Page 6 of A Little Discovery

“Eric, put Miss Sassy Frass away until I can at least make sure he doesn’t have a concussion, please,” the safety guy says to the drag queen. Turning to me, he asks, “Did you hit your head at all before coming in here? Do you know what caused you to pass out?”

I look back and forth between the man and the queen and the only thing I can manage to get out is, “Sassy Frass? More like Brat-ney Bitch.”

I slap my hand over my mouth and pray that I’m not about to getmy ass beat. My brain to mouth filter usually doesn’t disappear unless heavy alcohol consumption involved… Why the fuck did I just say that?!

“Oh, you’re going to fit in just fine, darlin,” Eric aka Sassy tells me with a wink. “I might just use that one of these days.”

Cackling, the queen gets up from her stool and makes her way out a door in the back of the room. From the quick glance I catch before it closes, I notice that must be where the other cars were. Parking in the rear…

I let out a giggle due to the stress and lower my hand from my mouth. Safety guy gives me a smile and responding chuckle before helping me up again. Before I can forget my manners, I hold out my hand to him to introduce myself, “Lucky Hollow is the name, and I broke down up the road a bit. No bumps or bruises unless I hit something on the way down or smacked my head off the floor. I’m just not so good when I see blood.”

“Ithoughtyou looked familiar!” the one with the puppy ears yells out, making me scooch back practically into safety guy’s lap. “You were the one who used Spencer’s old room at the Theta party back before he moved in with us!”

“Inside voice, Toby,” the guy behind me chides gently.

“Sorry, Eli,” Toby replies, not sounding sorry at all because he’s way too excited. “Everyone was teasing him about you so much! He kept wanting to go check on you every five minutes, but his fraternity brothers kept him in Daddy mode for them all night. You were gone by the time he got back up there.”

The reminder of the night that ruined my life is just too much. Even with how wonderful these guys are being to me, I can’t stop the feelings inside of me. A choking noise comes from my throatas I bury my head in my hands to sob uncontrollably.

CHAPTER 5

LUCKY

Eli sets me on a chair in the back office while he goes back out to the bar to kick everyone out and close up. It’s still early by bar standards, but he explained that the owner would rather lose the sales from a couple of drunk randos at one in the morning than have his employees sitting in an empty building on the side of the highway for an extra three hours. When he carries the cash drawer into the office, I get up to leave.

“Do you need the restroom?” he asks as he opens the safe, not caring at all that I could have been watching. I mean, I wasn’t, but still…

I shake my head which he somehow manages to see even with his back to me. His response is a chuckle and a pointed finger to the chair I just vacated. For some reason, I obey him and sit. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m exhausted…Then again, it is likely the fact that obedience for the sake of expediency and avoiding conflict has been how I have survived this life.

It’s also how I got myself into this fucked up situation…

My inner thoughts suck donkey patootie…

Eli’s chuckle as he closes the safe makes me realize that last thought wasn’t kept in my head.

“No, Lucky,” he says, reaching for my hand and pulling me tomy feet. “Your thoughts aren’t staying in your head very well tonight it seems.”

I follow the man as he pulls me out of the office and down the hall to an alarm panel. There, he punches in a code, again not caring that I am there. Is he wanting the place to get robbed?

“If I was worried about you robbing the place, I would be in a padded room somewhere for paranoia, little one,” he says as he pulls me through the back door before turning to lock the deadbolt with a key. “You look like you would confess to things you didn’t even do, just to stop the questions. Am I right?”

Embarrassed at the accuracy of his observations, I nod and hang my head. Eli puts his index finger under my chin and raises it so that I meet his gaze. He’s taller than I am, but only by an inch or so. Yet the aura he exudes makes me feel like I’m looking up to the top of a mountain.

“There is nothing wrong with wanting to avoid conflict, Lucky,” he tells me. “But if the choice is between conflict and a lie, then youneedto fight.”

He moves his finger from under my chin and heads for the only car left in the lot. Since my time of safety has run out, I bite the bullet and figure I can at least ask him for his advice. He seems to know a lot about people.

“What do you do when it’s too late to fight and the lie has become truth to everyone but you?”

Eli turns back to me after opening his car door. He seems surprised by my question but gives me his version of an answer.

“It’s never too late to fight, little one. Now get your ass in this car,” he tells me, jerking his head toward the passenger side ofhis car. “Jace’s brother is going to tow your car up to the house.”

Climbing into the car with a stranger never felt so safe…

SPENCER

I hate customs. At least I wasn’t dumb like Stan, trying to bring snacks through in his carry on luggage. I did the smart thing and shipped them home. Did it cost money I really shouldn’t be spending? Yes. Will I actually get to have them and not get them confiscated by a hangry TSA agent? Absolutely.

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