Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75047 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75047 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
For a Thursday night, the place was completely slammed. Hell, there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. Locke looked around at all the crowded tables and groaned. “Damn, it looks like we’re going to be in for a long one.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely looking that way.”
On nights like these, we always made a shit-ton of money, but it came at a cost. I never understood it, but anytime it was packed like this, folks tended to lose their fucking minds and do shit they wouldn’t ordinarily do—like throwing a punch at a complete stranger or grabbing some oblivious girl’s ass. Trying to mentally prepare for what laid ahead, I made my way over to the front door and stood watch with Lynch. As expected, it wasn’t long before a fight broke out next to the main stage. “Fuck. Here we go.”
“Hell, yeah. Just what I’ve been waitin’ for.”
Lynch being Lynch, he plowed through the drunken crowd and charged over to the three men who were quickly losing control. I followed right behind him and reached Lynch just as he’d slipped his arm around one of the bigger guy’s throats. Lynch gave him a hard tug, lifting his feet from the floor as he jerked him away from the others.
As soon as the other two realized what was happening, they decided to turn their aggression towards me, and each took a swing. That was a mistake. I plowed my fist into the smaller one’s diaphragm, causing him to topple over as he gasped for breath, then immediately turned my attention to the other. He’d already braced himself and was ready for me to throw a punch, but instead of going directly at him, I waited for him to make the first move. The second he lunged at me, I uppercut him and slammed my fist into his kidneys, then hammered him again with another punch right under his chin. He went flailing back and crashed into one of the tables.
I reached down and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, jerking him up to his feet, then took hold of his arm and grabbed his buddy before storming towards the front door. Lynch had already made it out of the club with the first guy, and I wasn’t far behind with the other two. I shoved them both out the front door and growled, “That’s it for you boys. Time to call it a night.”
“Come on, man. No need to do us like that.”
Lynch had enough of their bullshit and roared, “You heard the man. Get the fuck out of here.”
Without any further argument, the three men turned and walked away like a group of dogs with their tails between their legs. Lynch and I watched as they hailed a cab, and once they were gone, Lynch looked at me and chuckled. “Is it bad that I love that shit?”
“Fucking up a bunch of drunks?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely! I love it.” He held up his fist and growled, “I can’t wait to do it again. It’s a fucking rush!”
I laughed as I patted him on the back. “You need help, brother.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Lynch started over to the front door but stopped and turned back to me. “I wanted to tell you I spoke to Hannah earlier today.”
“Oh, yeah?” I hadn’t heard anything about Lynch’s sister or her daughter since the day Kiersten went over to see them. She and I had been curious about whether or not the gummies had helped with Reece’s issues, but Kiersten didn’t want to seem pushy and was hesitant to reach out to them. “How’s she making it?”
“Really good, actually.” Lynch seemed relieved. “Reece has been showing some real improvements. Seems Kiersten’s gummies have been a real hit over there, so I’m pretty sure Hannah will be calling her soon.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll be sure and let Kiersten know.”
“Please do and tell her how much I appreciate her doing this for me.” He cleared his throat. “I love my sister and hate that she’s going through all this, so I’m grateful for all of Kiersten’s help.”
“She was glad to do it, brother. I know she’ll be happy to hear it’s working out.”
I followed him inside, and together we waited for the possibility of another unraveling. Thankfully, our little display with the first wild crew made an impression on the remainder of the crowd, and we got through the rest of the night without another brawl. I helped the guys get things shut down for the night, and once the doors were locked, I was on my bike, riding back to the Manor. By the time I pulled into the drive, it was well after midnight. I had no doubt that Kiersten was sleeping, so I did my best not to wake her as I unlocked the door and went inside.