Rule Read online

Page 7

 

  Nash drove a fully restored 73’ Dodge Charger. It was a monster of black, chrome and motor. I was pretty sure everyone in the apartment complex knew whenever we were coming or going because it was just that loud and rumbly but it was a cool ride and I knew it meant a lot to him because he had done the rebuild mostly by himself. Nash’s background was a little sketchy, but since my own was less than stellar I never really pushed him to talk about it. I knew his dad had died when he was really young and that his mom had remarried some rich asshole that to this day Nash refused to have anything to do with. Phil, the same Phil that let us make his shop our own, had been integral in getting Nash to adulthood without a criminal record and a whole pack of illegitimate kids.

  The bar was in lower downtown or LoDo as the locals called it. It was a popular hangout for mostly locals and industry people and since I hadn’t been around on a Sunday in years I forgot how packed it could be when the Broncos played. The guys had a table in the back right under a massive flat screen and already had glasses and a pitcher of beer waiting. Fist bumps and head nods for greeting went around the table as a raucous cheer went up in the packed bar as the Broncos scored.

  “What up fellas?” Nash poured us a round as we settled in. Rowdy wiggled his eyebrows up and down and motioned to a spot over his shoulder towards the bar.

  “Isn’t this better than family time? Nobody wants to see mom dressed like that. ”

  The girls that worked in the bar were all dressed in sexy sports themed uniforms, some were super sexy cheerleaders, some were in really small jerseys and hot pants that laced up like football pants and my favorites were dressed in little tiny referee outfits that barley covered their bottoms. It was hot and way better than getting torn to pieces by my parents just for breathing.

  “No they sure don’t. ” It was nice to just chill and spend time with the guys when normally Sunday’s were the worst part of the week but today was awesome and even if I felt a twinge at my selfishness I knew enough beer would squash it.

  Jet looked up from the plate of nachos he was steadily demolishing and pointed a finger over his shoulder towards the bar. “Wait until you see the chick waiting on us. Dude, just dude there aren’t even words. ”

  Jet’s band Enmity was pretty big in the local scene and I knew from firsthand experience he had his pick of groupies and rock chicks so if he was impressed than the girl was probably a dead 10 and I couldn’t wait to check her out. We chatted and pounded the pitcher away in under a half hour and the guys were getting louder and rowdier but it was a good time and we needed another round sooner than later. I had yet to see the elusive waitress of hotness when the hair on the back of my neck went up and I suddenly snapped to attention. There was a blond making her way towards the table. She had on the requisite referee outfit complete with ruffly little black shorts and fishnet stockings. She also was wearing a pair of black boots that looked a hell of a lot like my own, only girly and they went up seriously awesome legs to rest below her knees. The hair was so blond it was almost white and instead of being in a sleek, low ponytail like I was used to it was in twin pigtails on either side of her head and startled green eyes were looking at me from under razor straight bangs. Her mouth was a bright slash of red against a pale face I was as familiar with as my own and while I struggled with recognition my idiot friends were leering at her while Nash was climbing to his feet to enfold her in a bear hug.

  “Hey girl, what are you doing here?” Shaw gave a little squeal as she returned my roommates hug but her eyes never left mine.

  “Uh I work here, I have for a while. I normally have Sunday’s off but since my schedule changed and it’s busy I picked it up. What are you guys doing here?”

  I knew the question was directed at me but I was still too stunned at how different she looked to respond. Nash left an arm around her shoulder and pointed at our friends. “The guy with the goatee is Rowdy; he works at the shop with me and Rule. The guy shoving his face full of nachos is Jet, he sings for Enmity. Guy’s this is Shaw, she grew up with Rule and his brothers. ”

  I watched in a mixture of awe and repulsion as my friends practically fell over themselves to shake the hand she extended. I still hadn’t said anything and it was starting to get awkward but she just smiled and picked up the empty pitcher and told us she would be back with another in a few minutes. All four sets of eyes followed the swish of her hair and the ruffles on her ass as she walked away and I wanted to punch everyone, including myself in the face. As soon as she was out of earshot Rowdy turned on me and reached across the table to smack me upside the head with the flat of his hand. I swore and glared at him but made no move to retaliate.

  “What the fuck?”

  He shook his head and pointed a finger at me. “That’s the girl you complain about driving home with every weekend? That’s the girl you whine endlessly about walking in on you when you’re acting the fool? That’s the girl you dodge calls from and avoid like the plague? Geez Rule I never knew you were gay. ”

  Nash snickered and Jet busted out in a full belly laugh. I flipped Rowdy off and narrowed my eyes.

  “Shut up. You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. ”

  “No? I have eyes and that chick is killer so either you’re blind or stupid because if I was cooped up in a car with her for two hours every week I’d be thanking God not bitching about it. ”

  Nash shook his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t know she worked here. Do you really just ignore everything she says to you?”

