My brow quirks. “Huh?”
“Because of you that stupid asshole won’t put his hands on a woman he shouldn’t,” he says, surprising me.
“Exactly,” I agree. “Couldn’t let him get away with it and make another woman his victim.”
“I should be getting back to our table,” Aaron says with a smile that is melting my panties right off me.
I nod. “I’ll have your order up soon.”
“Take your time,” he says.
For a jock, he seems very down to earth and nice. Not that it matters.
Aaron walks away. I head over to a table in my section that is waiting on their drinks. I’ve learned a long time ago that I need to be tough and not take shit, or else people will walk all over me.
The rest of the night goes by in a blur. I barely have time to drink some water between serving tables. By 2:00 a.m., Jace motions to his watch, a sign that all the servers need to close out their tables. I set the bill on the table where the hockey guys are sitting, another table where a bunch of girls have been hanging out the last two hours, and the table where the football guys are still hanging out. The rest of my section is clear, so I clean my section and fill up the condiments while I wait for my last tables to settle their bills. It doesn’t take long and then I clock out. I look outside to see my Rav4 is completely covered in snow and it’s blowing pretty hard outside.
I head to the back room to get my purse and jacket.
“You need a ride?” I ask Hawk. He works in the kitchen.
“Thanks, Briar. Got a lady waiting on me,” he says with a blush in his cheeks.
Most of the servers are gone by now since we can close out our section when the patrons have paid their bills Levi walks into the staff room next and grabs his jacket. “Have a good night, guys.”
“Yeah, you too,” I murmur.
I leave the staff room and head outside. The guys from the hockey team are just about to pile in to two cars.
I head over to my SUV and pull out a brush to clean it off. I don’t have gloves on me, so my fingers feel like they’re going to snap right off. I begin to scrub at the windshield, which has a thick coat of ice on it, when one of the guys runs up to me. I don’t see who it is until he removes his hood.
Aaron is wearing his varsity jacket with a hoodie peeking out underneath. His hair is a sexy mess, and his green eyes always glow with playful amusement. I think it’s because he’s a big flirt.
“Can I help you?” he offers.
“I’m good,” I assure as I continue to scrape at the ice.
“Aw, come on.” He looks behind him. “The guys are all working on getting Cade’s and Luc’s cars clean.”
“I’ve got this,” I repeat. I’m used to getting by on my own. I’ve been doing it ever since my mom got remarried and her new husband didn’t really want me around.
“I get it. You’re an independent woman. I respect that, but it’s freezing out here and your hands are two red tomatoes,” he notes.
My hand slides when the snow scraper catches on a strong patch of ice on my windshield. “Ow, shit,” I curse as I cut my hand on the ice.
“Shit, let me take a look,” Aaron says.
“I’m fine, Aaron,” I assure but then blood starts dripping on to the snow in big red splotches.
“Do you have a Band-Aid or something in your car?” he asks.
“No, but I’m fine,” I tell him as the blood falls on my boots. Just great. I hope they don’t get stained.
Aaron pulls a pack of tissues out of his jacket. “Here, take this and put some pressure on it. You may need a stitch or two.” He takes the snow scraper out of my hand and cleans all the snow off my car. “Why don’t you go sit inside and warm up the engine.”
I don’t argue because he clearly isn’t listening.
When he’s all done, he opens the back door and places the snow scraper on the floor.