Tank looked up from his game of cards and met my eye. With a nod, he shouted back, “Fucking A-okay, man. How you doin’, Lawson?”

“Doing damn good, thanks.”

“That your misses right there?” he asked, gesturing to Allie.

“Off-limits to you if that’s what you’re really getting at,” I told him.

He winked. “Off-limits, hey? I love a good challenge.”

From my peripheral, Allie cringed and I laughed. Tank was being a shit head. Unlike many, he was a happy drunk, and despite his fighter status, he was as harmless as a fly to the public.

He raised his beer to me and gave me another nod before returning to his game. I leaned over to Allie and said, “He’s easy. Don’t worry. Good guy on the inside, that one.”

“That’s crazy,” she replied, smiling back at me. “When you guys were fighting, he seemed so aggressive. Call me silly, but I didn’t think that sort of thing could be easily turned off.”

“You’re right. Some of the fighters are naturally aggressive even outside the matches. But it’s their hot-headed tempers that land them straight in jail. You’ll see them around, but personally, I’ve gotten along with most fighters just fine. Like I said, we keep the personal shit out.”

She nodded in understanding. For a while I let her soak up the place. She listened in on the chatter, relaxed and ate her little heart out. This was nice. For once, I didn’t need the buzz that came with drinking. I was getting it from her.

“I like this song,” she suddenly said, pointing to the jukebox.

I stopped moving and listened intently on the song playing.

“Love is the drug” by Bryan Ferry.

It was bittersweet. Mom liked this song too.

“Is that right?” I asked with a smile.

Before she answered, I stood up and grabbed her hand. I pulled her off the chair and took her to the centre of the bar where others were dancing. She was bright red as I brought her hands up into the air and yelled at her to dance like everyone else. She laughed and, to my surprise, started moving her body around to the music.

“You know the words?” I shouted to her.

She nodded. “Of course I do!”

“Prove it!”

She took my breath away when she opened her mouth and started singing to the lyrics, getting louder and more confident as she went on.

“Late that night I park my car
Stake my place in the singles bar
Face to face, toe to toe
Heart to heart as we hit the floor
Lumber up, limbo down
The locked embrace, the stumble round
I say go, she says yes
Dim the lights, you can guess the rest
Oh, oh, catch the buzz
Love is the drug I’m thinking of.”

Her whole body was flushed, her face glowing, acting her age for once and not consumed by the recent pressures in her life…

Allie Wallace.

This unbelievable girl.

What the fuck was Ryker thinking throwing this away?

She was breathless by the time she finished the song, and the loud sound of applause by the guys sitting at the bar behind us suddenly filled the room. She jumped and glanced at them over her shoulder, her eyes widening and her face – if it was possible – getting even redder. She hadn’t expected an audience, and I’d been so absorbed by her, I didn’t notice them too.

“Brilliant singing, Allie,” hooted Matt, coming in from behind her. He had a pool stick in one hand and his arm went around her, pulling her into his chest to give her a “welcoming” hug.

Fuck, this guy wanted to die, right? He was begging for it.

Allie smiled up at him, and my irrational anger simmered as I watched her give him attention. I wanted it all on me, and it was a pretty fucked up, childish thing to admit to myself. I headed straight for her, glaring at Matt, and took her by the arm. I motioned her to me and said, “Let’s get back to the table, Al.”

She moved to leave, but Matt’s grip around her shoulders tightened. “It’s alright, man,” he told me, “I want to have this next dance with her.”

“She needs to rest,” I told him, flaring my nostrils as he scowled at me.

“She seems fine to me,” he retorted. “Isn’t that right, Allie?”

Now her smile faded, and she looked between us uncomfortably. She cleared her throat and made to move out of his grip again, saying, “Actually, you know, that really tired me out. Heath’s right. I’ll just take a seat for a while.”

I pulled at her arm when she said that, and Matt reluctantly let her go. I softly pushed Allie in the direction of our table, and when she was a safe distance away, I turned back to Matt and gave him a rough shove back, growling, “What the fuck is wrong with you, man? Are you really that drunk?”

He was – and that was the only thing saving him from a beat down – but he shook his head and snapped, “Nothing is wrong with me. She’s been through rough shit. I wanted to give her a good time.”

“And what’s a good time with you?” I took a step closer to him, intimidating him with my width and height. Matt had nothing on me in the body department.

He was angry. “Man, what’s your problem? Since when does it bother you when I talk to a girl?”

“You know that’s Ryker’s girl, right?” I scolded him.

He raised a brow, glazed eyes daring to look into mine and said, “The real question is, do you know that’s Ryker’s girl? You think because she got a taste of one brother, she’ll want a taste of another –”

He didn’t finish that sentence. Not with the punch I gave him anyway. He fell straight back and landed on the ground like the drunken ass he was. Blood poured out of his busted upper lip and he gawked up at me with shock and anger. Would he have preferred I hit him in the nose? That would have been a broken bone, and I was feeling hospitable enough not to want that on the guy. He should be thanking me for going easy on his ass after saying what he did in a packed bar.

Everyone around us backed away, staring at us with growing interest until I looked up at them. They turned away immediately and resumed their conversations while I sighed and offered Matt my hand.

“You don’t know when to shut the fuck up,” I bit out.

He stared at my hand and shook his head. “I’m not taking your hand after you fucking punched me.” I didn’t listen to him. I grabbed him by the arm and hauled him to his feet. He wouldn’t have been able to get his stumbling ass up otherwise. He tore from my grip and wiped the blood from his mouth, turning away quickly to escape the bar. I’d embarrassed him in front of the guys, and I felt bad for it, but what the fuck did he think was going to happen to him saying that kind of shit?