  I glared at him. “You didn’t know either and you talk to her when she comes over on Sunday. ”

  “I ask her if she wants coffee, not how she makes a living. Dude admit it, you suck. ”

  I was going to argue but he kept going, “And she is hot, she’s always been hot you just don’t like her so you can’t see it. She looks good in all that fancy crap she’s normally in, but man in that uniform…”

  “I like her fine. ” I refused to comment on her hotness or lack of because that was weird to me. Of course I had eyes in my head so I knew logically she was a beautiful girl, but she always seemed so cold and so untouchable that I never really thought of her as attractive more like an impressive work of art that was meant for viewing in a museum rather than every day enjoyment.

  “Don’t lie. You two can’t stand each other. ”

  I shrugged a little. “She’s like family. You know how I feel about my family. ”

  Jet lifted an eyebrow, “I wish my family had members that looked like that. ”

  I rolled my eyes. “Knock it off. Stop being a creeper. ”

  She came back with not one pitcher but two and a plate of wings. She smiled at Nash and the other guys but when her bright gaze landed on me the shudders came down. “These are on me. I just can’t help myself from trying to make sure you eat on Sunday. ” She turned away with a flip of her pale hair and moseyed over to another table full of middle aged guys in ill-fitting jerseys. I narrowed my eyes when one of them put his hand on her ruffle covered butt. Clearly used to it Shaw flashed that killer grin and easily side stepped the groper. It was such a different way to see her that when she walked past the table again clearly intent on ignoring me I reached out and grabbed her arm.

  Her eyes flashed an emerald spark as she looked at the tattooed fingers I had wrapped around her wrist. I was surprised when a jolt shot all the way up to my shoulder at the contact. I lifted both eyebrows at her and gave her a nasty sneer.

  “Do your parents know you work here, and what about Margot? I have a hard time believing any of the adults you try so hard to impress daily know that you’re prancing around here half naked. ”

  She scowled at me and shook my hand off. “No, my parents don’t know because they’ve never asked and Margot knows I work in sports bar but she doesn’t know what the uniform looks like and I’m not even close to being half naked. Leave me alone, Rule. My roommate works here too and she’s giving me the lo
ok that means she’s about to call in the troops. Unless you want to be carted out of here by three very big bouncers you’ll keep your hands to yourself and your trap shut. I like Nash, he’s always been nice enough to me, but I have no problem getting you and the rest of your friends 86’ed if you continue to piss me off. ”

  We glared at each other in a hostile standoff until one of her other tables flagged her down.

  “Just one weekend. ” I frowned at her as she muttered the words so low I almost didn’t hear her.

  “What?”

  Those eyes blazed so much at me I couldn’t even pick out one solid emotion. “Just one weekend I wanted a break from dealing with you. ” She flounced away from me and for the first time since I had met her I realized maybe spending time with me was as much a pain for her as it was for me. When I turned back to my friends they were all looking at me with a mixture of pity and awe. My scowl darkened even more as I chugged back my full beer in one swallow.

  “What?” I could hear the surliness in my tone.

  “Dude, what’s the deal with that?” Rowdy was the one who asked the question but Nash and Jet both looked like they wanted to ask the same thing.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Nash lifted up his beer to hide a smile. “You looked like you both wanted to box each other or tear each other’s clothes off and go at it right in the middle of the bar. What gives with that, I thought she bugged you. ”

  “She does. She’s rich and spoiled; we don’t agree on anything, we never have. ”

  Rowdy gave me a look that outright called bullshit on my claim. “I know what I saw and there is no way that if that girl didn’t offer it up you wouldn’t take it. ”

  I wanted to yell at him that he was wrong, so very wrong because before she was any of the things that annoyed me and got under my skin, she was Remy’s and there was nothing in heaven or hell that would make me forget that. Pulling in my temper I poured another beer and lapsed into a moody silence. I wasn’t attracted to Shaw, it was just seeing her in a new environment, seeing her in something other than her fancy outfits that cost more than I made in a month that had the tension between us reading to other people as something else.

  We were almost to the bottom of the second pitcher and silently Shaw had dropped of a replacement when a really pretty girl with super short dark hair suddenly appeared at the edge of the table. She was tall and had eyes the color of Jack Daniels but there was nothing on her lovely face that came across as welcoming. She had a mouth that would give Angelia Jolie a run for her money and a body that was meant to stop traffic displayed in all its glory in a matching uniform to Shaw’s only instead of kick ass boots she had on a pair of spiked heels that probably made her taller than Nash and Jet.

  Jet sat up straighter and Rowdy, who was by far the drunkest of all of us since he had started adding shots of tequila twenty minutes ago, almost fell off his stool when she posted up at the table between the two of them. Her gaze was trained directly on me though so I met her look for look until she finally spoke. She had a soft southern twang and I could swear I saw Jet fall in love on the spot.