At that moment, the door to The Thirsty Pearl burst open and a uniformed pair of officers strolled in. Alphas. Tall. They had the handcuffs, the gun in the holster and everything. Were they here on a break?
I frowned. Since when did police officers frequent The Thirsty Pearl? I could picture cops coming into a donut store, but not a bar.
Shit, that’s like, really stereotypical and disrespectful.
My bad.
But the moment the two of them strolled in, my date tensed. Tony went all stiff. I would have thought that maybe cops made him nervous except that he whispered, “Oh shit,” under his breath.
My eyes darted around the bar. What was happening?
I looked around at the other patrons of The Thirsty Pearl, but they were all looking at the cops confused as well. None of them even looked guilty. The only guy who looked like he had some kind of criminal history was—shit. Tony had that kind of haunted-past look going for him, but I thought it was like an aesthetic thing. As in, he liked hard rock music and no one understood him, not that he had an actual criminal past.
Damn it.
“Mr. Tony Johnson?” One of the officers walked straight to our table, staring right at my date.
Wait. Wait.
No. This wasn’t really happening. There was no way.
“My name is Officer Romero with the New Oxford County Sheriff’s Office. Please stand up and put your hands behind your back.”
I grabbed my drink with two hands like it was a security blanket, delicately taking a sip. This was way too crazy. There had to be some kind of mistake.
“You have the right to remain silent,” the officer continued. “Everything that you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
Tony went from sitting stiffly to leaping up and sprinting toward the front entrance. He didn’t make it far. As if the other officer had anticipated the move, Tony was tackled to the ground… where he started bellowing like an injured bull.
“Stop resisting! Stop resisting! Put your hands behind your back.” The officer was trying to restrain Tony, but it was more like smooshing an angry, wiggling snake to the floor.
Honestly, it was more embarrassing than anything else, how he was acting like an animal that needed to be put down.
“You’re only making this worse.” The officer who’d tackled him chimed in.
“I didn’t do anything! It wasn’t me. You got the wrong guy.” Now Tony was struggling and sort of screeching in a way that reminded me of a toddler having a meltdown. I wonder if it was possible to die from second-hand embarrassment? I’m sure that my face was turning red. Like people would look at me and be able to tell that I’d gone on a date with somebody getting arrested and acted like a freaking child about it.
“You have five warrants out for your arrest.”
At this point, it was painful to keep watching. I held my forehead in the palm of my hand—this is what I got for thinking that this date was going well. Tony was still struggling against the two officers as if he still had a chance. When the facts were written into his biology. He might have been more muscular than the average beta… he might have had wiry strength like a chihuahua on steroids. But he had nothing on these hot-blooded alpha police officers.
Eventually, the two cops managed to get the handcuffs on Tony and wrestle him upright. They had to drag him by his elbows because he refused to walk, letting his feet trail behind him. Like that was going to win him any points, or work out in his favor.
Even after they dragged him out of the bar, I could still hear Tony screaming protests from somewhere outside The Thirsty Pearl.
Then everything went quiet. The bad kind of quiet, where the atmosphere was tense as everyone collectively processed what just happened.
I leaned back against the comfy velvet cushions, staring up at the classy crystal chandeliers like they would have some answers for me. At this point, I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or just start crying.
Mateo rushed over to me, anxiety written all over his once cheerful face. “Hey, are you okay?”
Was I okay?
Was any of this okay?
Why did it feel like the entire world was conspiring against me to stop me from finding the perfect man for my wedding? Was this karma? I swear I was a decent person. I even returned the shopping carts back to the cart return thingies. Whatever those were called.
None of this was even fair.
