Tate
“Drink up, fucker.”
I pushed the beer back to Roman and shook my head. “One of us needs to be sober enough to drive home tonight,” I reminded him for the tenth time. I had two beers when we first arrived, but I switched to water when I realized Roman was headed for shit-faced fast, and we were over thirty miles away from home. Once again with Roman, I had to be the responsible one.
He grabbed the beer and chugged half of it. He slammed it down on the counter and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “What do you think about our waitress?”
“The redhead?”
“Yeah. Her ass was in my damn face when she bent over to grab the five I dropped on the floor.”
“That was a douche move, by the way,” I said, chuckling.
Roman shrugged. “Come on, what can I say?”
I shook my head and twirled my keys around my finger. I had noticed our waitress was hot, but she didn’t compare to the tall brunette who was working on the other side of the room. The damn strippers on the stage didn’t even compare to her. “So, when are you going to get some fucking balls and go talk to her?” Roman asked.
I looked him in the eye. “Who?”
“Please, don’t act like you haven’t been watching her since we got here. I’m surprised you didn’t make us move over to her tables.”
“Don’t know what you are talking about,” I mumbled.
“I may be drunk, Tate, but I’m not fucking stupid.”
“Well, how about you ask our waitress out, and then I’ll go talk to her.”
“I can do that,” Roman replied. “Next time she heads this way, just sit back and watch how it’s done.”
I rolled my eyes and pointed a finger at him. “She has to say yes for me to go talk to her,” I insisted, hitching a thumb over my back, to the other side of the club.
“No fucking problem. I’m going to have this chick like putty in my hands.” Roman tossed back the rest of his beer and turned around in his chair. “Now I just need to figure out where the hell she went.”
We both scanned the club looking for her but we didn’t spot her anywhere. “Maybe it was the end of her shift, brotha. Maybe next time.”
“No, no, no,” Roman slurred. His shots of whiskey were starting to catch up with him. He slammed his fist on the table, rattling the empty bottles and glasses. “We’re not leaving until I get her number.”
“You fellas ready for another round?”
Roman spun around, almost falling out of his chair, and beamed up at our waitress. “No, but I could use something else.”
She leaned against the table and smiled down at Roman. This was going to be good. I could tell this was a chick who wasn’t about to take Roman’s shit. “What can I get you, Sug?”
“Maybe when you get off, you can work on getting me off.”
I scoffed and tried not to bust out laughing.
She leaned in close, resting her hand on Roman’s shoulder. “As much as you’d love that, Sug, I just got my rocks off ten minutes ago in the broom closet, and that tall drink of a man behind the bar knows exactly what you’re asking me, and he doesn’t like it. At. All.”
Roman’s jaw dropped as his head swiveled around to look at the guy standing behind the bar with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes trying to burn a hole through Roman. “Boyfriend?”
“Yup,” she smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Roman turned back around and sat back in his chair. “So, I’m going to assume the answer is no?”
“You’re correct. I’ll cash you guys out.” She threw a wink in my direction and headed over to the bar.
“That was shit,” Roman complained.
“I can’t believe you used that line on her. I haven’t heard you use that one in years.”
Roman shrugged. “I thought I would bring out the big guns.”
“Well, you brought them out and crashed and burned. Big time.”
Roman clicked his bottle of beer against my glass of water. “Then I guess that means it’s time to call it a night. If I couldn’t make it with the waitress, there ain’t no way in hell you can make it with that chick.”
“Just because you struck out, doesn’t mean I will, asshole.”
Roman stood up, stumbled to the right, and held onto the table. “I am an asshole, and I’m also right. Now, take me home so I can throw up and pass out naked on the bathroom floor.”
I pulled out my wallet, threw four twenties on the table, and grabbed Roman’s arm. “Big plans for the rest of the night, huh?”
“I had better ones, but she shot me down. I bet if I would have told her I knew karate, she would have been climbing me like a damn tree.” Roman tried to crouch down into a back stance and almost took both of us down to the floor.
“Why don’t you save the karate for when you haven’t finished off a twelve-pack and a fifth of whiskey, Jackie Chan.”
