Page 11 of Rock Bottom
“Oh, I won’t eat, so just order for yourself.”
I didn’t want to argue in front of the waitress, so I said, “Just the cheese sticks and chicken tenders, then. Another beer for me,” I looked to Julian. “You want another Long Island Tea?”
“Yes, skip the cola again, please.”
He’d had four and wasn’t drunk. You’d have to carry me out if I had five Long Island Teas as big as TBC brought them out. Of course, I probably weigh barely a third of what he does, so maybe that’s it.
When the waitress left, I asked him, “Why won’t you eat? Is something wrong?”
He looked down and then back up, and it was clear he was uncomfortable. “I have all kinds of hangups around eating and talking, even when it’s someone I know well. Add in a new relationship, and it’s just too much. Please don’t make it a thing? I want you to eat and enjoy yourself.”
He seemed genuinely distressed, so I told him, “I haven’t eaten since lunch, thinking I’d eat tonight, so I’ll need something, but it’s fine if you don’t join me. Truly, don’t think another thing of it. No biggie. I mean, it might be if you’re hungry, but I’m guessing you ate ahead of time.”
“I ate when I awakened, yes. Thank you for understanding.”
We sat at a high-top while I ate, taking sneak peeks at Julian in a royal blue dress shirt. I was dressed like a redneck, and he was in slacks and a dress shirt, but that was okay. He’s this larger-than-life character, and I’m drawn to him for reasons I can’t explain.
Julian was suddenly focused on something behind me, his expression turning a little feral, and then he was up and moving, two tables away by the time I could turn to see what was happening, and he spoke so low, I had to really focus to hear.
“I believe you’re hurting her. You should release her.” He didn’t raise his voice, didn’t sound angry. Completely conversational.
The man’s lip curled. “You think people have to listen to you because you’re a freak? Mind your own business before I show you how we deal with freaks around here.”
The man was gripping the waitress’s arm so hard it was white around his fingers. Her face was bloodless, breathing shallow and fast.
Julian took a final step so he was right beside the man, who was now looking straight up at him, and Julian grasped the wrist that was holding the waitress and calmly walked the man to a chair. The man sat without resistance, just staring at Julian.
Julian stepped back to the waitress and looked at her arm. I moved closer, and heard him telling her, “Your arm doesn’t appear to need medical attention. Are you injured anywhere else?”
Another man came in, the bartender from the other room, and he motioned to someone who walked the asshole out of the room.
“Thank you for the save,” the bartender told Julian. “Our security can handle it from here. I believe your date is wondering what’s going on.”
Julian turned to me and I swear he blushed. “He was hurting her.”
“So I see.” I studied him, taking in the dichotomy of the self-assured man who hadn’t been afraid to intervene, with the man who was now embarrassed at having done a good deed. “Do you regularly intervene in that kind of thing?”
He leaned in close, his mouth brushing my ear. The warmth of his breath and the soft pitch of his voice made a shiver slide down my spine. “I enjoy giving good pain,” he murmured, his tone soft, but with a darkness underneath. “Never the bad kind.”
Adelaide stood in our path, so we had to walk around her to get back to our table, her arms folded. She arched a single brow in frosty disapproval, and the weight of her gaze could’ve frozen magma. I had to admire the skill involved, looking so disdainful with zero words necessary. She made us slow when we reached her, finally stepping aside with a flick of her eyes over Julian like he was an unruly acquisition she hadn’t finished breaking in.
I actually understood her point, it must be a huge pain in the ass to guard someone who steps into danger, and yet, I respected the fuck out of Julian for doing it. He hadn’t come across as bad-ass before, and he didn’t now either, and yet, while he’d intervened, I’m pretty sure the whole room felt it.
I finished eating and we played pool for maybe another hour, enjoying each other’s company, and I decided he was safe enough to invite back to my place.
We’d both mostly ignored his bodyguard, playing by herself at the table beside us. He’d asked where my security was early on, and I’d told him no one ever recognizes me when I’m dressed like a redneck.
“How will things work if you come back to my place?” I asked him. “I mean, can I drive us, and your guard follow? Will she need to come inside, or will she watch from outside?”
He looked over at Adelaide, and she walked to us. “I can follow the two of you, certainly. I prefer to be in another part of the house, rather than outside.”
I figured as much, and I nodded. “I live in a gated community. I’ll let the guard know the car behind me can come in, and he’ll need my address from you when you get to the window.” I gave it to her, and when she didn’t write it down or make a note on her phone, I asked her to repeat it back to me, which she easily did.
I was going to pay, since I’d eaten and Julian hadn’t, but he insisted, so I let him. I figure I’m way richer than him, but it wasn’t worth an argument. We’d have to talk about it later, though.
“Tell me about this truck,” he said when we were inside. “It doesn’t have your energy. It isn’t what I thought you’d drive.”
No, it’s a beat-to-hell-and-back thirty-year-old Ford that the bikers keep in good running order, but it suited my purposes tonight, and Will has the keys out so any of us can use it as needed. “It belongs to Byron, it isn’t mine. It’s handy to have a truck to move shit around, but also, no one ever looks at this truck and thinks,oh, a rock star is probably driving that truck. It’s easy to go incognito in it.”
