“Leaning is cheating!”
I peered over a few people’s heads and spotted Chef Damon back by the pool tables, telling a guy twice his size he’d broken pool etiquette by leaning on the table.
“Follow me.” I pushed my way toward Chef, and Lauren kept close behind, her hand resting on my shoulder. “Run to the front of the bar if trouble starts,” I warned her.
“Seriously?” The warm tickle of her whisper on my neck made me shiver in a good way. “I’m a New Yorker, Matthew. I can handle myself.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. She had no idea what this place could get like when a man accused another man of cheating at pool. Hell, I’d seen our local librarian, Melba Rooster, throw a drink in a guy’s face because he insisted listening to audiobooks wasn’t really reading.
“Chef!” I called out.
He spun around at the sound of his name, stumbling over his own feet. Crap. He was already drunk, which was going to make this more difficult. The only thing standing between us now was a pool table and a guy with greasy hair and pock-marked skin who looked like he’d enjoy pummeling someone tonight.
“Go away!” Chef called back to me. “I have the night off.”
“Yeah, and you got here by stealing my Suburban. I thought I could trust you more than that. Now you get back in that car and come home with us.” I sounded like some kind of possessive Joleen come to take back her man. My life was becoming a melodramatic mess.
Greasy guy stepped toward me, bristling for a fight. “He’s not going anywhere until he pays me.”
“Matthew!” A hand punched my shoulder. “What are you doing here?” I whipped my head to see the friendly grin of Luke Daltry, owner of The Eternal Springs Spa. Either he didn’t notice what was going on between me and the pool players, or he was trying to diffuse the situation.
“About to get my head kicked in by”—I looked at Mr. Greaser—“what’s your name, sir?”
“Dwight.”
“Dwight,” I repeated to Luke.
“How can I help?” He folded his arms on his chest, showing off his impressive biceps. Luke was former Canadian military, and he was ready to jump into action.
I nodded at Lauren. “Keep her safe.”
“I’m fine,” Lauren protested with less gusto than before.
“Okay,” Luke said, moving closer to her. “You can protect me then, ma’am.”
Now that I knew she’d be alright, I approached my new friend Dwight. I wasn’t about to be a hero. Black eyes and broken noses hurt worse when you were sober.
“Let’s end this without violence,” I said calmly. “What does he owe you?”
“Five hundred.”
My mouth dropped open, and I shook my head at Chef in disbelief. “Seriously? Five hundred dollars? Are you even good at pool?”
“Yes!” Chef rapped the end of his pool stick on the floor. “He only won because he cheated!”
“That’s it.” Dwight spat on the floor. “You’re a dead man.” I expected him to run around the table to get to his opponent, but nope, he scrambled over it like Gollum going after a magical ring. I followed in hot pursuit, going around, not over. God help me, I was gonna pull a hammy trying to save this stupid man.
Chef scampered away from Dwight and, in an amateur move, tossed aside his only weapon, the pool stick. Dwight easily latched onto the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards.
“Pay up,” he growled into Chef’s ear as he pulled him into a headlock.
I was still moving toward them when someone grabbed my left arm and jerked me to a halt. Either Dwight had friends or other guys were itching for a fight. It didn’t matter. I reflexively raised my right arm to ward off a potential blow as I rotated my left arm and backed up to slip out of his grip. Now that I was free, I had to deal with the fist he was about to throw.
CHAPTER13
LAUREN
“Matthew! Look out!” My warning about the man approaching him from behind was drowned out by the noise in the bar. Blood pumping, I tried running to him but my chaperone shepherded me away from the melee as I strained against him.
