Page 44 of Fighting a Riot

Trixie leaned toward me and muttered, “Before I forget, I told you.”

I aimed a questioning glance at her.

She grinned. “Saw what Yak did out there. We’ll talk about that later.”

The bartender put a beer in front of me and Yak. His eyes darted from me to Yak and back to me. Then he shook his head and ambled away to pull two more beers.

“He’s an ass. Don’t worry about it,” Trixie said.

“Woman, what’d I tell you?” Roll asked.

Trixie smiled at him. “So sorry.”

By the time the bartender put beers in front of Blood and Abby, two men approached Blood.

I tried to eavesdrop, but Yak slung his arm around my shoulder. “You’re being too obvious, Nora. Don’t attract any more attention, if you can help it.”

I glanced at him. “I don’t attract attention.”

That earned me Yak’s cynical side-eye. “You do.”

Blood stood.

Yak glanced that way, then lifted his chin. “I’m goin’ with Blood and Roll to chat with those two Devil Lancers. I’ve seen Crop before. The other one doesn’t look familiar. Enjoy your beer and don’t let Zeke bother you. Trixie’s right. He’s an ass to everyone, though he’s gone easy on you so far.”

The five of them sauntered to the far side of the room.

Abby craned her neck so she could make eye contact with me and Trixie. “That didn’t take long.”

Trixie kept a blank expression and shook her head. “Nope, and that’s strange.”

Abby shrugged a shoulder. “Eh, maybe not.”

A woman with sleek brown hair, wearing a skin-tight tank top and shiny black leggings slid onto the empty stool between Trixie and Abby, while another woman sat next to me. From the corner of my eye I saw she had frizzy, blonde hair and hot pink lipstick.

“Who’s this bitch, Trix?” the woman next to Abby asked, nodding her head toward me.

“She’s with Yak. That’s all you need to know, Kyla” Abby said.

Kyla turned to Abby. “Didn’t ask you.”

“Don’t give a damn. She’s with Yak, which means she’s with us,” Abby muttered.

The blonde spoke in a nasally voice. “Yak’s never brought any bitch in here before. What makes you different?”

I glanced her way and took in her outfit. The black pleather crop-top with a lace-up corset she wore left little to the imagination. She’d paired it with camouflage shorts.

After a moment, I said, “I’m not that different.”

Kyla erupted with loud laughter. “Go sell that shit somewhere else. You’re dressed like a yuppie playing at being a weekend warrior.” She paused for effect. “Only it’s not the weekend.”

Trixie turned to Kyla. “You don’t know that. Plenty of people work four days a week. Thursday night could be her Friday night.”

From my other side, the blonde said, “Let’s have gin-and-tonics.”

Trixie looked at the woman. “No offense, Jemma, but only you like G and Ts.”

Jemma’s face screwed up into a pout. “Whatever. Zeke makes great cocktails. You bitches are wasting your time just having beer.”

---