Page 11 of Barker

I roll my eyes while I pull the sleeves of my black, long-sleeved shirt up to my elbows. The breeze had turned pretty chilly since this morning. Tonight was Annistyn’s first night on shift and I couldn’t wait to see her in action. I knew she’d be a great fit for Sinner’s Den. She is quick-witted and sarcastic. She is also great at dishing out crap as well as taking it, which will go over great in here with these guys. I start to take the inventory and wipe down the counters, all under the watchful eye of Wilder. “Don’t you have something else you could be doing?”

“You mean, besides watching Barker Tobin outside of his natural habitat?” he asks, and I glare at him in response. “Nope, can’t think of anything. This right here is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I really should be documenting this or something. Oh, wait! I should call Drake, Zayde, and Stryker!” Wilder grabs his phone and I just roll my eyes. I’m not being that different from my normal, or at least I didn’t think I was.

Then again, I did shower before work instead of after tonight. I did get a haircut this afternoon and trimmed back my growing beard. I might have even put more thought into my clothing choices than normal. Also, I did show up here way earlier than usual. I don’t know why, except I wanted to impress Annistyn or at least some part of me did, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. I mean, ever since I had learned about some of how her life was last night, I felt this need to prove I’m not the guy she first met at the races. I’m not always late and irresponsible, but I still didn’t know why I felt like I needed to prove something to her.

Once things slowed down, Wilder finally left the clubhouse, laughing the whole way out.I waited for Talon and Annistyn to come in on the night rush that we were sure to have in about another hour.

The sound of a motorcycle pulling into the parking lot alerts me that Talon is probably here, at least, which is good since a few people are already starting to show up. When the door opens, however, it isn’t Talon… it’s Annistyn, which was the last thing I was expecting. Half of her blonde hair is pulled away from her face, allowing you to easily get lost in the sage green eyes of hers. She’s ditched the red lipstick for a more natural tint. She has on a red, long-sleeved lace shirt with a black tank top underneath, dark denim skinny jeans, and a pair of black wedges. Heat starts to flow throughout my body as I stare at her. There’s no way for her to get hotter.

She walks over to me. “Hey boss,” she says with a smirk.

“Annistyn,” I look behind her before asking, “Where’s Talon?”

“He’s running a few minutes late. I’m not sure what happened, but he said he would catch up.”

I shake my head in confusion. “I thought I heard his bike outside.”

Annistyn gives me a curious look. “Oh, you heard a bike, just not his.” My brows furrow. “It was my bike, Barker.”

“You ride?” I ask, but can’t hide the shock that laces my voice.

Annistyn smirks while rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Yes, I ride. I have for years. You know, bikes aren’t just for boys.” I stand there stunned. I didn’t think she could get any hotter, but I was wrong, so wrong. I think I just fell in love.

Eleven

Annistyn

Talon walks in before Barker can even come up with a comeback for my bike comment. He looks visibly angry. In all our years of being friends, I rarely see him looking like this. His raven hair isn’t slicked back and in place like normal, some of it has dirt caked into it while other parts are standing in every direction. His clothes look dirty as well. His milk chocolate brown eyes have anger simmering beneath them. His jaw is locked and his lips pursed in fury. Even through his inked skin, I can see his muscles rippling underneath. The bruise forming on his left cheek and eye is enough to have me rushing over to him. “What in the world happened?” I ask once I’m close enough. I take his face in my hands and check him out. Blood is running down his face from a cut above his eyebrow.

“I had a situation,” he replies through clenched teeth, and as I glance down at his hands that are fisted at his sides, I see the scrapes and bruises marring his knuckles.

I sigh heavily and I hear heavy footsteps behind me. “Damn dude, I hope the other guy looks worse.”

“Trust me, they do.” Talon’s entire body is wound up right now.

Barker seems to sense the anger radiating off Talon. “You want me to call Vienna to come and stitch that up for you?”

“I can do it if you guys have a first-aid kit around here,” I offer.

Barker laughs. “With us… we probably have about twenty first-aid kits. I just don’t promise they’re fully stocked. Let me go grab one. Talon can show you to the back bathroom where you can stitch him up.”

I watch as Barker rushes through a side door and Talon steps around me and starts to stomp toward another door along the back wall. I follow him and it seems like it’s a storage room. Shelves of beverages and canned food are here. When we reach the wall, he flips a switch and I see the clean, all-white bathroom. “Sit,” I tell him, as I point to the toilet. “You want to tell me what happened now, or am I going to have to black your other eye to get some damn answers?”

Talon goes to raise his eyebrows, but winces in pain. “You know what happened.”

My heart drops to my stomach because I had a sickening feeling that Jerick or one of his goons was responsible for this. I shake my head and I’m about to speak when Barker comes jogging behind me. “Here you go. This one seems pretty stocked up. I think it’ll have everything you need, but if not just holler. I’ll hold down the fort out there until you guys finish up.”

I take the white and red plastic box labeled ‘first-aid kit’. “Thank you, Barker.” He gives me a warming smile in return and it’s the first time I notice that ridiculously sexy dimple on his right cheek. Seriously Annistyn? When did dimples become sexy? I shake my head as I slip on some plastic gloves and get to work on doctoring and stitching the cut on Talon’s forehead. Once I’m finished, I step back from him. “I’m sorry, Talon. I don’t know why Jerick keeps doing these things. I mean, I get he’s mad at me for whatever reason, but you never did anything.”

Talon scoffs. “Neither did you, Annistyn. The only thing we tried to do was protect him from his own damn self and dumbass decisions.” I nod because I have no words. “Get out there and get to work. I’ll be there in a few. Thank you for this,” Talon says, as he points to his new stitches.

I turn around and walk out into a room that has suddenly become full of customers. Wow! Before I went back there were only a few stragglers sitting here and there, and now there are only a couple of empty tables and bar stools. I rush over to Barker. “We good?” I nod and he hands me a waist apron with a pen and paper pad. “Good. Start over there,” he says, pointing to a table. “And just work your way around. If anyone gets out of hand you just let me know. I’ll take care of it. Otherwise, good luck.” Barker gives me a salute and I can’t help but smile at him. I rush over to the table he pointed out and start taking their order.

****

Once I started taking orders, the night flew by. I wouldn’t have even noticed if it wasn’t for the ache in my feet. Vixens strip club was packed most nights, but it was never a constant go like it was at Sinner’s Den. My feet were really feeling it.

Throughout the night, I had worked closely with Barker. We had bumped into each other in passing more than a few times and it was hard to ignore the tingle in my stomach that it caused. It was also hard to ignore the way Barker was watching me. I could feel his eyes lingering on me throughout the shift. I wasn’t sure if it was because he thought I was going to mess up or because he felt a tingle too. Even I had to admit my eyes wandered in his direction more times than I’d care to admit. Barker looked so good in the muted lights of the bar. The easy smile on his face as he talked and joked with the customers causes my heart to stutter in my chest. The black shirt he had on clung to his body and caused my mind to wander even more. He looked too good to be behind the counter of a bar. Barker should be gracing magazines given his looks.

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