They drove off as we stood on the sidewalk in the centre of town. The sky had dimmed as mid-afternoon slipped away. With a sinking feeling in my chest, I watched Jaxon’s eyes follow the car until it had disappeared from view.

“You want to grab something for dinner? There’s a good bar up the road that serves some good food.” He paused suddenly, flashing me questionable blue eyes. “That’s if you’re hungry.”

This was the first time he was actually talking solely to me since this morning’s mini-argument. I tried not to be bitter about that, so I nodded and said, “Yeah, I’m hungry. Lead the way.”

We walked only a couple minutes before we stopped at a large corner situated dive bar – probably the only bar in town, too, judging by the amount of people inside. There was a ruckus of noise within. I tried not to be weary, but my experience with bars thus far was unfavourable.

The restaurant and bar area inside were merged together. Smoke and radio music clouded the air. There were groups of people everywhere. Some were eating at the tables, others standing around the small, open dance floor next to dancing couples, drinking away. There was a pool table area where a couple televisions were propped in the corners on sports channels. Lots of chatter, lots of laughter; it seemed like a kick-back-and-relax-after-a-shit-day-watching-your-man-fawn-over-his-old-root kind of place. And I liked it very much.

We found a small table close to the bar. Jaxon slid the menu to me and I looked it over, reading the same lines over and over again. I truly wasn’t hungry. I’d had a plate of shrimp at the seafood place that had still filled me up. Jaxon watched me intently, and it was a foreign feeling having him focus only on me. When the waitress came around, I appeased him by ordering burger with fries and a tall mug of beer. Jaxon ordered the same.

While we were sitting in the loudest part of the bar, we had barely said a word to each other. I caught his eye every minute, but my voice was caught in my throat. Silence was all I could offer. After our orders were set in front of us and we’d begun eating, he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry for this morning,” he apologized, his voice soft. “I just don’t like you fading away into bones. I shouldn’t have pressed you about it. I shouldn’t have used the word disgusting. I didn’t mean it the way you think I did, but I can see why you’d think that.”

I nodded, grateful for the apology. “I’m sorry for calling you an asshole.”

He shot me a heart stopping half smile and my chest tightened. “You were always the most colourful verbal abuser. It was a bit weak for your taste.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “To be honest, I haven’t called anyone a name in a very, very long time.”

His smile faded as he nodded slowly. He was withdrawing fast again, and I couldn’t understand what was so bad about what I’d just said. I’d have interpreted ten million meanings behind it, but I was sick of keeping this kind of shit to myself.

“What is it?” I asked firmly.

He shrugged. “If that’s the case, you must have been in a very… agreeable surrounding.”

I shot him a perplexed look. What was he on about?

I sighed when it dawned on me. Agreeable surrounding equalled to Remy and me. That I’d never been a colourful abuser to him. Well, if we were going to be honest, I never did call him any names. Ever. I let the awkward moment pass. I didn’t want to reassure him with a lie. His statement was true.

“So Christy, huh?” I raised my eyebrows at him in question. “That was very random.”

He licked his bottom lip – fuck the things that did to me – and nodded. “Yeah, well, I knew about the cabin and thought it was the perfect place to head off to.”

“You seem to be very well acquainted with her then. Her and her grandmother.”

“When we were…” his eyes lowered as he searched for the appropriate word.

“Okay,” I mumbled impassively. “I get it. When you were screwing her, right? Continue on.”

He glowered at me. “Right. Yeah, during that time, I offered to help her grandmother out with her medical bills. They don’t have a whole lot. Since then, I’ve been in Gretel’s favour.”

“Medical bills for what?”

“She has a lot of health problems, and around the time I was screwing Christy” - cue pointed look - “she needed a prosthetic implant in her hip. A surgery she couldn’t afford.”

