I took orders as I made my way back to the boys’ table. They were beaming at me, and I rolled my eyes, because they did this every time I went onstage. Kill handed me my apron, winking at me as I tied it on.
“You were awesome up there,” Matt said when I reached the bar.
I tried to flag Ryan down, but she seemed hell bent on ignoring the side of the bar where Matt was sitting. “Thanks,” I replied, violently waving my arms around until Ryan had no choice but to acknowledge me.
“I think I pissed her off,” Matt confessed as she slowly made her way over.
“How?” I asked, but he couldn't answer because she now stood in front of us.
I gave her my orders while she ignored Matt’s presence. She left in a huff, and I looked over to Matt, wanting the details before she came back.
“I asked her out, but she refused. So, I played the soldier card and told her all I wanted was a date when I get back home for protecting her and her country. I have a feeling that was the wrong way to go.”
I laughed out loud. Poor Ryan was probably pissed she’d found someone she was attracted to, only to find out he was leaving the country after tonight.
“You’d better come back and ask her out, or she's going to bereallymad,” I said, just before Ryan returned with my drinks, eyeing me as I engaged with the enemy.
“Thanks, sexy,” I said to her as I grabbed my tray. She turned on her heels, stomping away. Matt didn’t take his eyes off her as he responded to me.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I checked on Catcher and made sure his soda was refilled, wanting to keep the huge bouncer on my side. He’d already proved to be useful in helping keep the creepers away. Between him and the boys, I was probably the safest I’d ever been. Some of the confidence I thought would never return had unfurled under his watchful eye.
The boys were at the table talking while we closed the bar down for the night.
“What has your panties in a knot?” Denise, the oldest of the waitresses, asked Ryan.
Jessie and I both stopped what we were doing, curious as to what she would say. Ryan ignored us for a while, but with all of us staring at her, she couldn’t do it for very long.
“That fucker over there,” she growled, quietly pointing at Matt, who continued to stare at her.
He got up from the table and walked over, leaving Bambi and the boys behind.
“Fuck, why can’t he just go away?” she mumbled, looking down at the table.
“Hey, sexy girl. Were you talking about me?” he asked, coming up behind her.
Her body tensed when he put his hands on the back of her chair. “Nope, I don’t remember talking about an egotistical soldier boy. Was I girls?” she asked, glaring at us with challenge in her eyes. We shook our heads, not wanting to end up on her bad side.
“What time do you have to leave tomorrow, or I guess today?” I asked, receiving a death-glare from Ryan.
“I have to be at the airport at seventeen hundred hours.”
I started to do the math in my head.
“Five o'clock,” Ryan answered for me.
He glanced over at her, finally catching her eye. They studied each other while the rest of us smiled at their obvious connection.
“Are you ready to go?” Bambi yelled from across the bar, breaking the intensity of their stare.
Ryan blinked and went back to glaring at the table. Matt ignored Bambi, and continued to stare at Ryan. He sighed, probably realizing she wasn’t going to pay him anymore attention.
Matt turned away, his shoulders slumped as he made his way to the boys. He kept stealing glances at Ryan, looking even sadder. I kicked her under the table, and she jerked her head up to scowl at me. I refused to back down.
“We'll be right back,” I said, hauling Ryan to the breakroom and plunking her down in a chair. I was surprised she let me manhandle her the way I did. That alone showed how far gone she was in her head.
“What are you doing?” I asked her, sitting so that we were face to face.