Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
He ordered a beer and she asked Hawk if he needed another round and then set off to fulfill their orders. As Chris turned back to Hawk, someone shouldered past him and he looked over. It was a young kid, barely old enough to be in the bar in the first place, by Chris’s measure. He was sporting a cut but only a bottom rocker. A prospect for the Buzzards, Chris assumed.
“Watch it!” the kid snapped, apparently trying to look like a badass in front of his buddies. One of the guys with him, though, grabbed the kid’s arm and yanked him aside, muttering something into the prospect’s ear. Chris figured he knew pretty much what that was, but he didn’t really care.
Chris was also far too old to get into a pissing contest with a guy who only recently discovered he had pubes. Chris’ dick was bigger. That was a certainty. So was his bike. He could tell that just by looking at the kid. Chris’ bank account was also bigger and, most importantly, Chris had long ago outgrown the urge to prove any of this with his fists. He nodded to the kid, dismissing him, and turned to Hawk.
“You’re so popular,” Hawk told him.
Chris grinned, grabbing a stick from the rack. “Everybody wants a piece.”
“Yup,” Hawk agreed. “I know I do.”
Chris raised his eyebrows at his companion. Hawk dug out his wallet and laid a twenty on the table.
Chris laughed and shook his head. “Hawk, I just paid you that. Don’t you want to hang onto it a little while longer?”
Hawk scowled. “I’m gonna win this time. I feel it.”
“A fool and his money are soon parted,” Chris declared, chalking up his cue. After a particularly nice break by Hawk, Hayley brought their drinks, setting them on the waist high table tucked up against the wall. She barely got them down on the napkins when the prospect called her over.
“Hey girl!” the kid yelled, even though by the looks of it Hayley was slightly older than the kid. Hayley gave Chris a sardonic look that the prospect couldn’t see and turned to take his order. The kid ordered a beer and Hayley returned with it, telling him the total. The kid scowled. “How come I gotta pay?” he asked. “They don’t pay,” he noted, jerking his chin to Hawk and Chris.
“They run a tab,” Hayley replied, calmly.
“So run me a tab,” the kid said sarcastically.
“Can’t,” Hayley said smoothly. “Not up to me. Up to the boss lady.”
The kid grumbled and dug a five out of his wallet for his $4.50 beer. “I got money,” he told her.
Hayley didn’t have to respond because one of the kid’s companions slapped him on the back. “Oh, it don’t matter, prospect. You can’t drink more than a few anyway.”
The other man laughed and the prospect looked indignant. “Bullshit,” he declared. “I bet I can out drink any one of you,” he said, nodding to his prospective brothers.
Hayley smiled. “Kid,” Hayley said. “You couldn’t out drink me, let alone one of them.”
The guys on either side of the young man laughed. “I don’t know man, sounds like a challenge,” one of them said.
The kid scowled at her. “You’re a barmaid!”
Hayley grinned at him. “Sure am.”
The kid continued to glare at her. “Fine. Challenge” He spread his arms out, making a spectacle to attract his audience. “I sure as hell can out drink a damn barmaid.”
Chris watched as Hayley turned and looked at Maria, who had kept one ear on the exchange. Maria set a shot down in front of a regular and looked over. She sized up the Prospect and Hayley. Chris was certain she’d say no but instead Maria called out “You pay for her drinks.”
“Goddamn it,” Chris muttered as a cheer went up around the bar.
The prospect crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Alright, bitch,” he said, but he was grinning happily. “How many?”
“Six. Each,” she said, without hesitation. “First one done, wins. You pick the drink.”
The prospect grinned impossibly wider. “Devil’s Cut!” he shouted to rampant cheers.
Fucking hell, Chris thought angrily. The kid had chosen the highest proof available. Of course.
Hayley nodded as Maria pulled out a tray and set up twelve shots glasses. “Money first, Prospect,” the older woman called out and the kid produced a 100 dollar bill and handed it to Hayley. She took it to Maria and carefully lifted the tray of shots and carried it back to the table.
“Set ‘em up, boys,” she ordered, balancing the end of the tray on the edge of the table. The boys grabbed the shots, lining up two rows.
“Well,” said Hawk, “the good news is, she can’t take a cab home. ‘Cause she won’t be able to operate a telephone.”
Chris groaned and shot Maria a withering look. Maria simply shrugged and grinned, enjoying the evening’s entertainment. He started to rise from his chair. “If no one else is smart enough to stop this…”