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He was pretty sure he didn’t want this to be a one-off.
“It’s disgusting,” she groused. “And not funny.”
“Yeah, that’s clear. Did I fuck this up again?”
Strangely, his question made her laugh. “You’re missing more than you’re hitting tonight, Zaxxon.”
“You know my whole name.” He hadn’t expected that; everybody called him Zaxx, except for his family, when they wanted to make a point, and some of the OG Horde, who liked to ride him about being named for a video game. They’d mostly left that behind when they’d handed him his bottom rocker, though.
“Your folks were big gamers, I guess.”
“Still are.” He waited to see if she’d give him shit. When she didn’t, he picked up her other hand, too, and asked, “So ... you say you’re not gonna fuck me in the bar, or the parking lot, or the bathroom. But does that mean there’s a place you do want to fuck me?”
The door opened, and bar noise rushed out at them. The band was finished and the juke was running again, playing Waylon Jennings. Zaxx looked over, ready to defend himself if Nolan was still on his bullshit, but it was Gary and Leigh Prentiss, arm in arm and reeling toward their pickup.
Fuck. He wasn’t on the clock tonight, but he couldn’t stand here and watch those two try to drive off. One of the Horde inside, who were on the clock, should have stopped them before now.
He gave Gia’s hands a squeeze and released them. “One sec.” Heading toward the Prentisses, he called out, “Hey! Gary! Leigh!”
Still arm in arm, holding each other up, the couple made an ungainly turn to face him. “Hey, Za’,” Leigh said, holding Gary’s hand to her voluminous tit. “Havin’ a goo’ nigh’?”
“I’m doin’ okay.” Zaxx stopped just out of reach—close enough to catch one of them if he had to, but far enough not to get tangled up with them. “I can’t let you two drive yet. You know you need to sober up first.”
He pulled his wallet out and snagged a twenty. If it were earlier, he’d send them reeling down the road to Marie’s, but the diner closed at ten. “Gotta go back inside and get some coffee. Maybe food, too. On me.” He held out the twenty.
“We’re fine, Za’,” Leigh insisted, the slurred jumble of her speech belying the assertion. She looked up at her husband. “Righ’, baby?”
Gary was focused on Zaxx. He didn’t answer, but he looked like he was reconsidering his recent choices.
The Prentisses had a sheep ranch on the north end of town, a little scuff of land existing right on the line between solvency and ruin, and Gary had crossed the club a few times trying to push his livelihood all the way into the black. He’d stolen repeatedly from his neighbors, ranging from siphoning gas for his tractor to swiping a whole cartload of hay.
Tommy had taken Gary’s left pinkie for that last one. Since then, he’d kept himself clear of the club’s attention, but tonight Zaxx could see him trying, through his drunken haze, to assess the risk of defying the patch with the least power.
He could remind Gary that Nolan, Darwin, and Thumper were still inside, but that would only underscore his own comparative insignificance. Instead, Zaxx stood where he was, offering the twenty-dollar bill, and stared Gary down.
“I’m not gonna let you drive, bruh. Whatever I gotta do, you will not be getting behind the wheel right now. The best call you got is to take the money and go inside. Sober up, then you can go home.”
Reason seemed to work on Leigh; she turned a little in Gary’s hold and set her hand on his chest. But Gary was still assessing his options.
Zaxx nodded at the hand still cupping Leigh’s tit. “You gave up a finger for a load of hay, Gary. What do you think we’ll take if you drive drunk and hurt somebody?”
Gary blinked. Then he caved. “Yeah. Yeah, ‘kay. C’mon, Leigh. Less’ get a coffee.”
As they headed back, Leigh took the twenty from Zaxx. “Thanks,” she muttered.
“Have a good night.” He watched them until they were back inside the bar and were a problem for the other patches.
Gia had stood up. Her arms crossed, an enigmatic smile playing at one corner of her mouth, she watched him come back to her.
“Interrupted again,” he said as he reached her.
Her eyes narrowed to jade slits as she studied him.
“What?”
“That was cool, how you handled them. You didn’t get all chest-thumpy about it.”
Her admiration wrapped around him, heating his joints and pulling his spine up so he felt taller. Not sure what to say in response, instead he smiled and put them back on track.
