Page 35 of Keep Your Guard Up
“Good to see you, kid,” he said, beaming proudly down at me.
He turned and pulled a glass from the rack behind him, filling it with half a scoop of ice. I hopped back over to the other side of the bar while he made my usual, with the fingers on his right hand tipped in the same inked patterns of my own.
“I’m sorry it’s been so long,” I replied, a rush of guilt hitting me like a brick wall.
He waved a hand in dismissal. “Don’t apologise. I know just how busy you are these days.” He smiled, putting a double version of my usual on the bar in front of me.
I raised my eyebrows in question.
“There’s a certainsomeoneand their rich,fucknobfatherout back in the big corporate room. Figured you might need this,” he said, picking up my glass and gently shaking it so the ice hit the sides with a gentle tinkling.
“You’re a lifesaver,” I replied, guzzling the drink quickly as Rocco got to work on another. I downed the next just as fast.
“How’s your old man doing? He coming tonight?” he asked the questions smooth and casual, but the longing in his overshadowed eyes was enough for my heart to crack in sympathy. He missed his friend.
“He’s doing good. Nan spoke to his nurses this morning and today wasn’t a good day, so …” I trailed off.
“There’s always next year.” He smiled softly, though it was impossible to miss the disappointment in his drooping his expression.
“I’ll take you out there one day soon,” I promised. “He’d love that, I reckon.”
“I would too.” Reaching over the counter, he put my next drink in front of me and squeezing my hand gently. He nodded his head towards the corporate rooms. “Sing out if you need me. I care about havin’ you in here more than those snobby pricks in there.”
I chuckled — he truly meant it. I’d seen the lengths he’d gone to for my family and I before, and I didn’t doubt it for a second. But I could suck it up, play nice, dumb girl for twenty minutes while Camden McLarry used me as a pedestal to stand on in front of his little-dicked, suck-up friends. I could deal withJayden and the actions his insecurity brought down on me for twenty minutes. I could do it for Rocco, and I could certainly do it for Knock’s.
Leaving Rocco with a mock salute and a deep gulp of my perfectly made old fashioned, I made my way over to the corporate rooms. The rumble of male laughter got louder as I got closer, could practically smell themoneyin that room. I straightened my spine, pulled my shoulders back, and lifted my chin. My sleek black heels clicked on the floor, contrasting with the red Nan had insisted on painting my toenails earlier this afternoon. Using my free hand to pull down my crimson miniskirt, I ensured it was at a respectable length before reaching the door.
“Evenin’, Mari.” The security guard, who’s name I couldn’t remember for the life of me, smiled sympathetically down at me. He’d been working for the McLarrys for a short time now, but that was enough to know how they treated the women around them.
I smiled in thanks as he opened the door for me. The laughter stopped, but it wasn’t because I had walked into the snake pit full of sleazy rich men. No, their attention was elsewhere. Everyone crowded around the middle of the room, listening avidly to the speaker.
“It’s been a wonderful …opportunity,” they said.
Wait.
I knew that voice.
“I have to say, I’m surprised you’re here. Your last win against Doug Speddlehimer was nothing short of incredible,” Camden said.
I clicked around the edge of the room, regretting wearing heels. But no one seemed to notice, or care, about the sudden female presence.
I stood on the opposite side of their little huddle from Jayden, who also hadn’t noticed me yet.
And there he was. All six-foot-three of him, a metric fuckload of muscle, crammed into the velvet green chair, it’s high back facing towards me. His newly buzzed hair was shining off the dim lighting, as if he had his own personal spotlight. He went back and forth with Camden, brushing off any compliments the short, tubby businessman paid him as if they were of little importance. Even from here, it was obvious the way Camden grappled verbally with him, trying to imprint some sort of significance through his opinions. But Chance, swiftly and politely, brushed each and every attempt away as if it was a speck of lint on his navy blue shirt.
Camden’s eyes met mine and lit up wickedly.
“And I’m sure you’ve hadever the welcomefrom Knock’s owner, Mari?” He plastered a mask of pleasantry over his always flushed face.
“Mari has been nothing short of fantastic to work with,” Chance surprised me by saying. “As the daughter of Elijah Trevino, I’d already had high expectations for her. But what she’s done for Knock’s since his retirement is extraordinary.”
Thank the heavens and all of the angels above for makeup and dim lighting. I prayed they hid my flaming face from Camden’s watchful gaze. He narrowed his eyes on Chance, searching for a flaw, a lie, a bone to pick at. But Chance didn’t flinch. His shoulders didn’t tense. He just sipped from a glass that looked oddly similar to mine.
Surprise flashed over Camden’s face, and I wondered what Chance had done to cause it. Staring at the back of his head, I couldn’t make out anything different.
Camden looked up to me, feigning pleasant delight at my ‘sudden’ appearance. “Ah, Mari. We were just talking about you.”
Chance’s shoulders tensed under that dim, yellow lighting.
