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Nolan met Gia’s eyes and mouthed, You okay? She nodded.
Their little scene had settled calmly, but a brawl was still in the offing. By the looks on all the faces she could see, it was clear there was commotion going on behind her. She turned and found Mindy with both hands clenching Hilary’s upper arm hard enough to turn Hilary’s skin red. The sisters were screaming at each other, but the music was too loud to hear. Thumper, the Horde patch who’d asked Hilary to dance, was trying to play referee, and failing. That must have been the source of the guy crashing into Gia.
The dancers had ground to a halt and focused on the Jaspers. Then the music stopped, and the lead singer asked into the mic, “Everybody okay out there?”
Now Mindy and Hilary’s argument could be heard, but that didn’t mean it made sense. Hilary yelled “Leave me alone!’ and “Stop, Min!” and tried to yank herself free. Mindy yelled “You don’t get to pull that shit with me!” and “I’m so over your bullshit!” and “We’re fucking leaving!”
Nolan started to pass Gia, headed to the squabble, but Gia stepped in front of him and cut him off. She went to the sisters herself and hooked a hand over Mindy’s shoulder, clamping down hard enough to get her attention.
“Let her go, Mindy.”
Mindy whipped around and snarled, “This is between me and my sister. Fuck off, Joan Wick.”
And then Hilary said, “Butt out, Gia.”
Gia changed her tack. “Okay. Cat fight your heart out, I don’t give a fuck. Just get out of everybody else’s way while you do it. I know you both think you’re the center of the universe, but really you’re just in the fucking way.”
Before either sister could do more than gape at her, Gia spun on the heel of her boot and strode off the dance floor. She caught Nolan’s amused smirk and nod as he continued on his way to help Thumper. The Horde would keep things in line.
She passed Darwin, too, coming onto the scene while wiping his kutte with a wad of napkins. His white t-shirt had a wet, pinkish stain down the front, and Gia knew he was wearing Mindy’s latest cosmopolitan. The girl was nothing if not a cliché.
About three steps toward the door, Gia drew up short. She still didn’t want to go ‘home,’ but boy howdy did she not want to have a Jasper girl in her face again tonight. Trying to work out what she did want to do, Gia turned and saw Zaxx Bello standing between the bar and the dance floor, his shoulders wide and his arms crossed, in what had to be his ‘security’ stance. He was at the ready in case Mindy and Hilary managed to get a melee going.
Her unfortunate night at No Place had begun by nearly getting into a very bad situation with some redneck assholes, and Zaxx was the reason that encounter had been a near miss rather than a disaster. She didn’t like to think he’d ‘rescued’ her, but he’d sure as hell backed her up.
She didn’t know much about him, except that he was the newest, youngest Horde patch. Dad talked about him like a teenager, but he was clearly at least Gia’s age. Maybe older—he had a little bit of grey in his dark hair. Long, dark hair, loose over his shoulders. The grey was like random strands of tinsel. It caught the light.
Actually, another thing she knew about Zaxx Bello: he was hot. Tall but not giant, powerfully built but not a lumbering beastie. A close-trimmed beard to match that beautiful hair. She didn’t know the color of his eyes, but they were light. His smile was most excellent. His face made those deep lines like parentheses around it, almost dimples, and rays emerged at the corners of his eyes.
Also, he was wearing a V-neck t-shirt under his kutte, and a swirl of hair showed on his chest. Exactly the right amount.
A flash of brilliant red drew her attention from Zaxx, and Gia saw Thumper leading Mindy and Hilary unwillingly toward the exit. Hilary saw Gia watching and sent up a middle finger, tipped with a sparkling red nail about two inches long. A bruise was forming around her upper arm.
Then the band resumed playing, starting a new song. Gia looked back to Zaxx and saw his posture change, relaxing out of readiness. As he turned toward the bar, he caught her watching him. He stopped, tilted his head a little, and smiled.
She remembered she owed him a drink.
~oOo~
Zaxx stood in place and watched her approach, his head still atilt and his grin still aglow. With the band back at work, she had to get all the way to him before there was any chance of conversation.
As she did, he bent his head so she could speak into his ear. His hair slipped forward and brushed her face, dense and soft. Beneath the overtone of smoke that everyone smelled like after being at the clubhouse, Gia caught a shampooey whiff of sandalwood.
“I owe you a beer,” she said, her lips barely brushing the lobe of his ear. His body tensed lightly, a subtle shudder.
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, his lips doing the same to her ear, “but like I said, I won’t turn down a free beer.” He lingered there, lips on her ear, long enough for it to mean something.
Slowly, Gia tipped her head back, letting his lips move over her cheek as she did. She met his eyes; they were blue, brightly pale and rimmed with navy. Arctic ice floating in a deep sea.
Arctic ice in a deep sea? Apparently, two beers and a shot of tequila was enough to turn her into an open-mic poet.
Holding his gaze, she tipped her head toward the bar, an invitation. Then she turned and walked toward it, leaving him behind.
Chet saw her coming and leaned in. “You ready for another?”
“Yes, please—and another for Zaxx, too, whatever he’s drinking.”
“Two Stellas, you got it.” He snagged two clean pint glasses and took them to the taps.
