Page 57 of Saint's Sinner

They’d taken the conversation from outside to inside, back at the bar where Night began his food preparations before the place started getting crowded. So far, the addition of Night’s newest twist on traditional bar food had gone over wonderfully, which meant supplies had been steadily dwindling all week. He must have met Scout on one of the trips to the grocery store he’d made at Mark’s request so Night wouldn’t have to pause his work to run down and do the shopping himself.

Rolling his eyes, Night kept mixing the spice blend for the garlic honey wings as he growled out his answer.

“My job, which is more than I can say for you.”

“You don’t know fuck all about what my job entails, so I wouldn’t get an inflated sense of worth if I were you,” Teddy said. “It’s barely been a minute since you got that rocker. If I were you, I’d think twice about walking around here acting like I’m worth more than I really am.”

“How can I when you’ve already cornered the market on that?” Night asked.

“Just because you’re Saint’s newest fuck toy doesn’t give you the right to…” Teddy began.

“Enough, Teddy!” Mark’s voice cracked like a whip, making Night flinch while Teddy’s eyes narrowed, and he clenched his fists.

“Take your ass back up to the house and stay there until I tell you otherwise,” Mark declared. “Bellamy can manage the bar tonight and make sure the kid keeps up with the cleanup. If he needs him to, Scout can jump behind the bar. I ain’t fully sold on his usefulness yet, but I’m not ready to kick him down the road, either.”

Night caught the flash of fear and desperation that creased Scout’s face before he smothered it beneath a fake smile.

“Be back here at seven to help get things set up,” Mark instructed, not even turning around fully to address the newbie.

“I’ll be here,” Scout replied.

Mark only had eyes for Teddy, and they were furiously scowling ones. “Teddy, why haven’t you moved yet?”

“Because I told Scout he could use one of the empty cabins.”

You could have heard a pin drop at that declaration, only the shocking thing was the way Scout’s eyes widened while he shook his head like he was trying to convince Teddy to shut up.

“Excuse me?” Mark growled. “What made you think that was gonna fly?”

“You didn’t give a shit when I did the same thing for Bellamay,” Teddy snapped.

“Maybe because at the time I still trusted your judgement,” Mark replied. “Now, not so much, not after the shit you’ve pulled.”

“He’s been camped out in the park,” Teddy blurted.

“Told you before it was fine,” Scout replied. “No one seems to care or bother me.”

“There you go,” Mark said. “Problem solved. I’m sure it won’t hurt him to stay there a little longer until I can see if he’s going to be a good fit or a giant headache.”

Night watched as Teddy shot a furtive glance Scout’s way only for Scout to give the slightest shake of his head, silencing Teddy, whose shoulders slumped. He looked defeated. It would be interesting to see how Scout panned out tonight or if Bellamy would send him packing.

Bellamy was a beast behind the bar and got a thrill out of entertaining his patrons while he filled their drinks, but he was doubly ferocious about keeping things clean and not allowing the place to look like a pigsty by the end of business, despite the rowdy bunch that frequented the place. He had the whole entertainment aspect of extreme bartending down pat, and while Mark had warned him that any busted bottles would come out of his salary, so far there had been no shattered glass. What was more curious was why Teddy was so invested in someone he claimed to have only met a few hours before.

“What’s on the menu tonight,” Mark asked as he turned away from the pair like they didn’t exist.

Night didn’t miss how relieved Scout looked before he turned and tried to scurry for the door only for Teddy to catch his sleeve and prevent him from leaving.

“Sliders, beer battered mushrooms, and fried pickles,” Night replied. “I’ve got mild, spicy, and ghost pepper planned. Something tells me that last one is going to rekindle the spicy pickle challenge.

“Alright, sounds good, when are you planning on doing those Fajita plates?”

“Any night but Friday,” Night replied. “Saint’s words not mine.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his Dom nodding along with that.

“And we are still doing mini-taco Tuesday, correct?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, but um, I can’t work with that plant-based stuff. I needed a different approach on that for the vegan option, so I went with well-seasoned mushrooms that I ran through the food processor until they were the same consistency as ground beef. Its close enough in flavor profile without the stink.”