Page 30 of Endure the Pain

CHAPTER 10

As we were coming up on the entrance, one of the girls with curly raven hair hooked her arm with mine. I really should have asked them their names. “So, birthday girl, what’s your name, how old are you turning, and are you single and looking to mingle with someone in this bar?”

“Don’t tell her your real name,” Rourke said in my ear.

No shit!

“My name is Mandy. I’m turning twenty-two and yes, I’m looking to mingle,” I lied.

She nodded with a smile and as we opened the door to the Whiskey Bandit, she glanced back at the others. “You hear that, ladies? Our birthday girl is looking to get her freak on tonight,” she yelled, clearly making it known to not just the girls, but everyone in the bar. Raven—that was what I was going to call her—barely gave me any time to glance around the room as she dragged me to the bar. “I’ll buy Mandy’s first drink. Y’all decide who’s buying the next one. We need to make sure she really lets loose tonight because tonight is all about her,” she told the other ladies, really playing her part well.

Three of them took seats at the bar while the youngest and I stood behind them. The bartender was a grizzled older man with a beer belly. “Did I hear that it’s someone’s birthday?” he asked us.

Raven smiled at him and pointed at me. “Birthday girl.” Then she looked back at me. “Do you want to start off with some shots? I don’t care if it’s midterms. It’s your birthday. You have to take a couple shots.”

“Not sure that’s a good idea,” Dean said.

I smiled brightly. “Tequila.” The four girls squealed and clapped their hands.

“Fucking hell,” Dean grumbled in my ear.

The bartender placed five shot glasses on the bar and poured a cheap tequila in each glass. Raven paid, then handed me my shot. We clanked our shots and threw them back.

“Dustin Peters is playing pool at the table behind you. Alex Roth is sitting in the corner booth next to Buck. Unless he leaves Buck’s side, your best bet is Dustin,” Rourke said into my ear, reminding me that they were watching through the cameras.

I finally glanced around the room. It was slightly dim, and it most definitely looked like a dive. The carpet was burgundy and stained. The bar was chipped. Some of the chairs didn’t match. It reeked of cigarettes and the slight skunk smell of weed permeated the air. There was only one corner booth, at the far end of the room. Sure enough, Buck and Alex were sitting there with a few other Aryans. My gaze swept to the other side of the room, behind where I was standing, and found Dustin, leaning over the pool table getting ready to make a shot. He hit the cue ball into another, but the other ball missed the pocket he was aiming for. He glanced my way, feeling me staring. We locked eyes. I smiled and quickly looked away as if embarrassed at being caught. I waited a second before glancing back again. This time he was staring at me, waiting, and he smirked when we locked eyes again.

He wasn’t bad looking. Long blond hair that was tied back and he had pretty blue eyes. He had on a black T-shirt that showed off his muscles and a few tats.

“Do you know how you’re going to approach him?” Rourke asked in my ear.

I went to glance at the camera that was up on the wall behind Dustin, but the colorful jukebox directly beneath it caught my eye and an idea came to me.

“See someone you like?” Raven asked, drawing my attention back to her and the other girls. I gave her a slight nod.

“Would you ladies like another round?” the bartender asked.

“I’ll take a beer. Don’t care which kind as long as it’s in a bottle,” I answered. While the other girls placed their orders, I pulled a one hundred and a quarter from my purse. I slipped the hundred to Raven and gestured silently for her to pay. She took it discreetly and handed it over to the old bartender when he came back with our drinks. Raven handed me my beer and I took a small swig. Inhaling deeply, I let my darkness take over with the quarter held tightly in my fist.

It’s time to play.

I set down my beer on the bar and strutted the small distance in Dustin’s direction. I made it look like I stumbled and let my quarter go flying. It landed on the pool table in front of Dustin as he was about to take a shot. He adjusted his stance and knocked the cue ball around the quarter and he successfully knocked a solid colored ball into the corner pocket. With a sheepish smile, I watched as he scooped up my quarter. He walked around the table toward me while his unabashed eyes raked over me from head to toe and back up. He stopped his approach with a few feet of distance between us and held out my quarter.

“What a gentleman,” I said, reaching for the quarter.

He moved my quarter out of reach just before I could take it. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

I dropped my hand and put it on my hip. “No.” I didn’t supply more. I didn’t want to make it too easy for him and I could tell he was wanting me to chase him. But I had a feeling—no, I could see it in his eyes—he thought I was just an easy lay and was going to enjoy watching me work hard for his attention.

Not today, Señor Dipshit.

He smirked at me and tipped his head at the jukebox. “As a thank you for retrieving your quarter, you should let me pick the song.”

“That’s my only quarter. What if you have terrible taste in music?”

His surprise showed before he laughed. “What were you going to pick? Taylor Swift?”

I arched a brow. “And what were you going to pick? Lynyrd Skynyrd?”