Page 55 of A Quick Buck

Alistair held up his hand for silence.

Landon’s mouth remained open, but he did not speak.

Noah crossed his arms and glared. There was no way he was apologizing to this idiot.

No fuckin’ way.

“Dear Noah,” Alistair said, his voice now deep and firm, “we can do this one of two ways. You can either apologize to your friend or I can give you a new lesson in manners right here in front of everyone.”

“Right here?” Noah’s ass throbbed.

“Yes.”

Noah wanted to argue, but his ass was in favor of giving in. Between gritted teeth, he muttered, “Landon, I’m sorry.”

“Louder, please,” Alistair coaxed. “Look at him when you speak to him.”

Noah did as he was told, saying, “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, man.” Landon smiled warmly. He’d never looked so happy before. “Thanks!”

Noah went back to his first drink. He might have had to apologize to spare his abused cheeks, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to drink Malibu.

“I’ll, uh, get you another one with Captain.” Landon grabbed the offending glass. “Okay?”

“Yeah, can you fuckin’ handle that?”

“Noah,” Alistair warned.

“Yes, please and thank you, Landon,” Noah chirped with syrupy sweetness.

A guy in swim trunks printed with flamingos riding surfboards came drunkenly stumbling by, and he nearly knocked Landon over. “Oh, hey! Whoa! Is that drink for me?”

“Uh, not r-really?” Landon stuttered.

“No,” Noah said shortly.

“Awesome!” The guy didn’t seem to hear Noah and grabbed it and took a big swig. “Ohh, Johnny likes.”

“Enjoy.” Noah finished off his drink with a scowl. He wanted Landon to go on and leave, but the idiot was standing there with the dumbest look on his face as the drunk guy wandered away.

“Help Landon find the bar, Junior,” Alistair suggested.

Junior grinned and grabbed Landon’s arm. “Let’s fuckin’ go, pipsqueak.”

Once Junior had dragged Landon off, Alistair asked, “You truly don’t like him, do you?”

“No.” Noah toyed with his glass, shaking the ice around. “I don’t. He was some loser I went to high school with. Hadn’t seen him in years, then I saw him at a party a few months ago, and now I can’t get rid of him.”

“Was he really so terrible?”

“Uh, yeah. He was a fuckin’ nerd.”

“Mmm.” Alistair sipped his glass thoughtfully. “I suppose your friends were much cooler?”

“Obviously.” Noah gestured to himself. “I mean, have you seen me?”

“Funny.”