“Oh.” Well, that was honourable of him as it wasn’t his responsibility to care for a root he’d told me once was nothing more. Surely he had feelings for her before I’d come along and destroyed what little they had. Way to ruin a good thing, Sara. I was being stupid, though. He was here because he wanted to be with me, and I was purposely sabotaging my good moments with anything I could use as a coping mechanism. I didn’t feel I deserved him, therefore I wanted to bring myself down every opportunity I could. I had to stop.

After I finished half of my burger, I quickly excused myself to the bathroom. I had a good mini-think in there. I had to keep this night nice and relaxed. I needed to warm up into his good graces.

I got out of the gritty bathroom stall and rinsed my mouth of the food I’d eaten. I splashed some cold water on my face and stared at my reflection. I pinched my cheeks before I left, trying to add some colour in the paleness of my face. Midway back to the table, a body shoved roughly into the back of me. I fell a step forward and felt a cold, wet sensation down my back and ass. Loud laughter erupted as I turned around and took in a large, stumbling, overweight man with a dripping, empty mug. His friends also cackled around him, pointing at my backside like it was the funniest thing they’d ever seen.

“You got her good, Carl,” said one. “Better than last night’s girl.”

The overweight man grinned. “Can’t help the slip, you know? Shit happens.”

“Seems to happen frequently,” said another with a laugh.

“I’m a clumsy man.”

“You dirty pigs,” I cursed.

I felt heat behind me and turned my head to Jaxon. He looked at my soaked clothes with icy eyes before glaring back at the slob that had “mistakenly” spilled it on me.

“You better apologize to my girl,” he snapped.

Overweight slob grinned from ear to ear. “Looks like we got ourselves a macho man over here! Fuck off, man. I slipped. Not my fault your bitch was in my way.”

Jaxon gritted his teeth. “You got one more chance to fucking apologize.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll wipe this fucking floor clean with you.”

The grin fell from the slob’s face. He looked behind him and whistled to a messy man at the pool table. The man had been observing this scene, and so had most in the bar. It quieted as the man approached the slob with a pool stick in his hand. He handed it to Slob, and then his posse of drunken friends – five of them – stared threateningly at Jaxon.

“You’re fresh meat in town,” said Slob, “and you’re probably trying to prove yourself to your little slut here who walked into me on my way to the bar. She was probably looking for an excuse to have some of this.”

I gasped in disgust. Was this guy for real? “I didn’t try to walk into you! You shoved into my back!”

“I slipped and you grinded your behind into me!”

My jaw dropped. Fucking yuck!

Slob looked back at Jaxon. “Now you got one chance, tough guy, to turn around and walk right outta here before I’m the one that’ll be doing all the wiping. You’re outnumbered and we’ll kick your ass good. And while we’re at it, I’ll take good special care of your little butt-grinder here.”

I faced Jaxon and looked at him with pleading eyes. These men weren’t worth our time. It was best if we just left. His odds of getting out of his unscathed were slim. He needed to shut his alpha side up and walk away. He knew what I was conveying, but he shook his head at it. Then he gripped me by the arm and moved me to the side.

“You fucks have no idea who you’re dealing with,” he growled at them.

Slob smiled. “And tell us, macho man, who are we dealing with? Come on, then. Show us your hot moves because I’m sure it’ll leave us fucking shaking in our boots, huh?” The men laughed with Slob like he was the king of comedy.

Jaxon smiled cruelly at them before he gripped the bottom of his shirt. In one swift movement he took it off and handed it to me. Confused by this display, I took it and held it to my chest as I eyed the drunks.

I watched as they looked at his half naked body. A few women in the back whistled in appreciation. Then something strange happened. The drunken men who had been smiling with fierce confidence were now staring bug-eyed at him with a look that bordered fear.

What the hell? I mean, yeah, Jaxon was a beast. His muscles were beautifully sculpted from years of hard work and perhaps menacing enough in a one-on-one fight, but he was outnumbered here. Unless these men were gay and doing a little appreciation of their own, I couldn’t see what the problem was.

