Page 27 of Out of Bounds

“Flick!” Dalton called after her.

“I said I’m done!” she shouted back at her brother, letting the front door slam behind her.

Chapter Nine

“What exactly is this place?” Cowboy asked as they sat down at a table in the middle of the restaurant. The spot gave them a good view of the floor-to-ceiling TV screen that was currently tuned to some kind of hockey game. The walls were decorated with miscellaneous jerseys and posters for all the different Atlanta teams, as well as the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. Flags hung from the ceilings in support of different colleges, mostly SEC teams, leaving little room for doubt that they had stepped into a sports place.

"Bunz. It’s American food, I think. Talia recommended the Busted Seat, said it was really good. Why?” he asked, watching his buddy take in the scene around them.

“Something just seems…off. Can’t put my finger on it.”

Twisting in his chair, Gunnar looked around, not sure that he would really know if something wasn’t quite right in such an American establishment. The place was reasonably busy, with about half of the tables occupied and a handful of people at the bar. Gunnar looked at Cowboy quizzically, hoping that his silence would prompt him into sharing.

“What kind of something?” he finally asked when he didn’t get a response.

“We’re like, the only dudes in here,” Cowboy said.

“What?” Gunnar asked, looking around again. Sure enough, most of the tables were filled with groups of women.

“Hi, I’m Devlin. I’ll be your server tonight,” a man said, appearing at their table. He was tall, with messy dark hair. He was also wearing nothing but a very tight pair of jeans.

“Dude, your junk is all but on display,” Cowboy commented.

“Thank you for noticing,” the server said, a sly smile crossing his face. “What can I get you gentlemen to drink?”

They each ordered a beer, waiting to continue their conversation until after the guy was out of earshot. Taking another look around, Gunnar noticed that Devlin was not the only server in such an outfit. They all were.

“What the hell kind of place did you bring me to?” Cowboy finally asked.

“This is the place Felicity was talking about! The one her friend owns or whatever. This is where Talia is working!” he answered. Oh shit, this was where Talia was working. What had Felicity gotten her into?

Devlin arrived back a moment later with their drinks. “So, do you know what you want to eat?”

“I’ll take the house burger,” Gunnar said.

“I’ll do the buff chick. Can I get that grilled, with extra sauce, and no bun? Have to watch my girlish figure,” Cowboy added, leaning back and pulling up his T-shirt to show off his own well-defined set of abs. Gunnar just rolled his eyes. Leave it to Cowboy to turn this into a dick measuring contest.

“You don’t want my bun, hun?” Devlin remarked with a wink.

“Uhhhhh…”

“Hey, y’all!” Devlin shouted out to the rest of the bar. “This guy isn’t stunned by my buns!”

Before Devlin was even done with his announcement, Gunnar felt something hit the back of his shoulder. Whatever it was, it was heavy enough to be felt but not hard enough to leave any kind of impression, almost like a bean bag. But before he could turn around and see, something else came flying at their table. And then again.

Rolls. Or well, buns to be precise.

"What the fuck did you do?” Gunnar asked, as the last of the rolls skittered across their table. There must have been at least half a dozen sitting there, thankfully all of them having missed their beers, while a handful more littered the ground.

“Sorry, gentlemen, asking for something without the bun here is like ordering water at Coyote Ugly,” Devlin told him, finding amusement in their stunned looks.

“Hell no H2O,” Gunnar sang, laughing as he remembered the movie. “Stunned by my buns. Clever.”

“I can’t take credit for it. Saxony, our bartender, she’s the one who came up with it. Well, her and her friend Felicity.”

Gunnar’s ears perked up at Felicity's name. As much as he hated to admit it, he was dying to know how she was doing. He’d thought about texting her at least a dozen times this afternoon, figuring if nothing else he could do it under the guise of making sure she made it home safe. But every time he’d pulled up her number, he’d stopped himself. There was a reason she’d snuck out in the middle of the night.

“What exactly is this place?” Cowboy asked, repeating his question from earlier, giving their waiter the once-over again.