Blood & Bones - Dodge (Blood Fury MC 10)

At the time, she had told him that she wasn’t.

That turned out to be a damn lie.

Sitting with the guys while the young bartender named Micah kept bringing out food for them, she had purposely chosen the chair at the table where her back would be to the bar. Otherwise, she would have a difficult time not staring at the bar manager the whole time.

He had to be at least ten years older than her, if the few grays in his beard and hair were any indication. He was curious about her age, too, since he asked twice.

She knew she appeared younger than she was. Being petite all over didn’t help that. Some bar owners had accused her of using a fake ID when they demanded to see it before booking them. Even though she wasn’t underaged, she always assured them that she wouldn’t drink and get their establishment in trouble.

She found another song, selected it and then turned to head back to their table.

“We’re going to go shoot some pool,” Rex announced as he stood. Since he was almost six feet tall, he towered over her. “Want to play doubles?”

Rex was a pro at pool and sometimes they relied on him to bet on games so they’d have some extra cash for fuel or food.

On the flip side, Syn sucked at pool.

She shook her head and raised both eyebrows. “Maybe you can find someone other than us to beat tonight.”

Rex stared at her briefly, then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. We could use some extra money.” He glanced around. “Not too many people in here tonight, though. And both tables in their billiards area are empty. Maybe tomorrow night we can get here early and I can play a couple of games before our first set.”

“Just don’t piss anyone off,” Syn warned. “We don’t want anyone screaming that you’re cheating and the manager kicks us out before we get to play and get paid.”

“I don’t cheat,” Rex stated firmly.

“We know that, but you know how people get when you take their money.”

“Hell yeah, that one time in that biker bar, we almost didn’t get out of there alive. Thank fuck we had the equipment already loaded and ready to go,” Nico reminded them.

That was another ugly night and a close call. Apparently, bikers don’t like losing a game of Eight-ball or their money. Even worse when it’s both.

Lesson learned.

“Tomorrow pick wisely,” Syn warned Rex.

He nodded. “I could use some practice with these two tonight first. It’s also hard to bet when you don’t have anything to bet with.”

“But you’ve got that down pat,” Nico said, squeezing Rex’s shoulder.

“Unless they ask to see the cash first,” Eddie threw in there.

True. No one wanted to bet against someone with empty pockets.

“Are you coming with us or staying at the table?” Nico asked her.

“Go. I might wander over to watch in a little bit.” She glanced around quickly. “I’m not sure when we’ll have a ride back to the bus.”

“I’m thinking it’s going to be a while yet. If you want, I can go ask him?” Eddie volunteered.

Syn shook her head. “No, I’m in no rush to get back to the cramped bus. Plus, I’m sure you guys will want another round of food and drinks.”

“Just one?” Rex joked with a wink. “I’m sure we’ll eat your share, too. But, seriously, Syn, eat as much as you can. We don’t know the next time…”

Her guitarist didn’t have to finish his thought.

There had been stretches of days where they’d had to share a single value meal from a fast food restaurant. Or stop at a grocery store to pick up packs of Ramen noodles. Just to put something in their growling guts.

“I will,” she assured them.

The guys disappeared into a side room toward the front of the bar, and out of her sightline, to play pool. With her fingers curled around the back of an empty chair, she stared at the low platform the business considered a stage.

She wasn’t in the mood to sing tonight. She wanted to keep her voice rested for tomorrow night’s gig, but her fingers were itching to do something she recently hadn’t had a lot of opportunity to do.

Instead of taking a seat at the table now covered in dirty dishes and empty glasses and mugs, she dug out the remaining two quarters from her pocket, dropped them into the jukebox and quickly selected a half dozen more songs from various artists.

She headed over to where their equipment was still setup and weaved her way around it and to Eddie’s drum set.

They might not have a lot, but what they did have was quality. If anything would happen to their instruments, they’d have a hard time replacing them right now.

Dodge had assured her their stuff was safe in his bar. She had to trust him on that.