Page 5

Daniel

I . Was. Going. To. Kill. Him.

Where the fuck was he?

It had already been a busy enough night, but the second Shawn left the bar, all hell had broken loose. I couldn’t keep up to save my damn life. Orders were tossed my way like I was magic and had the memory of a goddamn elephant. I could easily remember two or three, but ten? Fucking forget it.

By the time I’d finally cleared out eight customers, I had steam billowing from my ears. If he expected me to pick up the slack so he could fuck off? Oh, he had another thing coming to him. I didn’t care who the hell his father was.

That’s when I saw him. He was out in the dining room, hand resting on the table, shooting the shit with Aiden. Fucking Aiden. A teenager. While we were supposed to be working.

Red.

All I saw was motherfucking red.

The bottle slammed onto the counter in front of me a little too hard and shattered, sending little pieces of glass flying. The patron that had been standing there gasped and jumped backward.

“The hell is your problem, man?” the customer asked.

I did my best to shake it off, grabbing a damp rag to clean up my mess, but the damage was done. Mr. Stevens came around the corner and my entire body locked up. Was this what pushed me over the edge and gave him an excuse to let me go? I already felt like I was walking on eggshells every day that I came in for work. One minor mistake and he’d can my ass…

“Morgan,” he said, waving me over.

My head hung. I marched in his direction. “Yes, sir.”

He huffed a laugh. “Don’t call me sir. Where the hell is Shawn?” Mr. Stevens looked at the overcrowded bar and then at the mess I’d made.

All I could do was shrug. I wasn’t his damn keeper. I was just as annoyed as he was that his child wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

“Clean up the glass. I’ll go get the dumbass. Try to keep calm.”

I nodded, trying to make my heart stop pounding so damn hard. He didn’t seem all that pissed that I’d been upset. It was an understandable situation.

Not two minutes later, Shawn’s father grabbed him by the elbow and hauled him behind the bar.

“I don’t pay you to socialize. You do that shit on your own time. Meanwhile, you left your teammate to drown. Get your head out of your ass and get it together.”

Shawn’s eyes were wide, like a deer caught in the headlights. He only nodded as he looked over at me. My heart still slammed against my ribcage in fear of being in trouble for breaking the glass. Shawn didn’t speak to me; he just went right back to taking orders and making drinks.

And that’s how the night went. I wanted to stay mad, but what the hell happened? That had to have been humiliating, to have your father chew your ass out in the middle of a crowded bar like that.

Then again, he’d left me to the wolves. It was still hard for me to feel bad about it. In a way, it was rewarding to see that he wasn’t completely untouchable.

Once Suzy, one of the seating hostesses, flipped the sign to Closed at the front of the restaurant, I sagged in relief. My feet ached on an entirely different level than what I was used to. There was something about colder weather that dragged people out. If it were me, I’d stay locked inside.

“I think I have Mrs. Grant on board with it.”

My spine straightened at Shawn’s words. What the hell was he talking about? If he was getting Nathan and Aiden’s mother involved with anything, I didn’t want any part of it other than to tell her he wasn’t good news.

“Really? You told her it was a party?”

Shawn snorted a laugh at Chase’s question.

“I don’t think the woman is stupid. She thinks I’m into him. I had to assure her he was a little too young for me and that there would be no ‘shenanigans’ with her baby.”

That was it. My curiosity was about to kill me. I couldn’t stand by and pretend I wasn’t listening, because Shawn was sure to drag Aiden into a lot of trouble if I didn’t speak up. If only I’d spoken up a lot sooner with Art and Tilly.

“There’s no hope of you keeping anyone out of trouble.”

When Shawn turned to face me and his eyebrows hiked up in interest, my shoulders tensed. I hated having his stupidly attractive stare on me. Why couldn’t I go the rest of the night being pissed off about the way he’d almost fucked me over earlier?

The corners of Shawn’s lips pulled up in a grin. “You listening in? Why don’t you just come join us? You might be interested in coming along, anyway.”

I blew out a breath, resisting the urge to laugh at his insinuation. “I want no part of any plans that you might be making.”

My body burned with the way Shawn’s gaze trailed up and down my frame. It was as if he was undressing me on the spot. Completely inappropriate for work, but for some reason, it made me feel hot, itchy, desired... a strange combination that I couldn’t fully explain. All I knew for certain was that Shawn Stevens was dangerous, and I needed to keep my distance. There would be no repeating past mistakes.

Shawn turned back to Chase. “So, I talked to Dad, and I got everyone the time off, including the party pooper over there.”

That was it. How dare he go behind my back and ask for time off for me? He didn’t know my life and if I could afford it. “What do you mean you got the time off approved?”

Shawn’s grin was back as he turned to face me once more. “I told you that you might want to be a part of this conversation. Our boy Aiden is turning nineteen, and we’re all going to take him up to my family cabin to celebrate.”

My face heated as my fists clenched. Celebrating Aiden wasn’t the problem. It was the fact that I couldn’t afford to take however long off of work to go party it up at some cabin. I was lucky enough that my parents were sending me something to help with rent.

“I’m not going.”

The words left my mouth as I yanked off my apron. It landed on the counter in front of me with far less oomph than I would have liked, but I still stormed into the back and grabbed my hoodie. There was still snow on the ground, but I tossed the jacket on and marched toward my apartment.

I slid and skidded to a halt as someone grabbed my arm. My body slammed into a warm, hard one and when I looked up, I shoved Shawn off. “Let me fucking go.”

“Not a chance. I get it. You don’t like me, but don’t take it out on your friend.”

All I could do was stand there and blink at him. Small puffs of steam escaped his lips with each rapid breath he took from chasing me down the sidewalk. Unlike me, he hadn’t had the time to stop for a jacket.

“You don’t get it.”

“Then help me understand it.”

My hands yanked at my hair, sifting through the longer strands on top as I looked up and down the road. All I wanted to do was run, get the hell away from this asshole, but he wasn’t going to let me.

“I can’t even go anywhere unless I can walk or ride a bus.”

Shawn crossed his arms over his chest, accepting the challenge in my voice. “So you ride up with me.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “That’s a smart idea. I can read the headlines now ‘ Two Bartenders On Way To Mountain Cabin Kill Each Other After Car Argument. ’ Yes Shawn, let’s go together.”

The way he laughed caused shivers to race up and down my spine. “You seem so intent that I couldn’t handle myself alone with you for a couple of hours.”

I glared. “You might be able to, but I can’t make any promises on my front.”

When I turned to leave, I braced for him to stop me. When it didn’t come, I kept walking. My body vibrated with the adrenaline from the argument. What was it about the guy that brought out the worst in me? I wasn’t the type of person who fought and argued with people. Most people found me pretty easy to get along with.