remorse.
You saved me, I thought to
myself. You and your stupid grudge are
the only reason I even stood a chance of getting out of there.
Pensacola, Present Day
For the first full week back in town, tensions were still high with
Saffron. It appeared that I had succeeded in isolating her, and I was growing
more comfortable with the distance. We barely saw each other now. I spent a lot
of my time out on the road, and she was always curled up with one of her books
whenever I was home at some reasonable time. That worked fine for me. The more
time she spent in the house, the better…
I’d considered trying to patch things up, but I knew that I needed to
keep her away from me. I was running out of excuses, since I didn’t care too
much about Pensacola itself.
After all… I’d spent a few years here.
Not that I’d done anything with the time since I’d gotten back.
I’d visited a few bars for a drink if I felt daring, but otherwise I
just cruised around on the bike. The furthest I’d driven was Alabama. I had
barely recognized that I’d passed state lines, and I rented a motel for the
night. It had been this cheap, sleazy place on the side of the road, offering
me nothing but a night’s rest and some truly awful porn all paid for with Saffron’s black AMEX.
I watched it anyway. I knew who I wanted the actress to be. But even that pissed me off, because the thought
of another man touching her made my blood boil.
It was on my tenth day in Pensacola that I decided enough was enough,
and that I’d see about making something of myself while I was here. Things were
quiet, and it was clear my father was just being paranoid in sending us down
here. Hitting the road on my Suzuki again as I peeled out from the Beach House,
I knew just the guy to reach. He’d been my saving grace when I’d stepped off
the bus in Pensacola with a few thousand dollars and skeletons in my closet.
My stop was a dive bar, a few miles away. Reggie’s , it was called. It was this run-down little place with
relatively horrible regulars, but I knew the place and didn’t mind the
atmosphere so much. Parking outside, I kicked the stand into place and whipped out
my phone. I thought I had felt a buzz against my leg on the drive over; sure
enough, there was a text:
> Grabbed a table. Back left.
Welcome back.
With a small smile, I slipped the phone back into its pocket. The
bouncer near the front turned to me as I approached, holding his hand out for
my ID. A few seconds later, he studied the unfamiliar card, running his thick
thumb across the edges.
“Out-of-towner, eh? Might not be the place for you tonight.”
I assessed him quickly. The immediate conclusion was that this guy was
built like a brick shithouse…and could probably take a punch like one. He stood
close to a foot shorter than me, but he was a stocky little bastard –
broad shoulders, bulky arms, tight abdominals under a thin shirt. Didn’t look
like he’d skipped ‘leg day’ either – with those tree trunk thighs, he
could probably land a truly vicious kick. Thick jet-black hair ran down to his
shoulders, flowing around his meaty throat, and his dark eyes peered menacingly
at mine. This was a guy with a hair-trigger temper, but he could keep his anger
in check.
In short, I liked the guy.
A self-assured grin flashed across my lips. “Much obliged for the
warning. I’ll not be giving you any trouble tonight.”
The bouncer looked me up and down. Without the smallest hint of emotion,
he handed me back my card. “See to it that you don’t, stranger.”
I gave him a subtle, respectful nod, stepping around him into the bar.
Across the throng of bar tops and a small crowd around the dartboard, I spotted
my friend in the corner. It wasn’t hard to miss him – with his optimized
physique and imposing height, the bodybuilder could probably knock the bouncer
out with
You saved me, I thought to
myself. You and your stupid grudge are
the only reason I even stood a chance of getting out of there.
Pensacola, Present Day
For the first full week back in town, tensions were still high with
Saffron. It appeared that I had succeeded in isolating her, and I was growing
more comfortable with the distance. We barely saw each other now. I spent a lot
of my time out on the road, and she was always curled up with one of her books
whenever I was home at some reasonable time. That worked fine for me. The more
time she spent in the house, the better…
I’d considered trying to patch things up, but I knew that I needed to
keep her away from me. I was running out of excuses, since I didn’t care too
much about Pensacola itself.
After all… I’d spent a few years here.
Not that I’d done anything with the time since I’d gotten back.
I’d visited a few bars for a drink if I felt daring, but otherwise I
just cruised around on the bike. The furthest I’d driven was Alabama. I had
barely recognized that I’d passed state lines, and I rented a motel for the
night. It had been this cheap, sleazy place on the side of the road, offering
me nothing but a night’s rest and some truly awful porn all paid for with Saffron’s black AMEX.
I watched it anyway. I knew who I wanted the actress to be. But even that pissed me off, because the thought
of another man touching her made my blood boil.
It was on my tenth day in Pensacola that I decided enough was enough,
and that I’d see about making something of myself while I was here. Things were
quiet, and it was clear my father was just being paranoid in sending us down
here. Hitting the road on my Suzuki again as I peeled out from the Beach House,
I knew just the guy to reach. He’d been my saving grace when I’d stepped off
the bus in Pensacola with a few thousand dollars and skeletons in my closet.
My stop was a dive bar, a few miles away. Reggie’s , it was called. It was this run-down little place with
relatively horrible regulars, but I knew the place and didn’t mind the
atmosphere so much. Parking outside, I kicked the stand into place and whipped out
my phone. I thought I had felt a buzz against my leg on the drive over; sure
enough, there was a text:
> Grabbed a table. Back left.
Welcome back.
With a small smile, I slipped the phone back into its pocket. The
bouncer near the front turned to me as I approached, holding his hand out for
my ID. A few seconds later, he studied the unfamiliar card, running his thick
thumb across the edges.
“Out-of-towner, eh? Might not be the place for you tonight.”
I assessed him quickly. The immediate conclusion was that this guy was
built like a brick shithouse…and could probably take a punch like one. He stood
close to a foot shorter than me, but he was a stocky little bastard –
broad shoulders, bulky arms, tight abdominals under a thin shirt. Didn’t look
like he’d skipped ‘leg day’ either – with those tree trunk thighs, he
could probably land a truly vicious kick. Thick jet-black hair ran down to his
shoulders, flowing around his meaty throat, and his dark eyes peered menacingly
at mine. This was a guy with a hair-trigger temper, but he could keep his anger
in check.
In short, I liked the guy.
A self-assured grin flashed across my lips. “Much obliged for the
warning. I’ll not be giving you any trouble tonight.”
The bouncer looked me up and down. Without the smallest hint of emotion,
he handed me back my card. “See to it that you don’t, stranger.”
I gave him a subtle, respectful nod, stepping around him into the bar.
Across the throng of bar tops and a small crowd around the dartboard, I spotted
my friend in the corner. It wasn’t hard to miss him – with his optimized
physique and imposing height, the bodybuilder could probably knock the bouncer
out with
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