“That’d be him.”
“He did what now?” Copper asked.
“He doesn’t understand the concept of sparring. Or maybe he does and doesn’t care, but he goes way too hard sometimes. He damn near broke my ribs last week,” Coal explained.
“You’re the one who did that to his face?” Copper asked in surprise.
“Yeah,” Coal nodded. “I thought a taste of his own medicine might be more effective than talking to him.”
“Nice work, man,” Copper chuckled.
“I’m not sure it did any good.”
“I’ll touch base with Bronze tomorrow. It might be time to cut him loose,” Copper said.
Coal nodded and turned to Layla. “Do you think I can have my girl back now?”
Layla grinned. “Yeah, I think I can manage on my own for the rest of the night. But, Aspen, I can’t thank you enough for stepping in. I wouldn’t have made it through tonight without you.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“If you ever want a job here, you’ve got one,” Layla said.
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Are you ready to get out of here?” Coal asked.
“I’m ready if you are.”
With that, we said our goodbyes and headed home.
“Other than Shane, did you have a good night?”
“Yeah, for the most part. Sydney tried to say I messed up an order, but Layla called her out on it.”
“Fucking Sydney,” he grumbled.
“Layla said she has a crush on you.”
He sighed. “I guess that’s what it is. I was nice to her one time, and she’s been a pain in my ass ever since.”
“How so?”
“How was I nice, or how is she a pain in the ass?”
“Both.”
“She gave me a sob story one night about how her and her roommate had been arguing, and she didn’t feel safe to go home. She was crying and carrying on, and I felt sorry for her. This was back when I lived with Savior. He was rarely home, so I told her she could come home with me and sleep in the spare bedroom. He ended up coming home that night. When I was in the living room talking to him, she snuck into my room and was waiting for me in my bed. I told her in no uncertain terms to get the fuck out. I guess she thought I meant that literally because she was gone when I woke up the next morning. She’s never mentioned it, and neither have I, but she relentlessly flirts with me whenever she has the chance. I’ve learned to completely ignore her, which is why it didn’t even occur to me to mention it to you.”
“How often do you see her?”
“I only see her if she’s working when I stop by the bar, which isn’t that often. Tonight was the first time I’ve been to Precious Metals in a few weeks.”
My stomach chose that moment to growl. Loudly. “Sorry, I guess I’m hungry.”
Coal laughed. “No need to apologize. I’m hungry too. Do you want to go get something to eat?”
“I was going to make pancakes when I got home. Do you want to join me?”