Be My Hero(21)

Not much changed at home aside from the fact that Mrs. Rojas, mother of  four and our neighbor to the left, agreed to watch Julian three days out  of the week. With a little more 'freedom' as Tristy called it, her  moods brightened considerably. It put a bigger strain on my budget, but  to live with a happier, drug-free Tris, it was worth it.

Nothing changed at my jobs either. Cars still came in needing repairs at  the garage, and customers still came in looking for drinks at the club.

It was me who suffered.

Internally, I went haywire. I felt restless with all this energy to burn  but nothing to exhaust it on. I couldn't stop thinking about Tink. I  knew it was stupid. The real Tinker Bell-Eva Mercer-wasn't the kind of  person I thought she was. We would never click, probably wouldn't be  able to carry on a single conversation together if we ever even saw each  other again. She no doubt stepped right over lowlifes like me and kept  on walking without even realizing she'd crushed them below her  name-brand heels. I should've completely forgotten about her.

Except I couldn't help myself. Every time I worked with Mason, I had a  mental battle with myself over whether or not to pump him for  information. Where did she live, how in love was she with that fucking  prick boyfriend of hers, what were her biggest hopes and dreams and  fears in life? I wanted to know everything. But no matter how many times  I talked to Lowe, I stopped myself from finagling my way into asking  about his girlfriend's pregnant cousin.

She hadn't even told me when her baby was due. I wondered how close she  was now, or if she'd already given birth. Was it a girl or a boy? Damn,  there was so much I didn't know. And worst of all, it was Thursday. I  knew I was going to be working with Mason again, the one guy who held so  many of the answers I sought.

He was behind the bar when I strolled into work. I was actually early  because I was hoping to get some chatty time in with him. There had to  be some inconspicuous way to get him to mention her without revealing  how desperate I was to know everything.

I fully expected Noel to begin shouting something about the apocalypse  coming because, for once in my life, I wasn't late. But no one said  anything, and there was nothing to do but wait for my shift to start. I  realized I'd even beat the football star to work. But Ten was setting up  tables, and if he was here, then Noel should be too because he always  caught a ride with his roommate.

"Where's Gamble?" I asked.

"Heartbroken." Ten moodily shoved a table into a better position on the  floor so we waiters could move around easier between them later on in  the night.

Aw, hell. This was the third night this week Gamble hadn't come in. "He and Professor Girlfriend didn't make it, huh?"

"He's a complete mess," Hamilton said with a sad shake of his head.  "I've never seen anyone so upset after losing a girl before. He really  loves her."

"Damn." I shook my head.

What a shame. I'd been jealous of Gamble and his woman two weeks ago  when she'd come into the bar to see him. They'd had this intense  connection between them. It was upsetting to know the bond they'd shared  hadn't kept them together. And it gave me no hope whatsoever for my own  situation. But it didn't keep me from my plan either. Mission  Extract-Info-From-Lowe was definitely a go.

Glancing at him as he slotted the money drawer into the cash register, I  tried to gauge his mood. Thank God he didn't emit any heartbroken  vibes. He'd seemed pretty melancholy after his confrontation with the  cougar. I hoped like hell his girl hadn't dumped him, because then he  certainly wouldn't give me any information about her cousin.

But tonight, the man looked pretty damn perky. He was whistling some  tune I couldn't name under his breath. So I opened my mouth to ask what  had him in such a good mood when Ten made a gagging sound behind me.

"Dude, what the hell is that on your shirt?"

Hamilton appeared next to him a second later, grimacing as he stared at  my back as well. "Looks like someone puked down your back."         

     



 

"Shit." I grabbed the shoulder of my shirt and tugged at it while I  craned my head around to see. And yep, Julian had lost his supper all  over me before I'd taken him over to Mrs. Rojas's tonight. "My kid  must've spit up on me."

Ten's jaw fell open. "Excuse me? Did you say kid? Since when do you have a kid?"