Roman laughed and slung his arm over my shoulder. “Man, I love that motherfucker.”
“He’s all right,” I laughed.
“You know who else is a badass motherfucker?”
We managed to make it to the door, and we stepped to the side to let the latest string of guys to walk in. “Who?”
“Me. Roman Fucking Yeck.”
I pulled open the door and pushed Roman out. I knew what was coming next.
“I’m Roman Fucking Yeck, you motherfuckers, and I am one badass MOTHERFUCKER!” Roman held his arms up and yelled into the dark sky. “ROMAN FUCKING YECK!”
Jesus Christ. I needed to get this fucker in the car before he started drawing a crowd.
“Hey! You know who I am?” Roman called, walking over to a group of guys who were sitting on the tailgates of their trucks.
“Ro, knock it the hell off, man.” I grabbed his arm, but he shook me off.
“Don’t know who the hell you are, man,” one of the guys called.
Roman stumbled over to them and leaned against the truck. “You know who Jackie Chan is?”
Oh, Jesus Christ.
“Pretty sure you’d have to live under a rock not to know who he is,” the guy sitting on the tailgate replied.
“Well, he may have been a badass, but me and my friend here are more badass than he is.”
Fuck. Roman was the one out of the four of us who was having a problem adjusting to life off the circuit where most people didn’t know who he was. On the circuit, Roman couldn’t walk around without everyone recognizing him and kissing his ass. Now, the only people who knew him were the students, and that was about it.
“Badassy, huh?” They all laughed.
“Total badass. I twirl a fucking bo like you wouldn’t believe, and Tate over there could take your head off with a kama in a second.”
“Comma? A fucking comma?”
People who weren’t part of karate never had any idea what we were talking about when we referenced certain things. “It’s a weapon used in karate,” I explained.
“Well, why don’t you two karate wannabes head on home and jerk off to some Jackie Chan movies.” The guys sitting on the tailgate slid off and stood up.
Roman scoffed. “Wannabes? You gotta be kidding me, Farmer Ted.” Roman flicked the brim of the guy's hat, knocking it off of his head.
“Pick it up,” he growled. Of course, Roman had to pick the one guy who was taller than us. Roman and I weren’t short, but we sure weren’t close to seven foot like this fucker was.
“No.”
The guy smirked and looked at his friends. “I do believe we’ve found our entertainment for the night, fellas. Kicking the shit out of Karate Kid is going to be fun.” He cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders.
“Roman, let’s just get the hell out of here.” I wasn’t worried we were going to get our asses kicked. I knew that wasn’t going to happen, at least not to me. With Roman drinking as much as he did, his reflexes were going to be slow, and a fist landing on his face was a good possibility.
“Yeah, maybe you should run along with your boyfriend,” one of the guys taunted.
Oh hell. It was guys like these assholes who knew exactly what to say to get a rise out of Roman. I wished like hell Dante and Kellan had come out with us. They could have helped me to keep a lid on Roman.
Roman glanced at me, a sick, twisted smile on his face, and I knew shit was about to go down. “You think we can have one fucking night where you don’t start a fight?” I asked.
“Maybe next time.”
“You two having a lovers’ spat?” a guy to the side called.
I rolled my eyes and knew this guy was just asking to get his ass kicked by Roman and me now. “I think you all just need to head into the club, and we’ll be on our way.” I didn’t want to get into it with these guys. I was, for once, exhausted, and just wanted to go home to sleep.
Roman held up his hands, finally deciding to let it go when the guy who had his hat knocked off took a swing. Roman managed to duck, grab the guy’s arm, and twist it behind his back. Two of the other guys moved forward, ready to attack Roman.
“Motherfucker,” I mumbled. I managed to step between Roman and the guys and shifted into a defensive stance. “Just think twice before you take another step,” I warned. They both scoffed and didn’t heed my warning. Dumbasses.
Everything happened at once. Roman flipped the guy who swung at him over his shoulder, slammed him to the ground, and spun around to help me with dumb and dumber. The one in front of me jabbed at my face, but I saw it coming before he even moved. I side-stepped to the left, watching his fist fly by, then leaned back and landed an ax kick to his arm. He stumbled forward, and I dropped to the ground, sweeping his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground like a load of bricks.
