“That’s it. No more beer for you, mister,” I reply sternly, hoping it serves as an excuse for him not to say shit like that to me. I mean, a girl can only take so much.
“I like how your plump mouth opens just a tiny bit when you do it. And the sound is sexy as fuck.”
“Now I know you’re drunk, quarterback,” I play off.
“I’m not drunk,” he utters steadfastly.
“Well, you’re not making any sense either. Just pack it up for the night, pretty boy. Whatever you came here for isn’t happening tonight.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” he replies before drinking the remainder of his beer in one fell swoop and slamming the bottle on the bar. “Guess I’ll just have to take my chances tomorrow,” he adds, this time leaving a crisp hundred on the counter for me.
I pick it up and put it inside my bra, next to the other bills he’s given me tonight. Against my better judgment, I halt his step before he leaves and say, “Finn, don’t come tomorrow. You’re wasting your time.”
“We’ll see.”
Chapter 14
Finn
Just as I promised Stone, I’m right back at the bar the next night, sitting on the stool by the counter. I’m here every night she’s working, knowing the only day I can stay clear out of this rat hole is on Thursdays when she has her night off. Unfortunately for me, Big Jim’s Bar has become my second home for the next couple of weeks.
Even though I’m here to make my presence known, I’m unsure if I’m making any real progress. I don’t know if I’m playing by The Society’s rules and being the good little soldier they want me to be, or if I’m missing the mark entirely. At least they haven’t made any more demands, nor have they gone after me or any of the guys. I think they made their point loud and clear on the day they wrecked my car with pig’s blood.
Killer.
That’s what they called me.
That’s what everyone will call me if the truth ever gets out.
I can’t let that happen. If coming to this dump every night for all eternity is my penance, then so be it. I’ll do whatever I need to do to keep the truth under lock and key. I thought the only downside to this arrangement would be spending a few hours in this shithole, filled with cockroaches and filth. But as each night passes, it gets harder and harder to be here for a whole other reason entirely; the very one The Society has forced upon me—Stone Bennett.
I spend my nights scowling at every guy in the joint. And when I say every guy, I mean every last one of these fucking assholes who can’t keep their eyes in their skulls whenever Stone is bartending. She sure as shit doesn’t make it easy on me either. She comes in every night looking even hotter than the night before. Most nights she’s wearing booty shorts or miniskirts that show off her tanned legs, along with her phoenix tattoo, making every dipshit in the place imagine those legs wrapped around their waist, or worse, around their head. Don’t even get me started on those ripped up T-shirts she’s always flaunting around.
Case in point, the one she’s wearing tonight is just a tear away from leaving her stark fucking naked. I wouldn’t even have to put much effort into shredding the flimsy garment apart since there’s barely any material to speak of. Not only does it leave her belly button fully exposed, showcasing her flat stomach and slender waist, but it also ends up drawing even more attention to those thick thighs of hers, not to mention the amazing ass that you just can’t help but want to sink your teeth into. Still, more relentless is the deep, V-shaped neckline that does fuck all to cover the swell of her breasts. The damn woman even has her hair up to show off her long neck, highlighted by the sterling hardware she adorns on her eyebrow and both of her ears. The loose strands of blue hair that fall to her face, added with all that ink, make it that she’s a wet fucking dream for every guy who walks into the biker’s bar. Present company not excluded since, for nearly a month, she’s been the only one I imagine while beating my cock into submission. Always looking savage and dangerous, and—God help me—sexy as sin, too.
Shit!
This is more than my atonement for the wrongs I’ve done. It’s downright cruelty. Having to sit here and do nothing while all these fuckers are jonesing to get in her pants is beyond anyone’s tolerance threshold. Funny thing is, I can’t even blame them. My name is right at the top of her list of admirers since I know exactly how sweet every part of her tastes, something that I highly doubt any of these assholes even has a clue about.
I really don’t know how much longer I can take this.
Shit, I’m not sure if me being here even registers on her radar.
Some nights, Stone throws me a bone and spends a few minutes with me, while on others, she completely ignores my very existence. Not to mention that every time I do come into the place, she flushes me out, leaving me penniless. I know she doesn’t charge the other dipshits here as much as she does to me, but knowing Stone, it’s her not-so-subtle way of telling me to go away unless I want to get played. Little does she know that I’d pay triple the amount I leave here every night if only she threw me one of her genuine smiles. Or just one of those deep, sultry laughs of hers.
Yep, the brat has turned me into a pathetic mess of a man. That’s why tonight I changed my game plan and brought something to keep my mind occupied.
“What do you have there?” I hear her ask, pulling the book from my hand to see the cover. “NightWatch by Terence Dickinson,” she whispers, flipping a few pages of my astronomy book.
It’s an old worn-down copy that I got almost a decade ago, but every once in a while, I like to go back and reread it. It always seems to teach me something new every time I do.
Stone carefully hands it back to me, and I wait patiently for her to start hassling me about it. Surprisingly enough, though, she doesn’t. What she does is place both her elbows on the counter in front of me with her open palms under her chin, just staring directly at me, curiosity tainting her every feature.
“Can I ask you a question?”
I nod because I’m a little lost for words with her deep-green eyes transfixed so intently on mine.
“Why do you like stars so much?”
It’s a simple question, but it’s one that I haven’t been asked often. Anyone would assume I’d need a minute to think about it before answering. Still, when it comes to my passion for astronomy, there really isn’t much to think about.
“You know when it gets a little too much up here?” I say, pointing to the center of my forehead. “Well, with me, sometimes the noise is so loud that I get a bit overwhelmed. My mind is a turbulent place to be in, and every now and again, I need to switch it off just so I can breathe, you know? Astronomy does that for me. Looking up at the night sky and seeing all those stars shining on the deep, rich, vast backdrop of the universe allows me to experience the silence that exists far from this planet. I like the idea of that. It mellows me out.”
Her eyes turn half-mast as she softly bites her tongue just below her piercing. She starts to open her mouth, ready to say something, but some asshole calls out her name, demanding his order. And just like that, she sashays away, keeping those words locked away in that beautiful mind of hers.