Page 25 of Darkness and Duress

“Josh, call the cops!”

“No, no! No, I've got him!” I sprinted the short distance, shoving my way through the circle of nosy onlookers before once again throwing myself between Marco and the target of his impending violence as he cocked an arm back. “Stop!”

He stumbled two steps to the left and one to the right before dropping his arm and staring at me in confusion. I don't know how much he managed to drink in the half hour he was out of sight, but judging by the smell emanating from him and the factthat he could barely maintain his footing, it was enough to down a fucking elephant.

“He didn’t pay,” said a slender blonde who suddenly appeared between the two waiters still puffing their chests at the door. I risked tearing my eyes away from Marco long enough to reach my hand out.

“I'll cover it.” I fluttered my fingers toward the slip of paper she wielded alongside her accusation.

She warily approached and I snatched the receipt from her fingers with an eye roll. I nearly choked on my tongue when I skimmed the list. “Why the fuck would you give one person seven shots in half a fucking hour? Are you fucking insane?”

“I… it… um…” She floundered and glanced toward the man to her right with wide-eyed fear. “It's not… maybe I miscounted. I can correct the—”

“Wait, seven shots?” The other waiter snatched the paper from me in a flash. Marco growled and lurched forward, stopping only when I slapped my palm to his chest before balling his shirt in my fist.

“Lacey, get back inside. Gentlemen, we need you to leave before we call the police.” The man who spoke, upon closer inspection, wore a stupid ass name tag that claimed he was the manager and that his name was, of all things, Chad. I smirked despite my better judgment.

“Yeah, right. So am I paying for that or can we go,Chad?”

“I think this was all one big misunderstanding, right?” The other guy, Josh I thought, pocketed the receipt and gave his partner a sidelong glance.

“I don't think someone can accidentally serve a man that much liquor in such a short period of time, so you can take your misunderstanding and shove it. No charges and I won't call ATF. Sounds like a good deal, eh? You keep your liquor license and we head on our merry way.”

“Hmph,” Chad huffed and turned on his heel. Josh followed behind him with a scurry more suited to a mouse than a man. I snickered as the door swung shut behind them before turning back to my charge.

“What the fuck, Marc?” I grabbed his chin and turned his face toward me before he could launch himself at the door to the restaurant again. “What happened in there?”

“Don’t… touch.” He tried to squirm out of my hand and the movement caused him to sway dangerously to the left. It was only then that I noticed the fact that his right eye was already starting to show signs of swelling.

“Hey, he left this.” My eyes snapped toward the voice of a man around my age as he stepped closer, holding out a wallet.

“Jesus, Marc. Thank you. Mind telling me what happened?” I let go of Marc’s face and grabbed the outstretched wallet from the Good Samaritan.

“He was pounding shots like water. Some drunk idiot stumbled and fell and damn near knocked them both to the ground. Your boy here went buck wild throwing hands.” The man eyeballed Marc with a smirk. “You should see the other guy, though. Shit was wild.”

“Right. Great. Thanks for this.” I waved Marc’s wallet and shoved it into my back pocket.

I glanced one way and then the other as I worked through my options. I wasn't the best at math, but I figured with that much liquor on an empty stomach, we were in for a long ass night and I was about to get a front row seat to Marco drunker than I'd ever seen. I gave his shirt a tug and set a course to the glowing Golden Arches in the distance that would hopefully save us from more shit so long as I could get the idiot to eat some fucking grease.

The fact that he followed like a docile puppy surprised me, to be honest. He was always so full of fight, but mercifully, that seemed to be gone for the moment. I didn't know how muchlonger we had before the liquor bomb in his gut exploded, so his malleability was a godsend.

“You eat Big Macs, Sad Panda?”

“Mnn. Yah. An’ Pep-si.” He popped the Ps and slurred the -si.

I glanced back and found him with a little smile on his face, his eyes damn near closed as he stumbled and swayed behind me. What a fucking mess.

“Water for you. You're cut off and I ain't dealing with the effects of carbonation, dead ass.”

“Fuck… you.”

“Later. I doubt your whiskey dick will be functional for the next twenty-four hours.”

I hoisted the door to the fast food restaurant open and maneuvered Marc through it, swearing as I walked in to find the line standing ten deep. I manhandled him to the nearest wall and propped him up with my shoulder so I could pull out my phone for a mobile order. There was no way he'd manage a line without causing more issues. I damn near jumped out of my skin when his head thunked against mine while I was busy fucking around with the app. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled it just as slowly.

“You sstink.” He inhaled again, humming softly on the exhale. “I like’t.”

“Kinky. Now shut up.” I nudged his gut with my elbow.

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