I had it all planned out.
“You're on edge.”
I whirled around to find Brandon. “I'm not on edge.”
I was, and it seemed like everyone was aware of it. Even the customers looked over. We had a party of forty and fifty year olds drinking in the back. They'd been laughing and loud most of the night, but they quieted now.
I swear I saw understanding pass through their group, and a second later, one waved, her underarm fat jiggling as she did. “You go, girl. Ain’t no man worth the stress.”
I winced.
Her friend guffawed. “Except if his name is Channing Monroe. That guy is fiiiine.”
Their whole table broke out in laughter. The first tried to silence it, but another said something else and her margarita snorted out her nose.
They were gone. Off to the land of the buzzed.
I sighed, ignoring my brother's sympathy, and whacked him in the arm.
“Ouch.” He rubbed his biceps.
I motioned toward the ladies. “Call Roy. I don't want any of them driving.”
“On it.”
Roy was our local Uber driver. Chances were high he'd end up parked in our lot anyway. He was smart. He was also seventeen, skinny, and had a face still working its way through puberty, complete with acne and shaggy eyebrows. He had a penchant for blushing anytime a girl smiled at him.
The ladies would love him.
As if proving my point, one of them called out, “Come over here, Brandon. We’ve got a warm bosom to comfort you with. We're feeling frisky.”
More hooting and lewd suggestions followed. My brother actually seemed a little terrified.
I nudged him with my elbow. “Could be worse. Rebecca could still be lurking around.”
He shuddered.
His stalker had stuck around for a week—until she’d gotten a punch to the face during the crew brawl. When she’d mentioned a lawsuit, I reminded her she’d broken in, trespassed, and threatened someone in my home not long ago.
She went away after that, and Brandon was beyond ecstatic.
For some reason, he hadn't thought he would be able to shake her.
“Heather.” Our night manager came up behind me. “I called in more staff for the next shift. We’ve got a few coming to help cover till then too.”
Manny’s was beyond full, even the outside was at capacity, and there was a line snaking into the parking lot.
“Good.”
Ava walked past us, her shoulders sagging. She looked exhausted.
“Did Ava open today?”
“She came in at eleven.”
It was three in the afternoon. She shouldn’t have been as tired as she looked.
“I’m going to send her home. She’s sick.”
Cruz glanced at me, his eyebrows raised. “Two girls called in already. You sure?”
I nodded. “I’ll take her place. She’s going to fall over.” I gave him a hard look. “Figure out what’s going on with her.”
He nodded. He didn’t salute me or clip his heels together, but that was the effect of his response. I gave an order, and he’d fulfill it.
Ava was stubborn and proud. If she could walk, she came in, but she’d been struggling lately. She’d lost some weight. I didn’t want to make any assumptions, but I wanted to know what was going on with her—if it was her health, if she was trying to lose weight for school, if she was up late at night with a guy… Who knew, but I couldn’t have a waitress fainting on her shift.
Cruz would get to the root of the problem, and until then, I watched as he went over to tell her to go home.
She’d been waiting at the counter for an order, and she straightened up as he spoke. Her eyebrows pulled tight and angry eyes looked at me. She shook her head, starting to protest.
I went over, touched her arm. “You can keep the tips, but you have to go.”
“No, Heather. I—”
Her arm was so tiny. I could wrap my entire hand around it, and I hadn’t been able to do that six months ago. “Go and rest. I’ve got it. We’ll need you tomorrow.”
Some of the fight had left her when I reassured her about the tips, but now she started crying. “You shouldn’t have to do this.”
Ava was special. So many waitresses would just take off, taking advantage of their boss’s kindness, but Ava wouldn’t, and that’s why I’d offered it for her.
“Go, Ava. I’ve got this. Your shift was only till six anyway.”
“I know, but…” She sighed, taking off her waitressing apron. She handed it over. “Table One needs their drinks refilled. I’m waiting for Two’s food right now. Three is picky, so always have something extra to refill every time you pass them…” She filled me in on the rest until I shooed her out the door, Table Two’s food in my arms.
“Go. I mean it.”
She nodded, her head bent. “Thank you, Heather.”
I nudged her arm. “Rest tonight. No going out.”
“I know.” She looked back up, determined, and for some reason, I felt she would be better tomorrow.
A few hours later, Cruz filled me in, whispering in my ear as I refilled a table’s soft drinks. “I just got off the phone with her mother. Ava’s got a new boyfriend, and apparently, he’s not the nicest to her.”
Asshole. I didn’t know who he was, but if he was the reason for her dwindling weight, I already didn’t like him.
“Got it. Thank you.”
“We can run interference if he shows up, but Candy just got here to take over for you.” He looked behind me. His voice lowered, “And just in time, it looks like.”
I didn’t need to turn. My body was in tune with Channing, and I felt him. He’d just walked in, opening the door for a group of teen girls. They paused to thank him and erupted in giggles and blushes as they scurried away.
A cocky smirk came over his face, but it faded quickly as he looked for me. He wore a simple shirt over his jeans. It molded over him like his clothes always did, highlighting his broad shoulders and showing the beginning of his chest muscles before falling loosely over his firm stomach.
My damned mouth started watering, which pissed me off, because was I always going to need him like this? It never lessened. It had only gotten worse each year.
“Have a smoke break,” I told Candy as she approached. “I’ll cover you.”
She frowned. “I already did. Cruz said to take over for you.”
My hands tightened around the glasses. I hadn’t felt the soda as it overflowed. I turned my back to Channing, feeling the exact moment his gaze found me. I felt zapped by him as I filled Candy in on the tables I still had open. My tips were in my apron, and I stuffed them in an envelope. Still ignoring Channing, I put the envelope in Ava’s slot and went to find Cruz.
I had to step around Channing, who was about to reach out for me.
“Don’t.” I held up a finger.
I was suddenly pissed at him, but I wasn’t pissed at just him.
I was mad that I’d had to leave him at a gas station to stand off against an MC leader. I was mad that he hadn’t told me what happened after that. I was mad that I didn’t want to ask because I didn’t want to know. I was mad that he was in the crew life, and that sometimes it was beyond dangerous. I was mad because he’d formed the crew life to help my friends, and I was mad that I benefited from that life too.
Mostly I was mad because I wanted him out of that life, and I knew he wouldn’t leave it. He couldn’t leave it.