I’d have to burn these clothes afterward.
I saw Scarlet chatting up a storm with the dude behind the counter, who I presumed was Bill Bucker himself. I took a breath, walked across the room, and stopped when my shoe landed in….
“Fucking hell,” I muttered as a wad of gum peeled off the floor, stretching between it and the sole of my shoe.
“Can I help you?” The tone was, in fact, not helpful.
I looked at the bar. Bucker was staring at me.
“Got a napkin?” I asked hopefully. Considering the surfaces in here looked sticky, I ventured the answer would be no. I hoped Scarlet had had a tetanus shot recently.
Bucker crossed his beefy arms. He had some old tattoos on his biceps, which showed as his sleeves lifted. “You’re Bowen Merlin, ain’t you?”
I walked to the bar, ignoring theschiiik,schiiik,schiiikof the gum collecting biohazards from the floor. “I am. I didn’t catch your name.”
“I didn’t give it.”
Oh boy, someone was sassy.
I pursed my lips and sat. “Can I get a beer?”
“Look…Bowen,” Bucker said, pronouncing my name like it caused him indigestion. He put his hands on the bar and leaned in, trying to use his bulk to physically intimidate me. Unfortunately for him, I’d met assholes before, so I knew if I ignored that crap, it’d only upset him more. “Why don’t you skip on out of here.”
Skip?
This motherfucker was damn lucky I had a mission to complete.
I set my elbows on the countertop and felt something wet soak through one sleeve. “Or you could not be an asshole and sell a customer a drink.”
He grinned, and not in a nice way. “I don’t serve folks like you.” He made to move away.
“Redheads?”
Bucker stopped and looked at me again.
“Bow-tie aficionados?” I continued. “Gentlemen with class? Come on. Help me out here.”
Bucker leaned forward, getting in my face. I could smell alcohol on his breath. Looks like Scarlet had definitely loosened him up. “Gays.”
“Ohhh….” I drew it out, nodding. “Sure, makes sense. You don’t want to get cooties or something.”
Bucker grabbed me suddenly, which I definitely wasn’t expecting. He held the front of my shirt, gripping the material hard. “Listen here, you fuck,” he said through gritted teeth. “I got your number. I got all your goddamn numbers.”
“So should I be expecting a call? I’m free next Tuesday.”
Bucker yanked me harder over the bar.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Scarlet seconds away from jumping out of her chair.
“I won’t put up with that bullshit being shoved in my face. Not from you, not from Hansen—anyone.”
“What does Felix have to do with this?”
“We don’t need more of thathomosexual lifestyle,” Bucker spat. “Even if we have to run you out of town one by one!”
“Who’swe?” I asked.
Bucker snarled and shoved me hard. I grabbed at the counter, missed, and crashed into the stools before falling to the ground. “Get your cock-sucking face out of my bar! And tell Hansen he better watch his back!”
