Page 4 of Kings & Chaos

Rock looked down at me with a smile. “Babe, I wouldn’t bring you someplace dangerous. It’s Syd’s!” he said, as if that explained everything.

“The food does smell good,” I said.

“Wait until you taste their bacon cheeseburger,” he said, leading me to one of the open tables.

I was relieved to be on safer ground — with the other customers at Syd’s, who had turned back to their own business, and with Rock, who made my panties wet even though I didn’t know if I could really trust him.

Burgers I could do. Burgers were simple.

All the other stuff between us? That was hella complicated.

We’d been sitting there for less than a minute when a gorgeous twenty-something blonde with curves for days sashayed over to grin at Rock.

"Hey there, handsome!” She cocked a black-denim-encased hip, and I tried not to stare at her impressive rack, on full display in an artfully customized Evanescence T-shirt.

“Hey, Honey.” Why was he beaming at her? And why did I feel jealous enough to want to wipe that grin off his face? “How’s it hanging?”

She flipped her mane of waves and glanced at his lap. “Not as impressive as some, but I’m getting by.”

He laughed and looked at me. “Willa, this is Honey. She’s the best waitress at Syd’s.”

Honey rolled her eyes. “I’m the only waitress at Syd’s.”

I returned her smile. “Then he must be telling the truth.”

“That’s one way to look at it.” She studied me. “Did I see you at the fight a few weeks ago?”

“Probably,” I said. Neo’s fight at the Orpheum was seared into my memory, both because it had been my introduction into a whole other side of Blackwell Falls and because I’d gotten to see Neo in action.

The makeout session with Oscar in the projector room and the resulting orgasm hadn’t hurt either.

“Thought so.” She looked me over, and I tried not to squirm under her thorough gaze. “No offense, but you look fresh as a daisy. Make sure you don’t wander around here without one of the Kings. Southside boys will eat you up — and not in a good way.”

The warning sounded friendly, if slightly ominous.

“Willa will definitely not be in this part of town without one of us,” Rock said.

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Don’t mind him. He likes to think he’s the boss of me. I let him believe it. It’s easier that way.”

She laughed and looked at Rock. “I have a feeling there might be more to this one than meets the eye.”

Rock took it all in stride. “You have no idea.”

She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and handed it to me. Then she held out her hand, clearly expecting me to hand mine over.

“I’ll give you my number,” she explained. “In case you get in trouble down here without the Kings,notthat they’re going to let that happen,” she said when Rock tried to object. “But just in case.”

“Great,” I said, putting my number in her phone. I had no intention of needing to call a stranger for help, even one as nice as Honey, but my circle of allies was painfully small.

I would take every offer of help I could get.

She handed me back my phone and slipped hers back into her pocket. “Two of the usual?” she asked Rock.

“Syd back there?” Rock asked her, nodding toward the doors to the kitchen.

“You know it,” she said. “Pinky can’t keep him off the grill.”

“The usual it is then,” Rock said.

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