“Oh my god,” Piper gasps. “He’s coming over!”
My heart jumps. I turn, and Caesar is lumbering across the bar, straight toward us.
No, not us. Me.
His eyes are locked straight on me, and he looks pissed.
CHAPTERNINE
CAESAR
The kid’sfucking following me. My eyes might be tired, but they don’t lie, and seeing him hits me like an axe in the chest.
This is what I get for showing someone a little kindness. I should have known better, after he was so pushy when I first met him.
I am a little impressed, though. Takes spine to follow me into the back room of a place like this. Wouldn’t have thought Drew had it in him.
With a grunt, I throw back the rest of my beer, then stalk over to him. He has gumption, but considering he brought his friend with him, he must not fully realize where he is. There’s a different set of rules in the back room, and I know it’s only a matter of time before a man comes up and tries to grope him without saying a word of introduction.
My adrenaline spikes. No fucking way I’m letting him or his friend get treated wrong.
When I get to the table, Drew’s eyes are wide. He stares at me, mouth hanging slack, and I realize he’s terrified. After all that warm light he was shining my way, I’ve gone and scared him off again.
It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I get him out of here, fast as I can. Grinding my jaw, I swoop up the two drinks sitting on the table, then point up front. “Out,” I order.
Drew’s shocked, and his friend looks offended. I want to grab his shoulder and drag him out of there, but I stop myself. “Out,” I order again, then stalk up front, praying they’ll follow.
I’m pissed, and I won’t be able to think straight with half the bar staring at the kid, hungry.
I walk straight to the front of the place, right by the door, then slam their drinks down on a tall table. “I don’t fucking like being followed,” I bark as I turn, facing Drew and his friend.
“I’m so sorry, but I wasn’t following you,” he says. “I really wasn’t.”
I hesitate, anger still buzzing, but my gut believes him.
He isn’t following me, so what? He’s here to pick up a guy twice his age?
I tense, another kind of frustration surging through me.
Drew’s friend, a pretty woman about his age, rests her hand on his shoulder. “Do you want me here, or?”
Drew bites down on his lip, then glances at her. “Maybe Caesar and I could have a minute?”
She holds up her phone. “I’m just going to make a call out front.” When she turns her eyes to me, she frowns, clearly unhappy with my attitude. “Just let me know if you need me,” she tells her friend.
“I really wasn’t following you,” Drew repeats. He’s wearing the same kind of collared shirt he seems to always wear, even at this gritty bar, and something about that tickles me despite my foul mood. “I just came here.”
I cross my arms over my chest, then lean back on the chair, studying him. It’s been years since I hit this place up, and it just fucking figures that the one night I do, he’s here.
Not that it’s all totally unrelated. Just like when I got an urge to stop by the arcade, I probably wouldn’t have gone out tonight in the first place if Drew hadn’t wandered into my life and made me all horny and fucked in the head.
I figured I’d come in, get my dick sucked in the back, and that would be good enough. Something quick and easy, and I’d stop fixating on Mack’s kid.
He winces, like he’s scared I’m going to yell. I hate scaring him. It makes me feel like shit, so I try to relax.
“I like my privacy,” I tell him, like I’m explaining.
“You’re the one who came over to me,” he points out.
