Page 15 of Bullet
“I’m aware of that. I’m wondering if you have any idea why she’s acting the way she is?”
Seneca stood up out of her chair. She had a bottle of water in her hand, but it was empty, and she squeezed, crinkling the plastic. She walked through the bar, over to where I was and came to stand very close to me. Avery was sitting at the stool next to where I was, and turned to face her, but he didn’t move or say anything, just watched.
“I’ve heard all about you,” she said. “I’ve been a fan of the Steel Knights for a while, but I never came in here because I’d heard all about the guy who hates women. Hates ’em so bad that he wouldn’t even respect the Vice President.”
Deep in me, my blood started to boil. “Whatever.”
I made as if I was going to walk away, but Seneca stepped to the side, staying in my path. “That’s true, isn’t it? Everyone followed your lead and you fucking ran her out of here.”
“I didn’t run her out of anywhere. She left with a traitor.”
“Interesting version of that story,” she remarked before scanning the bar. “I’ve heard it a few different times from a few different people and the only one who tells it that way is you.”
I looked around at the other members of the club, eventually at Nick who looked down at the ground, and then Avery who turned his attention back to his beer. “So this is all on me?” I said out loud. “Shit going sideways with Tess, that’sallbecause of me?”
“It’s not,” Bucky said. “We all played our part, it’s just… You know, CJ wasn’t that bad.”
“Yeah, and I truly think if Tess thought she had somewhere to go here, she would have stayed,” Small Fry added.
“Where is all this coming from? None of you ever said this before?”
“What do you want from us?” Avery asked from next to me. He was the only one who ever refused to play into my energy about Tess and always treated her with kindness. “Would you have listened?”
“You want my honest to God opinion about why that chick is acting the way she is?” Seneca said, pulling my attention back to her. “It’s because you deserve it. After all this time of treating women like shit, you should have expected that someone would come along and return the favor. So, don’t be so surprised. This is what karma feels like,Harry.”
With that, Seneca turned around and walked out of the bar, leaving us in complete, intense silence. A total stranger felt that strongly about me, and the entire club was hiding their true feelings from me because of how strongly I’d projected my dislike.
That was never what I wanted.
“Women have never been anything but horrible to me,” I said. “I’m not about to apologize for that.” It wasn’t entirely what I wanted to say, but apart from not wanting to apologize when I didn’t really think I’d done anything wrong, I just felt misunderstood. Avery tried to put a hand on my shoulder, but I pulled myself away. “Don’t.” And with that, I walked out of the bar, glad to see that Seneca was quick in leaving, and carried myself home as well.
I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night.
I’d already been thinking that I made a mistake with Tess since Nick showed me some of her plans, but after Seneca’s accusations, I couldn’t see straight.
Was she right? Was Celia just toying with me to get back at me for the way I’d treated other women?
My alarm going off to coax me out of bed was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing. It was early, and it was hard to ignore the sense of actually hoping itwasCelia, but when I lifted my phone, it wasn’t her number, but my foster father, Cameron.
I pressed the button to answer the call and then immediately hit the speaker button. “Hello?”
“Hey. Oh, don’t worry. It’s just me, your father. The one who loves you and took care of you when you were sick. Paid for your field trips and packed you lunches. You wouldn’t know that by how little you’ve called me, but don’t worry. I’m okay. It’s me, Cameron. Your father.”
“Are you done?” I replied.
“I mean, I also got you a puppy, but who’s counting?”
“I prefer cats.”
He laughed. “That’s cold, Harry.”
I laughed back at him. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey. Sorry to call so early, but I was wondering what you were up to today? Wanna come over for breakfast?”
Technically, I had to work, but the club would be fine for one day without me. I could make it up whenever. Nick wasn’t overly stressed about schedules. “Yeah, I could do that. Do you want me to bring anything?”
“Nah. I got all the stuff for omelets yesterday. Bacon and sausage just like you like. You know, because I’m a good dad.”
