I left him to eat, refilling drinks and chatting with Maggie, who always had stories from her teaching days.By the time I returned to Twister, his plate was clean and his drink nearly gone.
I poured him another without asking.
“Last one,” he said, and pulled the glass toward him.“Need to be able to walk back to the clubhouse.”
I leaned on the bar, teasing, “I can always walk you to your door.”
He took a slow sip.“I’ll manage.”
We were quiet for a moment.Then I said, “Did you take a walk to F & N Bikes?”
He nodded.“Yup.I just wanted to introduce myself, as they seem to be wondering about me.Told them they might as well get their information from the horse’s mouth.”
“You didn’t,” I laughed.
He smirked.“Not in those words.But they know who the club is now.”
“That sounds...ominous.”
“Not really into dumbasses talking about me behind my back.Gave them the chance to ask me face to face.”
“And did they?”
“Nah.Not really.Think they were a little intimidated by Swift and Magnum.”He smiled.“And Hodge.”
I held up my hand like I was measuring someone tall.“Is that the one who’s like seven foot tall?”
Twister nodded.“That would be him, doll.”
“Yeah, I’d be a little wary of him too.”
“You should come by the clubhouse sometime.Meet all the guys.See what we’re building,” he offered.
“I already met all of them,” I said.“Did you forget when you guys took over the bar last week?”
“Yeah, but I mean really meet them.See what we’ve done with the place.”
I nodded.“Sure, sure.When I’ve got a second, I’ll be there.”
He gave me a look.“Something tells me you don’t mean that.”
I laughed.“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
A group of students paid their tab and left, and I went to clean their table.But I could still feel Twister’s eyes on me.The whole damn time.
And I tried not to think about it.
Tried not to think about how he showed up alone.How he came in just to sit in my bar.Tried not to imagine him without his clothes on.
Yeah, I was a bit of a goner.
He didn’t want me.
He just wanted a drink.
A little peace and quiet.
And my bar just happened to be the nearest place to get it.
