Page 5 of Zen's Crash

“You’re more than welcome. Tell your folks I said hi.”

“Will do,” he murmurs as he walks out the door.

I sit there for a minute thinking over what Evan said about Levi wanting to become a hacker. Now that I’m more focused, I start to think that maybe he might actually be good at it. His single-minded determination would give him a genuine advantage, that much I was sure of.

***

After giving everything a final once-over and seeing nothing amiss, I close down my computer and head out to the bar to spend quality time with my club brothers and maybe hook up with a club girl. I love hanging out with my club brothers, and tonight’s no different. I know I gave Evan that spiel about women not going for computer nerds, but I left out the part where I do pretty damn well when I’m not in my office.

I stop dead in my tracks when I see that Evan is with his strange girlfriend—the blue-haired one that his dad banned from the clubhouse. I glance around, looking for Rigs, and find him drinking alone at the bar as he tries inconspicuously tokeep an eye on them. They can technically be here because it’s a private club, but they definitely can’t drink. They’ve got fancy bottled water, so they’re clearly not trying to break the rules tonight.

I head over and drop down on the barstool right beside Rigs. “You decided to give her another chance, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know why I did that, she’s trouble.”

“Evan can be convincing when he wants to be. I guess you taught him to be strong and stick up for his girl, and it’s coming back to haunt you.”

Rigs rakes the fingers of one hand through his hair. “Mattie said we should give her a chance too. I guess she remembers what being an eighteen-year-old girl was like.”

I pick up the beer the prospect tending bar slides over to me and quip, “Ain’t nobody in this world gonna question your old lady’s good judgment.”

He snorts a laugh and drains his bottle. “She brought an older friend with her tonight. Evan said her dad got murdered last year, and this is her first attempt at going out.”

“I don’t see anyone else with them,” I shoot back after scanning the room.

Rigs waves off another beer and turns his chair all the way around to face them. “She just went to the restroom.”

Levi walks over from one of the pool tables and joins them. I say, “I think she might be Levi’s date for the night.”

Rigs gives me a strange look. “I doubt that boy has even discovered girls yet. Plus she’s too old for him, and even if shewasn’t, I don’t think he could handle her. She’s all decked out in black and is even wearing a black veil.”

My head whips around to look at him. “You mean like over her face?”

“No. It’s more like a hair decoration over her forehead and one eye. It’s weird though. I heard one of the club girls saying she was having a panic attack in the lady’s room.”

“Fuck me, wearing all black and a veil could be some kind of grief thing. You said this is the first time she’s tried to socialize since her dad died.”

After speaking to Evan and his girlfriend for a few moments, Levi runs back over to the pool table and elbows himself into another game with some other prospects.

That’s about the time I see the girl in black come back from the restroom. I snort a laugh. “That’s not mourning gear she’s wearing. It’s gamer gear, from a hugely popular online game. She’s cosplaying the Dark Maven character.”

“You seem to know a lot about the younger crowd,” Rigs comments quietly.

I glance over at him and admit to my flaws, “I’m like Peter Pan, a thirty-one year old guy who never really outgrew stuff I was into as a teen. I enjoy gaming, and as long as the other players are over eighteen, I don’t care if they’re young or old. As long as they can play the game and aren’t a complete asshole, they’re welcome in the groups I host.”

“Yeah, that’s great for you. I wish I had the patience for their gaming shit.”

“If you want to cut outta here, I’ll keep an eye on Evan tonight. I’ll make sure he doesn’t drink, go on any romantic midnight runs on his motorcycle with his weird-ass girlfriend, and remind him to fuck with a condom.”

“My boy is barely eighteen and this is his very first girlfriend. He’s more likely to injure himself by zipping up his dick than get laid.”

I try to keep the grin off my face because his son has a cute baby face and big, wide, innocent eyes.

After a thoughtful moment, Rigs asks, “Are you sure you don’t mind? I’d love some one-on-one time with my old lady tonight.”

“Yeah, no problem. Evan came to see me today for his IT orientation, and we had a good talk. I also want to keep an eye on that friend of theirs, she looks pretty damn uncomfortable.”

“I noticed that. I thought about checking on her but I’m Evan’s dad and look like a priest that just crawled out of the fiery pits of hell.”

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