brothers beat me up plenty when I was a kid, and nobody ever caught on fire.”
“You say that so casually,” Krystle said with dismay. “Nobody should ever get used to being treated like that. I don’t understand how you grew up to be such a decent person.”
“Well, I looked at how my family treated each other and everyone else, and I made it my mission to do the exact opposite.”
“I’d like to go back and give them a retroactive ass-whipping,” Krystle growled.
“Is that really a thing?” Flora wondered.
“I’ll make it a thing. Your family did you a favor sending you away. God, we come from some fucked-up people, don’t we?”
“Language,” Flora said primly.
Chapter Fourteen
“You sure you don’t want to dance?” the drunk lion shifter said to Flora as she wiped down a table.
“Yes, thank you anyway. I’m every bit as sure now as I was the first two times you asked me.”
He stood there for a minute, looking confused.
“Does that mean no?” he asked, swaying where he stood.
Flora turned to walk away. She felt someone slam into her right side, and a sharp elbow jabbed her in the ribs, hard.
“I saw you and that lion,” Jennifer hissed into her ear.
“You saw me turning him down?” Flora winced, stepping back as she rubbed her ribcage.
“You were all over him! In public! You don’t even deserve Finn.” Jennifer’s eyes blazed with fury. “How could you treat him with such disrespect?”
“No, I wasn’t. If Finn has a problem with me, he can tell me about it himself,” Flora said with exasperation. When was Jennifer going to give it a rest? This was getting ridiculous.
“Oh, he’ll have a problem once I tell him about how you’re slobbering all over some other guy,” Jennifer sneered. She stalked off.
“Jennifer, wait!” Flora called after her. “Why would you lie to him? That isn’t what happened.”
Had she just publicly disrespected Finn? She prayed she hadn’t. She’d spoken politely with the drunk lion who’d been hitting on her, but she hadn’t encouraged him in any way. A lot of the girls who worked here would have just slugged him when he wouldn’t take no for an answer, but Flora didn’t have it in her. She truly hated to hurt people.
A few minutes later, as she headed back to the bar to get more cleaning supplies, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.
She turned to see Finn looking down at her with a serious expression on his face. Her heart sank.
He gestured for her to follow him, so she walked through the club and down the back hallway with him.
“Finn,” Flora said. “I was not slobbering on that lion. Jennifer is mistaken.”
“She wasn’t mistaken,” Finn said wearily, scrubbing at his face with his hands.
Flora felt her knees turn to water.
“She flat-out lied,” Finn said with deep regret. “I was watching you the whole time, and I saw exactly what happened. She came storming up to me and my brother. She told us you’d been making out with the lion shifter in front of everyone, and demanded that I fire you on the spot and ban you from the Badlands. So I fired her.”
“Because of me?” Flora said with dismay.
“No, because she openly lied to me, and because she attempted to give orders to Liam, who is our pride’s Rex. I should have done it sooner. I heard about how she’s been treating you, and I’m sorry.”
Flora shook her head in protest. “Finn, you should hire her back. I mean, we could just work on different days or something. I don’t want someone to lose their job over me.”
Finn gave her a sad, pained smile. “You’re too good for this place, Flora.”
“That must be why you keep trying to get rid of me,” she said.
He shook his head at that. “I swear I’m not trying to get rid of you.”
“It doesn’t feel like you want me to stay here,” Flora said. “I mean, sometimes it does, but then you immediately start throwing up this wall between us.”
“I don’t want you to leave.
“You say that so casually,” Krystle said with dismay. “Nobody should ever get used to being treated like that. I don’t understand how you grew up to be such a decent person.”
“Well, I looked at how my family treated each other and everyone else, and I made it my mission to do the exact opposite.”
“I’d like to go back and give them a retroactive ass-whipping,” Krystle growled.
“Is that really a thing?” Flora wondered.
“I’ll make it a thing. Your family did you a favor sending you away. God, we come from some fucked-up people, don’t we?”
“Language,” Flora said primly.
Chapter Fourteen
“You sure you don’t want to dance?” the drunk lion shifter said to Flora as she wiped down a table.
“Yes, thank you anyway. I’m every bit as sure now as I was the first two times you asked me.”
He stood there for a minute, looking confused.
“Does that mean no?” he asked, swaying where he stood.
Flora turned to walk away. She felt someone slam into her right side, and a sharp elbow jabbed her in the ribs, hard.
“I saw you and that lion,” Jennifer hissed into her ear.
“You saw me turning him down?” Flora winced, stepping back as she rubbed her ribcage.
“You were all over him! In public! You don’t even deserve Finn.” Jennifer’s eyes blazed with fury. “How could you treat him with such disrespect?”
“No, I wasn’t. If Finn has a problem with me, he can tell me about it himself,” Flora said with exasperation. When was Jennifer going to give it a rest? This was getting ridiculous.
“Oh, he’ll have a problem once I tell him about how you’re slobbering all over some other guy,” Jennifer sneered. She stalked off.
“Jennifer, wait!” Flora called after her. “Why would you lie to him? That isn’t what happened.”
Had she just publicly disrespected Finn? She prayed she hadn’t. She’d spoken politely with the drunk lion who’d been hitting on her, but she hadn’t encouraged him in any way. A lot of the girls who worked here would have just slugged him when he wouldn’t take no for an answer, but Flora didn’t have it in her. She truly hated to hurt people.
A few minutes later, as she headed back to the bar to get more cleaning supplies, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.
She turned to see Finn looking down at her with a serious expression on his face. Her heart sank.
He gestured for her to follow him, so she walked through the club and down the back hallway with him.
“Finn,” Flora said. “I was not slobbering on that lion. Jennifer is mistaken.”
“She wasn’t mistaken,” Finn said wearily, scrubbing at his face with his hands.
Flora felt her knees turn to water.
“She flat-out lied,” Finn said with deep regret. “I was watching you the whole time, and I saw exactly what happened. She came storming up to me and my brother. She told us you’d been making out with the lion shifter in front of everyone, and demanded that I fire you on the spot and ban you from the Badlands. So I fired her.”
“Because of me?” Flora said with dismay.
“No, because she openly lied to me, and because she attempted to give orders to Liam, who is our pride’s Rex. I should have done it sooner. I heard about how she’s been treating you, and I’m sorry.”
Flora shook her head in protest. “Finn, you should hire her back. I mean, we could just work on different days or something. I don’t want someone to lose their job over me.”
Finn gave her a sad, pained smile. “You’re too good for this place, Flora.”
“That must be why you keep trying to get rid of me,” she said.
He shook his head at that. “I swear I’m not trying to get rid of you.”
“It doesn’t feel like you want me to stay here,” Flora said. “I mean, sometimes it does, but then you immediately start throwing up this wall between us.”
“I don’t want you to leave.
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