Page 5 of All Your Hate

I look back at Cassidy who’s fixing her blonde waves back up into two pigtails. “Do you need me to sort those guys out while you go and get security?” Hopefully one of the guys on the doors tonight gives a shit about what happens to the women here.

“No!” Cassidy quickly says, grabbing my arm and leading us both away. “Don’t you know who they are?”

I shake my head and try to look back at the men, but my view is obscured by more people filling the space.

“That’s the corpse fucker and his playboy friend.”

“Thewhat?”

She can’t be serious.

“You’ve worked here longer than me, Wynter, but you get it easy hiding behind the bar. Spend some time out here and you’ll quickly learn who to steer clear of.”

“Don’t act like I’m not on your side,” I snap at her, yanking my arm back.

“I’m sorry.” She groans as she cups her forehead. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just been one of those nights. You think it’s rough pouring drinks when it’s this busy? Try being out here getting pinched and pulled by every guy you pass. And I’m not saying that to be a bitch. You seem nice, well, you’re always nice to me. Get a job at a normal bar, not a strip club or soon enough you’ll be out here with me.”

I straighten my spine. “A few handsy guys aren't going to put me off providing for my family. If it came to it I’d be able to handle myself.”

She waves her hand through the air dismissively. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“Cassidy!” Our boss, Jackson, snaps as he catches us talking. He’s shorter than me, but the man makes up for it in the intimidating way he carries himself with his bulky chest puffed out and gold teeth on display. “Back to work, both of you, or do I need to find you new roles?” One of his eyebrows raises slowly like he’s imagining just what he wants us to do and I’m not about to hang around to hear what vulgar thing he’s thinking of.

“Just be careful, okay?” I whisper to Cassidy as she reluctantly follows after Jackson who’s pointing out a guy for her.

I’m tempted to go give corpse fucker and the playboy a piece of my mind, but I need to focus on my own work and hopefully get some good tips from the VIPs.

Most of the guys in the booths are rowdy, way past their limit. I aim for the least drunk one to give the drinks to. He tosses a handful of bills my way and his friends laugh as they hit my chest and flutter to the ground.

Ignoring their laughter and sexist remarks, I pick them up. I'm not about to let dignity get in the way when it looks like the guy just threw me half my rent for the month.

“If you want a dance, you’ll have to flag down one of the dancers and not the bartender next time.” I flash him a smug smile as I stuff the bills into my bra. “Thanks for the tip though.”

The men laugh again and the one that gave me the money grunts angrily, “Careful with that mouth, princess. Wouldn’t want us to get any other ideas about what you could do with it.”

I scowl at him, opening my mouth to hit him with an insult, but the guy from the bar catches my attention. He’s sat at the other end of the booth and still looks like he wants to murder me, but there’s something else in his eyes now. Something that tells me to leave well alone.

With a wide smirk on his face, he starts speaking in Russian, thinking I can’t understand him, but I studied languages in college. Back when I had dreams of being a translator and traveling the world. We were covering Eastern European languages along with Russian dialects before I dropped out.

I only recognize a few words of the conversation he’s started with the other men, but I pick outblack hairandneed another one.

Stef’s anxious thoughts pop up in my head and I decide it’s best to not hear anymore.

As I take their empty glasses back to the bar, there’s a loud crash of smashing glass from across the club.

I perk my head up so I can check out what the commotion is and can’t help but laugh when I see the two assholes from earlier getting escorted out.

The scarred one looks even more pissed off than he did before. Probably thanks to the drink that’s been tossed over him. The long-haired guy is doubled over, laughing so hard he’s crying as security drags him out by the elbow.

“Thank you, karma,” I mumble under my breath.

“We’ve got it here if you want to head out,” Stef says as she kicks the mini fridge shut with her heel. Kara comes up behind her, resting her chin on her girlfriend’s shoulder and hugging her waist.

“You sure?” I ask as I quickly finish wiping down my side of the bar.

“Yeah, we’re pretty much done here anyway. Get home to Summer and we’ll lock up.”

“Thank you. I’ll make it up to you next week!” I hug them both before heading out back to grab my bag.

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