Page 43 of Metal & Mud

Sabby sighed. *Just answer the fucking questions, man. It's not that goddamn hard.*

"Cost mostly, but also because it helps us with staffing," Sabby explained. "If you just want to book a couple of lanes, that's no problem at all. Just pre-pay for a couple of games, come in with your buddies, and roll away. But if you want the full facility, we need to adjust who's on staff that day."

After a brief discussion about the venue options, the lieutenant made his choice.

"Then I want to book the whole facility," he said. "I don't want the event to be ruined by some geezer throwing gutterballs. By the way, I'm going to be bringing in food."

"No problem, just if you're getting stuff delivered, have them call the alley to clear it." Sabby did her best to be polite. Feeling like she had to jab back at him and his attitude, she added, "We don't like to be ambushed by unexpected deliveries."

Okay, that was a bit of a low shot. But it wasn't like he knew Sabby knew about what Jess and Logan had done to him and his unit. For all he knew, she was just the chick with the two-toned hair who had watched him get his ass kicked. *But we don't talk about that, do we?*

Still he bristled slightly, and Sabby repressed a smirk. *Take that, motherfucker.*

"Fine. Anything else?"

"Yeah, all alcohol must be purchased through MWR," Sabby said. "Anything other than beer must be arranged beforehand so we've got it available. So what's the event?"

"Promotion party." He pulled out his ID. "I'm a captain now."

*After that fuckup?* Sabby wanted to ask. *God help your unit.*

"Okay, cool," Sabby said instead as she picked up the ID and looked at it. It still said lieutenant on it, but she knew that ID cards were one of those things people updated last. "So are you pinning the railroad tracks on during the party, Captain... Huffman?"

"Not quite, I'll be wearing my new rank come this weekend at my unit," Huffman said. "But next month is when I take over officially as the battalion operations officer. So I'll have a promotion and transfer ceremony at the same time."

He made it sound like he was the king shit, which just annoyed Sabby more. She knew enough from her sister and Brian Manheim to know that Huffman was nowhere near as important as he was letting on. More like a glorified paper-pusher with minimal command responsibilities.

Sabby took down all of the man's relevant information and put it into the computer before holding out her hand.

"Cash or credit for the deposit?" she asked. "Most folks use cards."

"Isn't my word as an officer enough for you?" Huffman asked.

Sabby just looked at him. If he wanted to be an ass, he could be an ass. She wasn't going to rise to the occasion, the White House could call and she'd still ask for the fifty dollar deposit. "Fine. Here."

He handed a debit card over and Sabby rung it up before handing it, and the receipt, back. "Here you are."

"Oh, one more thing." Captain Huffman put his wallet away, looked Sabby up and down, and sneered. "No karaoke."

He left, and as he walked out the door Sabby gave him her own personal salute, one that required only one finger. He was obviously salty, or maybe he had recognized Sabby's dig at him and had decided to get one of his own in on his way out.

Regardless, she put him out of her mind however as she went back to work, setting up customers with whatever they needed until Logan came in at around six o'clock, looking handsome and relaxed in a Guns N' Roses tank top and black knee-length basketball shorts. "Hey beautiful."

Sabby grinned, leaning in and stealing a quick kiss over the counter. "Hey handsome. Like the t-shirt?"

She stepped back, tugging her MWR uniform top off to model her new shirt for Logan, who nodded in appreciation.

"As beautiful and sexy as I could have hoped for. I'll be lying though if I didn't say I was hoping for a tighter fit," he said with a smirk. "But I appreciate you wearing it."

"If you want tighter, just gimmie a few hours with some black thread," Sabby assured him. "I already planned on distressing it, so I'll go to town. Next time you see it your tongue's gonna drop out of your mouth."

"That doesn't require a shirt," Logan assured her.

The funny thing was, Sabby knew Logan was being totally sincere. He always saw her as attractive, even the day she had pizza cheese in her hair.

"So how's your shift been?"

"Ups and downs, but a normal day," Sabby said. "Hey, got something to show you. Mind sticking around for twenty minutes until I take my dinner break?"

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