Page 41 of Pippin & Nacho

“I’m so fucking happy for you.”

“Thanks. Just… Please, Stix. Keep it low-key.”

“You’re talking to the least low-key person ever.”

“Stix…” I warned.

“Fine, I’ll behave.”

“Just let me tell them the news. I want to do it.”

“Fair. So, what did you and Stone talk about? Because I had no idea you’d even stopped by.”

I pulled away from my friend and stared up at the ceiling for strength. “Ugh… I needed tips on blow jobs and shit. I thought you were the best person to ask, but only Stone was there.”

Stix snorted a laugh. “I don’t know how you managed to pull that off. Oh, god, to be a fly on the wall that day.”

“Leave Stone alone. He was awesome and helpful.”

“Oh, I’m never letting him live this down. I’m going to tease him relentlessly. It’s good for him. It keeps him grounded.”

I chuckled. “How does he even put up with you?”

He smiled and shrugged. “The world may never know. He just does.”

While I understood how to serve tables since I’d been working at Alpha’s for a while now, Stix had to spot me and make sure I got everything right and worked quickly enough. Drunk people could be fucking demanding.

There was a punk band playing tonight, so the place was loud as hell and crowded. I kept checking on Sam to make sure he still had his earbuds and wasn’t stressing out. If he wore one of his too-bright smiles, I knew things were getting tense for him, so I’d make him take quick breaks and go for a smoke in the alley where it was quieter.

On the whole, Sam had been doing okay tonight. But when I looked over this time, Sam’s smile turned too broad and strained, shaking his head. My body instantly tensed. Something was fucking wrong. That wasn’t just stress. Someone was being cruel to him. I knew the difference. Sam had fear in his eyes.

“Hey, buddy! We’re trying to order something,” one of the customers snapped at me over the music, but I was too focused on Sam.

My eyes suddenly pinged on three dudes, pointing angrily at him. Sam kept shaking his head, smiling so wide that it looked painful, and trying to back away, but the row of liquor bottles stopped him.

“Hey! We’re trying to order drinks here!”

“In a minute,” I snapped over the loud music.

I scanned the bar, looking for Stone and Ajax. Stone was busy checking IDs at the front, while Ajax couldn’t be seen anywhere, probably on a break or in the restroom. Then I looked for Alpha, but he was probably in his office because I didn’t see him at his usual spot behind the bar with Sam.

Dammit.

Then one of the assholes reached over the bar and grabbed Sam by the front of his T-shirt, pulling him practically over the counter, yelling at him. Sam instantly stopped smiling as the panic took over, not even trying to rationalize with the asshole.

Instinct took over when I dropped my empty tray on the floor, ignoring the bitching from my table, and forcing my way through the crowd to reach Sam.

I saw fucking red when the asshole’s friend yanked one of Sam’s earbuds out, dropped it on the counter, and smashed it with the bottom of the empty beer bottle.

I became singularly focused as I shoved people out of my way, ignoring the complaints and running toward Sam. As soon as I reached the dickhead holding Sam, I jumped on his back, wrapped my legs around his waist, and put his throat in a stranglehold.

“Let him fucking go, asshole. I’ll kill you!”

“Off, you fucker!”

He tried to throw me off, but I wrapped my legs around him tighter and choked him harder, holding my forearm with my other hand for extra strength. The asshole was bigger than me, but it didn’t matter. I had rage on my side. My body burned with a fire I hadn’t felt since the day I took Sam out of that home when we were teens. “Don’t you ever fucking touch him!”

One of the other pricks ripped me off his friend’s back as if I weighed nothing. I thrashed and kicked the guy I’d been holding in the face. His nose spurted blood, and he dropped. I smiled before a searing pain stabbed me in my kidney. A fist had landed there, and when he let me go, I fell on my hands and knees, but I recovered quickly and slammed my fist into his balls.

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