Bates
Milo has stoodbetween me and him ever since we followed him into the bar I had originally intended to check inside of.
My eyes never left him.
He was busy talking to some young woman, barely old enough to be in a place like this, having a beer and acting as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Relax, Bates,” Milo pleaded for the third time in a row. It was almost as if he had forgotten all other words in the English language.
My body shook with rage as I lifted the dark green beer bottle to my lips and took a sip of the ale.
“I’m fine,” I insisted as I set the bottle on the bar top and continued to watch him.
“If you get arrested, then Hollis will be alone until I can spring you.”
I let out a deep breath and nodded as my eyes fell back to my friend. I hated that he had a valid point, but I would hate leaving her alone overnight even more.
“So, what’s the plan?” he asked curiously.
“I’m taking him home.”
“How?”
With a low chuckle, I wiped the palms of my hands quickly on my thighs, before pushing away from the bar.
“Bates,” Milo hissed.
But I didn’t stop walking.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do or say to him when I reached him, but pre-planning had never been my forte to begin with.
“Can I buy you guys a drink?” I asked when I stopped short of him and his potential new target.
She looked up at me from beneath her eyelashes and twirled her light-brown hair around a finger. I did my best to not make a face or roll my eyes, while maintaining a friendly demeanor.
“Do I know you?” he asked in an irritated tone.
“Not yet,” I replied with a sly grin. “So? How about it? You guys want a drink on me?”
“Sure!” the young woman said enthusiastically.
Little did she know, her want for another man to give her attention, made him play right into my hands. He struck me as the kind of man that wouldn’t give up his new toys so easily, and when I watched his jaw become a square, I knew I was right.
“Yeah, that’s fine. What’s your name?” he asked, extending a hand toward me.
The knife in my pocket began to burn a hole into my flesh. I could have ended the charade right then and there by cutting his fucking weapon off, but I… I wanted my pretty girl to decide what his fate would be.
So, I knew I would have to play nice.
“Bates,” I replied tightly as I shook his hand quickly, then wiped my palm imperceptibly on my leg.
His eyes narrowed suspiciously for a moment as he peered a little closer at me, but when his playdate tugged on his sleeve to walk him toward the bar, he shrugged and let her drag him to his free drink.
“After you,” I said to him as he walked by me.
My tone was controlled anger, masked by the faux friendliness I had learned to master whenever I would leave my home.
Out into a world that wouldn’t love my pretty girl as she was—the same one that made her believe that she was different, when she was nothing of the sort. The same one that made her look into the mirror and see a thing instead of the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen in my life.
The same one I would rip apart if I only had the strength.
As I turned to follow him, I rubbed the bridge of my nose, meeting Milo’s eyes as we approached.
But since I can’t destroy the world to prove my love to her, he’ll have to do.