Page 51 of The Fate of Us

“Girl, you ain’t even thirty, you can do it.”

I set my water cup down and stand up, ready to take the next order. “Yeah, well I only have a week left until then.”

“And then just two days until you leave for Nashville!”

My heart skips a beat at that. I still can’t believe I let Mason and Noah talk me into it. I was so close to throwing that letter in the trash can and I didn’t. And now that I am leaving in a week I don’t know if I have butterflies or raging fear in my stomach.

“Excuse me.”

I turn around and find an older man waiting for a drink. My mind getting the best of me again. “Oh gosh, I am so sorry. What can I get you?”

He looks me up and down and it gives me chills. This guy is a total creeper. Probably only here to hit on the young, drunk girls.

“I’ll take an old-fashioned.”

“Bourbon preference?” I ask.

“Top shelf.”

“Coming right up,” I say as I walk away.

I grab our top shelf bourbon and a shaker. I mix muddled cherry juice with simple syrup and a dash of bitters. I pour it into a glass of ice followed by the bourbon and garnish it with a cherry and orange slice. I bring it back over to him and take his money. When I bring back the change, he continues to stare at me.

“Can I get you anything else?”

“Maybe a sweet taste of that pussy.”

I stumble back a step. I look for Liam but he is at the other end of the bar. I’ll have to take care of this on my own.

I reach for his drink. “I think you’ve had enough. You should leave.”

He grabs my wrist hard. “The only way I’m leaving is with you coming with me.”

I try to make eye contact with one of the bouncers but they don’t notice.

Suddenly the man’s face is pushed to the bar, his drink knocked over and spilling onto his face.

“The only person she is going home with is me.”

I breathe a sigh of relief at Noah’s voice. He picks the guy up off the bar, pulling his arms behind his back. He nods at a bouncer, who starts to walk over to us.

Noah whispers in the creep’s ear, loud enough for me to hear. “And that pussy of hers is sweet as hell but you will never get to taste it.”

My cheeks flame at those words because I know he wanted me to hear them. Noah talks to the bouncer asking him about getting an ID before the bouncer grabs the guy and tosses him out.

I walk around the bar as Noah makes his way to meet me. “You didn’t have to do that.”

He wraps me in a tight hug. “Yes I did.”

“I had it under control.”

He grips my chin and I get lost in his eyes. The blue of his eyes glow with a need to protect. “I know you did, baby.”

I shake my head at him as I try to get out of his grip.

“Hey,” he says, pulling me back into him. “I just worry about you here sometimes.”

“I’m fine. I’m behind a bar. The girls that serve need to be careful. Not to mention there are at least five bouncers working at night.”

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