged with his bandmates.
“Yeah, sure,” Mach said. Obviously, he was trying to play it cool. Linx appreciated that.
“You in?” he asked Tanner.
Tanner’s grin stretched wide. “Oh yeah.”
He balanced his sticks on the snare. Then he ran his palms along the sides of his way-too-popstar-for-a-rocker haircut and stood.
“Give me five with the guys, then I’ll do an intro?” Linx asked.
He glanced to Bax and Knox. They were practically drilling holes in him with the intensity of their stares.
Linx wanted to take his time rolling cords that didn’t need put away, chatting with a few patrons who didn’t really seem to care who he was, but he wanted to get this over with. And check in with Becca.
Becca mattered most, so he beat it to where she stood next to Brek.
He didn’t say hello to the guys at first, even as they tracked his progress across the room. The weight of their gaze on him was heavy. They couldn’t find a moment to respond to him over the past months, they could fucking deal.
Also, he was making a point.
He moved around the lip of the bar to where Becca and Brek watched him coming. He wanted to kiss Becca, claim her as his. Let the boys know that she belonged to him. Let them see that he had a woman with a heart of fucking gold and a band who got his love of music. He had it all. They could take their extended hiatuses and suck it.
But claiming Becca in the middle of her shift would only be a show of who had the bigger dick. He respected her opinion of him a helluva lot more than that of his bandmates. So he refrained.
“Becca,” he said her name instead of kissing the hell out of her. “Thanks for covering for me.”
Becca tilted her head to the side. She had his number. Of course, she did. She was Becca.
Therefore, she took matters into her own hands, rolling up on her toes to press a kiss to his mouth. “Anytime, Cedric.”
Becca gave him a side squeeze before turning back to work. If he hadn’t known better, he’d say that she just claimedhim. And it felt fucking amazing.
“Guys.” He tied a Brek’s Bar apron around his waist. “Have you been helped?”
Knox slid his gaze to Bax. Bax seemed as shocked as Knox.
“You’reworkinghere?” Bax asked.
“Part-time bartender,” Brek said, pulling a Coors from the tap. “Helps me out when I’m short staffed.”
Brek gave Linx a look that said everything. He had his back. Whatever happened, he had his back. Linx swallowed hard against a surge of emotion. Yeah, he had it all.
“If you’re hiring, maybe I need a part-time gig. I could deal here.” Knox held his fist out to bump Linx’s.
An olive branch in knuckle form. Huh. Alright then. He met Knox’s knuckles with his own.
“I thought I’d moved on from you people,” Brek grumbled. “But you’re still here.”
Linx was pretty sure he didn’t mean it. Because with all of Dimefront there, Brek and Hans could likely talk them into an impromptu set.