Roman had his guy pinned to the ground and a knee to his throat. “Roman Fucking Yeck, asshole. YouTube that shit,” he spit in his face.
I rolled my eyes and spun around as I heard the first guy Roman had body-slammed climb up on his hands and knees. “I’m gonna fucking kill you,” he wheezed, as he tried to stand.
This guy had to be the dumbest of them all. At least the guy I had taken down hadn’t tried to get back up. He had crawled back over to the truck and was rubbing his arm. The four others who had been in the group wisely stepped back, realizing they didn’t want to get their asses kicked.
Wheezy managed to get his feet underneath him, but he was still gasping for air. He clumsily charged at me, his legs barely able to hold him up. When he was a couple feet away from me, I simply side-stepped to the right, hollered for Roman to watch out, and watched as the big ox collapsed on top of his friend. Roman had managed to roll off before he was crushed between the two.
Roman was sprawled out on his back, laughing like a madman. Most people got happy when they drank; Roman got the urge to fight.
I looked around and found a crowd that had spilled out from the club watching us. The waitress I had been eyeing all night was off to the side with the redhead Roman had tried to take home. I brushed my hands off on my pants, then I held a hand out to Roman to help him up. “Next time, try just to take on one guy, so I don’t have to step in and save your ass.” That wasn’t really true, because I knew Roman could have taken those guys on his own, but I needed to give him hell.
“Well, as much as I think you’re full of shit, thanks for having my back.” I pulled him up, and the crowd applauded. Oh hell. Roman was going to eat this shit up with a damn spoon.
“Thank you, thank you,” he called, taking a bow. Fucking attention whore. Hopefully, this would help settle him down for a bit. It had been a hard transition for him from the circuit to Powerhouse.
“All right, that’s enough Chuck Norris. Let’s pack it up and head on home.” I grabbed his arm and dragged him over to my car. I glanced over my shoulder, as everyone milled back into the club and caught a glimpse of the waitress.
God damn, she was beautiful.
“Unlock the damn door,” Roman called.
I pulled out my keys and beeped open the locks on the Range Rover, with my eyes still on her. She absently tucked her hair behind her ear, exposing the soft curve of her neck. I fought back the urge to dump Roman in the car and find out her name. There was something different about her, and I wanted to know what it was. Something about her made me want to get to know her, and I hadn’t even spoken a single word to her.
“Ugh, I think I’m going to puke.”
I snapped my head around at Roman’s words expecting to see him hunched over. The asshole was leaning against the car with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re gonna break your neck trying to get a look at her.”
I flipped him off and rounded the hood of the SUV. “Why don’t you get the hell in and keep your mouth shut.” Roman smirked and slid into the passenger seat. “I just don’t understand why you didn’t go talk to her.”
The car roared to life, and I slammed it into reverse. “Because I was too busy taking care of your drunk ass tonight.”
He shrugged and held up his hands. “You were supposed to be my wingman tonight.”
“Wingman my ass. You just wanted someone to help you whip those guys’ asses.”
“That was hardly an ass whooping. I didn’t even get to land a punch. You did get a nice ax kick in, though.”
I headed back toward Falls City and glanced at Roman. “You about done with this fighting bullshit? You do know that we teach the students that they shouldn’t go looking for fights, right?”
Roman waved his hand at me and rested his head on the window. “That was hardly a fight.”
I turned on the radio, done talking to him. He wasn’t going to hear anything I had to say tonight. Hell, he didn’t listen to me anytime. It didn’t matter if he was drunk or sober. I had my own shit to worry about; I didn’t need to add Roman’s pile to it.
Life was good since leaving the circuit, but it felt like I was missing something. Something that shouldn’t be hard for me to find. I wanted someone to share everything with, but I hadn’t found that person yet, the one woman who would make everything feel right in my world.
Tonight, for the first time when I saw that waitress, I felt like she could be that woman for me. I might have found her, but I was stuck taking care of Roman, and to be honest, the fact that she could be the one terrified the shit out of me.
She could have been the one, and I ran like hell.
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