Page 9 of Sunflower Persona
Chapter 4
Gage
Saturday nights always bring in the largest crowds, and tonight is the rowdiest it’s been since the semester started last week. Rowdy is good—it means there are customers. With any luck, the tips will be enough to cover what I spent on a tow truck this afternoon, with enough left over to stock the fridge. As long as no other unforeseen expenses pop up, I should be on track to make rent next month.
Especially with the new job.
I’ll have to make some concessions on sleep, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
My body acts on autopilot as I serve drink after drink to the never-ending line. In my head, I’m tallying each tip as it gets added to the jar. The take is good, but nowhere close to what I need.
“Fuck, man, the chick I told you about yesterday is back.”
The shaker bottle nearly slips through my fingers as Nathan’s voice yanks me out of my head.
“What chick?” Karis’s spine stiffens to attention as she scans the room with a predatory smile.
Just great. The last thing I need is these two competing for who is the biggest idiot tonight. Where is Morgan when I need him? At least one of my friends has some sense when he isn’t too busy getting his dick wet.
“Her. The one in yellow.”
That one word has my head snapping toward the door.
What the fuck is she doing here again? And what the fuck are my friends doing checking her out?
The muscles in my jaw clench as I resist the urge to knock them both upside the head for the way they’re leering at her. Nathan takes a step in her direction, but that’s as far as he gets before I catch him by the collar and pull him back to the bar.
“Leave her alone.” The harsh growl in my voice is a shock even to me.
“All right, spill. Who is she?” Karis asks.
Goddamnit. She’s never going to let this go.
“She’s no one.”
“If she’s no one, then you’ll have no issues with me going over to talk with her?” From his smirk, I think Nathan is enjoying this a little too much.
My fingers tighten in the rough fabric as my jaw clenches again. I couldn’t explain the reaction if I tried. This woman is no one to me—that wasn’t a lie—but she sure as hell isn’t going to be someone to him either. She deserves better than that. My friend wouldn’t care that she’s clearly out of her element and desperate for connection. He would treat her like any other woman in here, not thinking twice about how his actions might hurt her. I would hate to see her bubbly optimism fade.
“I don’t know her well. We’ve only talked a few times. What I do know is she is too good for your sorry ass. So you are going to leave her alone.”
“But I have a chance, right?” Karis asks.
“No. We are all going to leave her alone.”
The last thing she needs is our bullshit in her life.
“Fine. Are we supposed to ignore her if she tries to talk to us?” His smirk only grows wider.
“No,” I say with a frustrated growl.
“So whatcanwe do?” Karis asks. “I need answers now because she is heading this way.”
As if it burned me, I release my grip on my friend’s collar and try to smooth away the nonexistent wrinkles on my shirt. Dark patches of spilled liquor stain the fabric, but I can’t do anything to fix that. At least the black cloth hides the worst of it. Karis snickers, but I ignore her. My attention is fixed on the woman making her way toward me with as much bravado as a fawn crossing a street.
It’s so different from the confident way she approached me this morning. God, I was such an ass to her. I don’t blame her for being hesitant. She didn’t deserve one ounce of my attitude earlier.
“Hi, Gage.” She mumbles the words at the ground while twisting a long braid between her fingers in front of her chest.