I frowned, still trying to twist a glance over my shoulder to see how bad the damage was. "Since about three months ago."

"Shut the fuck up." Ten kept gaping stupidly. "Why the hell did you never tell us you were a dad?"

I stopped twisting and shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't figure stories  about diaper changings and crying spells were something you cared to  hear about."

"Well, no, but . . . " He shook his head, still dazed. "Damn, man. Did you forget to wrap it up or what?"

I sighed, realizing how long it was going to take to explain my  situation-for which I'm sure Ten would raze me for taking on someone  else's kid-when Jessie, our boss until her dad recovered from his heart  surgery, strolled out from the back hall that led to her office.

"Good. You're all here." She clapped her hands together gleefully.  "Wait." She paused as she glanced at the four of us. "Where's Gamble?"

"Sick," Ten hissed at her. "Leave him the fuck alone."

"Damn." She chewed on her bottom lip. "I was going to have you do an  auction night since we hadn't done one in a while, but if there's only  going to be four of you working-"

"We can handle it," I was quick to speak up. Auction nights brought in a  shit ton of cash, and I could always do with more cash, especially  since I was going to be spending more on a babysitter now.

"Well, then . . . handle it." Jessie waved a hand in my direction, which  basically told me I was in charge. Then she turned away and marched  toward the exit, leaving us to 'handle it' by ourselves.

"What's auction night?" Mason was the first to ask after she was gone.

"Oh, baby, are you in for a treat." Ten rubbed his hands together  gleefully. "The customers have a little bidding war-only on a ladies'  night, mind you-for some lucky woman willing to pay the most to have the  bartender of her choice personally cater to her for the rest of the  evening."

"The best part is the guy who's chosen gets fifty percent of the take," I told him.

Mason's eyebrows furrowed and he glanced over at Quinn, whose eyes had grown to twice their normal size.

"We're going to auction off . . . ourselves?" Quinn sounded scandalized.

"Hey, it's fun." Ten knocked him in the shoulder, roughing him up a  little. "All you have to do is flirt and talk to the broad until closing  and make sure her drink never runs out. All the chicks dig it."

"And you get fifty percent of the haul," I repeated.

But neither Quinn nor Mason seemed all that enthused by the idea.

"Dude." Ten pointed at my back and shook his head. "You might want to  clean that shit up. No woman's going to choose you with baby crap on  your back." Then he shook his head and muttered something about me being  a dad before he loped off to finish rearranging the tables.

But, shit, he was right. I pulled my phone from my pocket, hoping Tristy  would be willing to run a new shirt down to me. No way did I have  enough time to go home, change, and hurry back before we opened. Except  she must've already taken advantage of her freedom for the night. She  didn't answer the apartment phone, and I'd never gotten her a cell phone  because I just couldn't afford one for her too.

"Dammit." I disconnected. After shoving my phone back into my pocket, I  grabbed the back collar of my shirt and ripped it off over my head so I  could see just how bad off I was.

"I'm going to try to rinse this off," I told whoever was willing to listen. But when I looked up, it was Mason I caught staring.

"Whoa," he said, gaping at my bare chest. "You have the words Tinker Bell and Skylar tattooed over your heart."

I slapped my hand over the tat, protective of it. I think I would've  rather listened to him bash my nipple ring than mention that specific  tattoo.

"Yeah," I said, furrowing my brow and ready to kick ass if he made one  disparaging remark about the family I'd always craved but was starting  to realize I'd never get. "What about it?"

"Nothing." He shook his head but kept staring at the area I continued to  conceal. Lifting his gaze, he finally added, "It's just . . . strangely  ironic. I mean . . . " He squinted slightly. "Isn't Tinker Bell what  you kept calling Eva the other week when she was here with Reese?"

Fuck.         

     



 

My mouth went bone dry as I stared back at Mason. But how the hell had  he remembered that? He should've been preoccupied with that cougar  claiming she was carrying his kid.