But I’ll never forget today.
The memory of TK on his knees before me, his eyes on mine as he drew my nipple into his mouth, flashes through my mind. The way his hand had wrapped around my throat, both gentle and firm, claiming me in a way that no man has ever done, nor likely ever will again.
“Miss!”
I shake my head and focus, surprised I hadn’t seen the middle-aged man standing right in front of me, clearly waiting for an answer to a question I hadn’t heard him ask.
“I’m sorry. What was that?”
Holding up two fingers, he says, “Two Buds,” and then returns to the conversation he’d been having with a tattooed woman with impressively high hair.
I grab the beers, pop the caps, and place them in front of him. Setting down a twenty-dollar bill, he saunters off.
Placing the money in the cash register, I make the change and drop that into my tip jar.
“Cora.”
I turn at the sound of my name, half hoping to find TK, but instead it’s Big Dick standing there. I swear, I’ve never been more thankful for the chest-high bar.
“I have nothing to say to you.” I move to serve the next customer.
Moving down to serve the next customer, he opens his mouth to order, but Big Dick steps in and grabs him by the collar, pulling him close. I can’t hear what he says, but I watch the man’s face visibly pale as he bobs his head, agreeing with whatever he’s being told.
As soon as Big Dick releases him, the man quickly disappears into the crowd.
“We need to talk,” he says, placing both hands on the bar.
“I’m working.”
“After work then,” he insists.
“I can’t.”
Big Dicks chuffs out a humorless laugh and glares at another patron that attempts to approach. The man slinks away, apparently deciding he’s not so thirsty after all.
“You owe me, Cora.”
That does it for me. At that moment, I know exactly what people mean when they say they see red. How dare this motherfucker come intomytown andmybar and tellmethat I owe him a damn thing, especially after whathedid tome.
I lean in close so I don’t have to yell to be heard. “I don’t owe you shit.”
Nostrils flaring, his eyes flash with rage.
Just then, TK and Priest take up positions on either side, clamping their hands down on his shoulders and boxing him in against the bar top. I nearly sigh loudly in relief.
“Hey, fuckface,” TK says in a cheerful tone. “I tried to talk to you yesterday, but you took off.”
Big Dick jerks forward, his arms coming up as he tries to shake them off, but neither TK nor Priest release him.
“You were following Cora,” Priest reminds him, “and now you’re bugging her at work. We don’t like that.”
Big Dick turns and glares at Priest. “I don’t care what you like. Now get your fucking hands off of me, or I’ll have you dead before the sun comes up.”
TK looks over at me and grins. “Oh, he’s feisty. We like feisty.”
“You boys have no idea who you’re messing with.”
“Sure we do. Your name’s right there.” TK pokes a finger into the patch on his cut. “Big Dick. So do they call you that because youhavea big dick, or because youarea big dick?”