Body Checking (Men of Havoc #3)

1

THE CHATTER around me grows louder as I sit alone, staring at my now empty glass of wine. It was full thirty minutes ago, but after eating all the bread that was brought to the table I figured I’d just top off the evening by throwing back the entire glass.

I catch the eyes of my server and raise my hand. She weaves her way through the tables and approaches me, pity in her eyes.

“Can I go ahead and get the check for the glass of wine?” I ask her.

She gives me that oh you poor thing smile and says, “Don’t worry about it. It’s on the house.”

The smile I give her is small as she walks away. I pull out my wallet and fish out a twenty, leaving it on the table because I know she’ll have to pay for that glass out of her earnings and I just don’t feel right letting her pay out of pocket for something she didn’t drink or eat. It goes against every nice bone in my body. If I walked out of this restaurant knowing I drank a glass of wine I didn’t pay for, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight with the weight of the guilt that would rest on me.

My best friend Sasha has nicknamed me Swiss Miss Maren because I want everyone to be happy and never confront anyone who has wronged me. I mean, she’s not wrong. I’ve never been confrontational. I guess that’s why people walk all over me like a cheap rug, tossing me aside when I’m tattered and no longer useful to them. Which is what I’m assuming Walker has done since he didn’t show up tonight and won’t answer my calls or texts.

I grab my jacket from the back of my chair and slip my arms in. I reach the door and the host rushes to open it for me.

“Have a nice night, miss,” he says with a smile.

“Thanks.” I’m appreciative of his acknowledgment of me, but it’s probably only because it’s his job.

I pull out my phone and order an Uber and wait by the curb for it to come. Once I’m in and on my way home, I decide to send Sasha a text.

Me: Hey Sash. Headed home. Walker never showed up.

Her response is almost immediate and exactly what I would expect.

Sash: That motherfucking ball sucker. I’ll meet you at your place.

Me: No babes. Don’t worry about it. I just want to get into my cozy sweats and re-watch all of the Sanditon episodes.

Sash: Will you quit watching that shit? It gives women unrealistic ideas of what a man should be. You wanna know what real men are like, watch crime documentaries. That’s what most men are like.

Me: Serial killers?

Sash: No, assholes. It’s why those women end up snapping on them and burying their ass in the backyard. See you in fifteen.

I contemplate arguing with her for just a moment, but I already know I’ll just be spinning my tires. Sasha is going to be sitting on my couch by the time I get home no matter what I say.

Me: Okay. See you soon.

And just like I predicted, Sasha is on my comfy couch with a bowl of peanut butter Meggplant emoji That’ll be noice. I could use a bid duck. You have a pencil duck. IIt’s like you were trying to write your name in my vagiina. You should think about getting some help for that before you disappoint another woman, Good luck to you Wlaker.

“Oh my God,” I groan and smack my hand on my face.“What? What happened?” Sasha jumps from her spot on the couch and immediately grabs her head like she’s trying to hold onto it before it falls to the ground.

“Look at the texts I sent Walker.” I hand her the phone and her eyes fly over the screen.

They grow larger and larger with each word she reads, and I can feel the blood rushing from my head to my toes.

She snorts and says, “Pencil duck” then finishes reading. “Did you read all of his responses?”

I shake my head. “No. I don’t want to know what he said. I’m embarrassed enough. I don’t need to feel bad about myself, too.” I drop my body to the couch and bounce. “I hope I didn’t do anything else stupid while I was riding high off of antioxidants and alcohol.”

Sasha’s phone pings and she sets mine down to look at hers. I watch her face pale —which is a stretch considering she’s already so fair skinned— and she begins chewing on her lip.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was stupid, but definitely not our smartest moment.”

She turns the phone to face me and when I see what is on her screen, I feel like crawling into a hole to die.