They seemed to be fixated on one thing in particular. I moved to have a clearer shot of Jaxon’s impressive torso and followed their gaze to… Oh… Ohhhh!

The Scorpion tattoo. It sat menacingly on the side of his chest and ended at his collarbone. It was an inescapable branding that showed everyone exactly what he was a part of. Well, that made sense now.

“You touch me and you’re dead,” Jaxon snarled. “One phone call and this town’s in the hands of the Scorpions, and every one of you hillbillies will be in the ground before dawn.”

Silence.

The men just stared, dumbfounded and in his mercy. I’d never seen anything like it. The fact that just the name and marking of the gang he was affiliated with caused this kind of silence was only confirmation on how far and wide they’d spread their reputation.

“Now you’re going to give me that stick.”

Glee flowed through me when Slob stepped forward like an obedient pup and handed Jaxon the pool stick. Jaxon hid his own pleasure at this, still maintaining an intimidating façade that had given even me knots of discomfort, and I was on his side to boot!

“Good boy,” Jaxon muttered. “Now come a little closer.”

Slob hesitantly took a few steps closer. Everyone watched on with bated breath and content, smiling faces. I wondered just how much of a nuisance Slob and his tribe of bullies had been in this town.

“Look at my woman and apologize for what you did,” Jaxon demanded coolly.

Slob turned to me, his face set in purposeful determination and apologized. “I’m sorry.”

It took hardly a second before Jaxon had grabbed him by the root of his hair and shoved him to the bar. A sickening crunch sounded as he slammed the man’s face down against the counter, causing the bartender to jump back in shock.

“I can’t fucking hear you,” Jaxon breathed calmly.

“I’m sorry.” Slob repeated in pain.

Another slam and blood erupted from his nose, spilling everywhere.

“I still can’t hear you. Speak up, wide load!”

“I’m sorry!”

Slam.

“Sorry for what?”

“For – for –”

Slam!

“Stop stalling, wide load! What are you sorry for?”

“For spilling beer on your woman! I’m sorry!”

Jaxon leaned into the man’s side, inches away from his bloody face and said, “That’s good. You did good. Now you take your fat ass home and never step foot in this fucking bar again. Because if you do, one of these little pleasant regulars here will be letting the Scorpions know. And if the Scorpions know your wide load is still coming here, we’re going to have to pay you a visit. And when we pay someone a visit, it’s really not a visit. What it really is can’t be said because even we don’t talk about the kind of shit we do to the men we pay our visits to. And these men never get the chance to talk about our visits that aren’t really visits either because their mouths are filled to the roof with maggots. You want your mouth full of maggots, wide load?”

Slob shook his head repeatedly.

“Then you’re going to be a good little dog and stay the fuck away. Is that clear?”

Slob, terror stricken and shaking, nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes!”

Jaxon, still clenching the man’s hair, shoved him back from the counter and to the ground. He looked distastefully down at his bloodied hands before turning to the rest of the patrons in the bar.

“This guy causes trouble and you let us know,” he commanded. “We’ll be coming back here anyway.”

The people adamantly nodded in return.

He walked casually back to our table, opened his wallet, and threw a few bills down. Then he grabbed a few tissues and languidly wiped the blood of his hands with a bored look on his face. I walked around the Slob and to our table. Jaxon took me by the hand and steered us out of the bar. Even as we stepped out and walked the path back to his bike, not one sound was heard from there.

We stopped in front of his bike. He slipped his shirt back on and pulled out my helmet. He handed it to me and I gripped it in my hands, but made no move to put it on.

“Was all that back there really necessary?” I asked quietly.

“As opposed to what?”

“We could have walked away. Now everyone knows there’s a Scorpion here –”

“I’m not running away from the Scorpions if that’s what you’re thinking,” Jaxon interrupted, setting his helmet over his head. “They know my destination. They’re covering for me. Besides, we’re going to be taking over this place soon. That display was essential. We do shit like that before a take-over.”