Page 89 of The Daredevil

Her waving hands and silly face amused me, tossing out the fear that Royce didn’t value our relationship the way I did. When she put it like that, I understood why the topic didn’t come up.

“Men view relationships differently than women. They’re all business or shooting the breeze about irrelevant things.”

The three guys at the table close to us roared obscenities when a sports team didn’t score. They argued with another group sitting across from them.

“Like sports, video games, or stocks.” Audri arched an eyebrow at the loud men.

“Women, on the other hand, are smarter.” Kiera winked. “Because we talk about said men. And their idiosyncrasies.”

We all burst out laughing.

“By the way, I told my friend I’d help him raise money for the Youth Center and Food Pantry. It’s almost Thanksgiving, so there are people in need. Want to paint some T-shirts for a silent auction?”

“Sure, I’d love to. When? Where?” Audri asked.

“Tomorrow at The Church of Compassion. They start at ten, but you can come at noon. I can paint about five T-shirts, but if we all paint five, that’ll be twenty for the charity.”

I didn’t have any plans for Saturday and wanted to contribute. “I’m down.”

Natalie also joined.

“Thanks, guys!” Kiera exclaimed.

A pretty Asian girl walked by our table as one guy cursed at another. She met my gaze and rolled her eyes. I smiled, understanding her annoyance. I’d never witnessed this kind of raucous behavior at the restaurant before.

The guy with spiky hair reached out and groped the Asian girl. She whirled around and slapped him. He jumped up from his chair and shoved her with so much force she slammed into Audri and they both crashed to the floor.

My heart raced at terror surfaced, reminding me of the explosion in Iceland.

“What’s wrong with you, asshole?” Kiera shouted as she got up from her seat.

I joined her and helped Audri and the Asian girl. “You okay?”

The jerk cursed and hurled a fist at me, but the Asian girl leaped forward and blocked this arm. She threw an uppercut into his jaw, and he fell backward.

That action enraged Spiky Hair even more.

“You think you’re big and tough, pushing everyone around?” she demanded with eyes sharp as blades.

“Bitch!” He charged at her, but men from a different table got to him first.

A fight erupted, and the bouncer tried to break it up but failed. There were five rough guys and one bouncer. The poor guy was going to get hurt.

Two men from a different table approached, trying to break up the fight.

“Cut it out,” said the man with short brown hair. Where had I seen him?

Remi, Grayson, Forrest, and Arrow appeared from the back like a pissed-off pack of alpha males, yanking the men apart.

With tundra aqua eyes, Remi whipped a glance at Audri, rubbing her arm. “You okay? What happened?”

“That asshole shoved a customer who fell onto Audri, pushing her to the floor.” Kiera crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at Spiky Hair, whose eyes looked glazed. He had to be on something other than alcohol.

“I’m okay,” Audri said.

“The fuck?” Remi twisted Spiky Hair’s arm back.

“Give him to me,” said the familiar man. “My men will be here soon.”

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