“Wow. You got it bad, dude.” Drey took a draw from his bottleneck. “You pussy whipped?”
“Hey.” I frowned at him. “Don’t say shit like that about my girl. And yeah, I got it bad, so shut it.”
“Whatever.” He turned and faced me, resting his elbow on the bar, and his other hand on my shoulder. “She’s calmed you out, that’s for sure.”
“I can still kick your ass.”
“No doubting that.” He chuckled. “For realz, man, it’s cool. You don’t look like you’re going to pop your cork at the slightest movement. And I don’t have to worry about you hauling off and killing someone.”
He wasn’t wrong. Lina was the best thing for me. Taking Marshal’s advice, I’d decided not to tell her about Witness Protection. After we got Dad locked up, I’d be able to tell her everything. But for now, we needed Marshal and his team in our lives, watching over us, keeping an eye out for Dad and giving us that extra layer of protection.
“You know about Bill’s past?” I asked Drey.
“A little.” He turned back around to the bar as he watched Sam leaning over, giving some girl some loving.
It would be nice to do a little of that with Lina; show the world she was mine. I twisted the ring on my forefinger and smiled. Wouldn’t mind showing that off a little either.
It surprised me how much I would have enjoyed putting an engagement ring on her finger. It was too soon for that, though.
“Did Bill really kill someone?”
Drey nodded, the spikes in his dark hair barely moving an inch they were so gelled into position. He’d been working at The Rage for about five years, so I wasn’t surprised he knew the story. He’d always been protective of the bar…and Bill, now that I thought about it.
“Can you tell me?” I asked.
“He must have let onto something for you to ask me what he did.”
“A little, that night I kicked the hell out of that guy.”
“The night he kicked your ass off the job.” Drey nodded. “I thought he was going to kill you. That’s why I was so close to the door, man.”
“Really?”
“Hey, they don’t call this bar The Rage for nothing.” He grinned. “No, but seriously, I haven’t seen him that pissed since…well, since I was a smartass punk who needed an ass kicking.”
“You?”
Drey nodded. “Bill kicked my ass sideways, but I needed it.” He chuckled. “For as big as he is you wouldn’t think he was very fast, but he is, man. He is.”
“Why’d he pound on you?” I leaned against the bar, totally curious. This Bill guy, he was legit.
“I was running with a stupid gang. Doing dumb shit.” Drey sipped his beer. “He set me straight…as the ER set my arm.”
“No way.”
Drey nodded. “But you’re much bigger than me. I didn’t think he’d rough you up, but you never know about that guy.”
“He looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel, that’s for sure, but really? He killed a guy?”
“Voluntary manslaughter. He was mixed in with some pretty bad people, things went way too far with some jackass at a bar.” He shook his head. “I’m starting to see a pattern with bars and fights, you know. People like you and him shouldn’t work here.”
“Or it’sexactlywhere we need to be.” I nodded to the dance floor. “Watching over things.”
“Yeah, you’re trouble, so you know trouble when it walks through the door. Got to admire the guy, though. Tough as a rabid Rottweiler but he gives a shit about ya, you know?”
“Enough to throw my ass in counseling.”
“Ha! He got you, too.” Drey slapped my shoulder, laughing. I joined in, and we finished off our drinks in relative silence as the rest of highlights on ESPN played out.