I limp over to the sink and grab my shake from the fridge. I can’t believe that she duped me like that. I rub the inside of my thigh.

I can’t help myself. When Rose Collins needs help stretching, then I make myself available. I got shit from Max about it, but there’s nothing that I could have done. Not when she’s wagging her ass in front of me. I’ve always been a weak man when it comes to a nice, round ass.

“You can’t be giving in like that all the time. You’re just playing into her hands.” Max grabs a shake from the fridge and chugs it down. “She’s trying to use our own method against us. Something that we’ve come up with.” He flicks his finger between him and I.

“I know. I know. I’m weak,” I mumble under my breath. “Want to grab something from Firehouse?”

“You know my answer.”

* * *

“I was just about to close up shop.” Karl throws the towel over his shoulder. I’m pretty sure that’s the same towel he had when Max and I first walked into this restaurant. “If you guys want anything you’ll have to cook it yourself.” Karl lays back in his chair and pours himself a shot.

“No worries, old man.” Max pats him on the back. “We know how busy you can be.” Max rolls his eyes and makes his way to the back of the kitchen.

“Make me the usual,” I shout as the door flops closed. I let Max handle all the cooking. He’s a magician when it comes to that kind of stuff. He always tells me that if he didn’t become a firefighter, he would have been a top tier chef. With the kind of food he’s cooked for me, I tend to believe him. Although I’ll never admit that to him.

“No Rose tonight?” Karl asks and downs another shot. He leans back against the bar and pours me a shot, handing it to me.

“No Rose tonight. It’s a guy’s night out.” The taste of old whiskey burns into my throat but I keep myself together. Can’t have the old man drinking me under the table.

“Don’t you hurt that girl. She’s too good for you.” He jumps off the stool and wipes down the counter. He shoves that towel into my hands until I raise them in the air.

“Too good for me?” I shoot back. “Nobody is too good for me.”

Karl stops and stares at me. The scar underneath his eye twitches, his gaze never wavering. He relents and shakes his head. “You know what I mean. Don’t do anything to mess with that girl. If I even find out that you made her cry.” He shakes his fist out in front of me.

“You couldn’t take me.” I reach around with my arm and take him into a chokehold. Rubbing my knuckle on his head.

“Let go of me, you scrawny fuck.” He waves his hands all around before I let go. His face is redder than a cherry tomato. He pulls down on his brown plaid shirt, tucking it back into his pants. He pulls up on his pants and wipes his nose on the rag. I never understood why he dressed so nice for a dumpy place like this. Nobody of importance ever showed up here. Just a bunch of winos and firefighters.

Karl points at me with his stubby finger, taking a step toward me. He pushes his finger into my chest. “Did you hear me?”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I heard you.”

Hurting Rose is the last thing that I want to do. I would hate myself if I did anything to make tears fall from those beautiful eyes of hers. And I’m sure Max would pummel me into the ground as well. Not like I would need it.

“Good. And help me clean this place up.” He pushes me to the side as he cleans the rest of the counter.

I walk around and turn the chairs over. Max and I have done this more times than I can remember. Every late night when we didn’t want to go home, we’d help Karl close up shop. It was always our way of repaying him for the free food he gave us.

I clear the table at the end as Max walks through the door with three patties and buns. The smell is intoxicating and my stomach grumbles in recognition.

“This is just a light meal for the night.” Max stops in the middle of the floor and looks at us. “Why the fuck is it so gloomy in here? Did someone die?” He laughs.

“Just serve the burgers. Blake will fill you in later.” Karl throws the towel over his shoulder, his signature move, and grabs a patty and bun.