She bobbed her head. “I’m a traveling nurse.”
“So, you’re a traveling nurse that likes to stay at home?” I asked, even though it was obvious she had no interest in carrying on a conversation with me.
She shrugged. “I guess you could say that. There’s no point in going out and getting to know people when I’m only going to be in one place for a short amount of time.”
“Yeah, but it’s good for the soul to go out and have fun every once in a while.”
“And why are you concerned about my soul?” she asked snarkily.
I raised my hands in surrender and took a step back. “I was just trying to make conversation while our friends are getting to know one another. I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your evening.”
I turned and headed for my previous spot at the bar, passing Batta and Kennedy along the way. “You guys feel free to grab a table if you want. I’m going to hang out at the bar,” I said and pointed to my intended destination. Batta gave me a strange look while Kennedy’s eyes shot to River.
“Sorry,” Kennedy said softly. “I knew she didn’t want to come, but I hoped she would change her mind once we got here.”
“No worries, darlin’. There’s a game on I want to watch. You two enjoy your evening,” I said with a chin lift to Batta and made my way to the bar.
I shook my head and glanced over at River. She had her pretty blue eyes focused on the bottle in front of her while her long, dark hair hid most of her face. She was hot as hell on the outside, but she was a block of ice on the inside, and I didn’t have the time or energy to waste on trying to warm her up.
I ordered another beer and tried to focus on the game, but my team was crushing their opponents, and it wasn’t holding my interest. After finishing my beer, I signaled to Batta and headed to the bathroom to take a piss before I left.
I was almost to the hallway that led to the bathrooms when a noise off to the side caught my attention. It was a feminine yelp followed by a male shouting, “You fucking bitch!”
Batta stood as I turned to find some jackass holding River by her upper arms while his buddy closed in behind her. I was across the room and had my arm wrapped around the guy’s neck in a flash. “Let her go and apologize!” I ordered.
“Fuck you, cunt!” he spat as he released one of River’s arms and hit her across the face.
And that was it. I yanked the piece of shit away from River and let my fist fly. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was a man putting his hands on a woman in anger. Unfortunately, I only got to hit him three, maybe four times before he was out cold. I glanced to the side to see the other guy already on the ground. Batta was standing a few feet behind him with his arms wrapped protectively around Kennedy and River.
A bag of ice was pressed against my chest, drawing my attention to the man standing in front of me. “Here. Take this to her. We’ll take out the trash,” Sam, the bartender, said.
“Thanks, man. Get a pic of their IDs. They’ll be permanently banned once I let Copper know about this,” I told him and took the ice to River.
When I reached them, Batta removed his arm from her shoulders, and she turned to look at me. Her cheek was red and already starting to swell. I gingerly held the bag to her face, and she covered my hand with hers. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she croaked and cleared her throat. “Thank you.”
I shook my head. “Don’t thank me. If I hadn’t given him the chance, you wouldn’t be standing here with a busted-up face.”
“If you hadn’t been here, it would have been a lot worse. So, yes, thank you.” She turned to look at Batta. “And thank you, too.”
“Any time, sweetheart,” he replied with a nod. “Let’s have a seat,” he said and gestured to the table he and Kennedy had been sitting at.
“Is Sam gonna let Prez know?” Batta asked when the girls were in front of us.
“Nah, I told him I’d tell him. Just waiting on Sam to send me the pics of their IDs.” As if on cue, my phone chimed letting me know I had a new text message.
Sam and his newest employee reappeared behind the bar a few minutes later. “They give you any trouble?” I asked.
“Started to,” Sam said with a sly grin. “But they changed their tune real quick when they found out just who they were fucking with.”
I turned back to the table to find Kennedy gawking at Batta with her mouth agape, and River staring at the table with furrowed brows. “The bar was recently sold, and the new owner is a well-known businessman in the area with a lot of powerful connections,” I explained. I didn’t particularly care what River thought, but Batta seemed interested in Kennedy, so he could tell her about the club when he was ready.
When he’d asked me to tag along, he’d also asked me not to wear my cut. Normally, I would have told anyone else to fuck off for asking, but I understood why he made that particular request. Batta was a big guy—an extremely big guy. His size alone was intimidating to most people, but when he added his club cut, he scared off most women before he even had a chance to show them he was a good man. While I understood his point of view, I had a completely different opinion in regard to myself. If a woman was scared of my cut, she wasn’t the woman for me.
River suddenly gasped and pushed away from the table. “Judge! Your hand! Let me see,” she blurted and reached for my injured hand.
“It’s fine, sweet cheeks,” I said and held out my hand for her to inspect. “I only hit him with my good hand.”