Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2) (7 page)

“Superman
is so goanna get his ass kicked.”

I
can’t help but laugh at her and flick through the book. Chase
brings our drinks over and puts the bill down on the bar then leaves.
Paige and I stare at it and I read the total.

“Wow
Paige, ten bucks for these two drinks and we get them free and
shots.”

We
both smile and high five.

“Yeah
baby.” I wave Knox down and after a few minutes, he strolls
over wiping his hands.

“Yes
darlin’?”

I
shove the bill down his waistband. “Take care of that, babe.”
I wink at him. Scowling he pulls it out then laughs.

“Sure
darlin’, I’ll take care of it for you.” I kiss him
quickly, tasting the mint of his gum then nip his bottom lip.

“Hey quit making out and
get me a beer.” We both turn and see Eric, the keyboard player
of Knox’s band, smiling at us. Knox gives him the one-handed
hug thing and gets him a beer.

“Hey I’ll be over by
the stage. Keep ‘em coming.” He smiles at Knox.

Knox
kisses me again and sees the songbook. “You singing?” he
questions then looks out at the rowdy crowd.

“Don’t
know.”

Paige
pulls the book back.

“Yes she is, so don’t
be all crazy up in here, Knox,” she tells him, waving her hand
around making us both laugh at her.

Knox
holds his hands up in surrender as he walks away. I finally pick a
song and drop it off with the DJ and he nods.

“Twenty
minutes,” he yells at me and I give him a thumbs up, then go
back to my seat.

Amber
makes it back to the bar fanning her face. “Whoa it’s hot
out there,” she tells us and we all nod in agreement as she
places her order with Chase.

“Hey
darlin’, you pick a song?” Knox asks, putting a shot down
for Paige and me.

“Yeah
babe, up in twenty.”

He
nods, walking away. My name gets called and I push my way to the
stage.

I
start singing “Valerie” by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse.
Paige is recording on her phone. I look over at Knox who is whistling
at me and clapping. A few regulars get up to dance and the rowdy
crowd from the corner starts yelling things like “Get your tits
out” and “Shake that ass over here.” I am having
fun singing and dancing with Paige in front of me. She is crazy; I
don’t know why she never sings. As the song ends I hear “I
love you Darlin’,” shouted across the room. Knox is
smiling at me and I blow him a kiss. Paige grabs me in a hug.

“Yay
Bailey! You are awesome.” We are laughing, walking back to the
bar when one of the drunken dudes stops me.

“Hey
why don’t you come on over here?” He pats his junk but,
ignoring him, I try to move on. He grabs my breast hard, digging his
nails in making me cry out. I kick him between the legs then he
punches me in the stomach, knocking me on my ass.

I
see Sean and Eric jump up and grab him. An all out brawl starts as I
crawl back onto the stage, pulling Paige with me.

“I
told you I didn’t want to sing,” I cry.

She
is shaking her head crying also. I see chairs flying through the air
and hear bottles smashing. People are running, screaming, trying to
get away from the group of guys in the middle of the dance floor
throwing punches.

I
see someone grab the microphone stand and I dive on Paige, sheltering
us as the stand smashes through the amplifier causing a feedback and
a loud pop. Some guy is pulling me off the stage by the ankle so I
kick him in the face trying to get away.

“Fucking
Bitch!” he shouts at me.

“Run
Paige!” I scream, pushing her away from me.

The
DJ pulls me up onto the stage. “You okay?” he asks,
hiding behind his metal table thing. I nod and peek out, seeing Knox
punch the guy in the face.

The next thing I see is a sea of
blue uniforms rush in grabbing the brawlers, who still fight off the
cops. Eric runs up on stage.

“You okay, Bailey?”
he asks, helping me off the floor.

I
nod looking at my torn top and wet jeans from the beer. I look over
at the bar but I only see Amber and Paige standing behind the bar.
Chase is letting people out the side door while the cops haul the
assholes out the front. The majority of regulars stay in the bar, and
pick up some toppled chairs but as I look around the dance floor I
truly see the damage.

There
is glass everywhere bits of broken stools and glasses all over the
floor. The equipment on the stage is wrecked and the DJ is clearing
up his stuff.

“Hey
you need ice for your arm?”

I
look down to my right arm noticing a big red welt across the upper
part where I hit the stage. Standing up, I walk over to the bar with
Eric and wait for Knox to come back inside. Paige sits beside me and
looks worried.

“Shit
Bailey,” she whispers and I nod.

“Yeah
I know.” Checking my watch, I see it is only eleven o’clock
and the bar is supposed to be open until two in the morning.

About
ten minutes later Knox walks in looking really pissed off. His jaw is
clenched and the vein in his neck is throbbing. Walking over to me,
he pulls me off the stool and drags me into the back.

“What
the fuck happened?” he shouts, spinning me to face him.

“Let go. You’re
hurting me,” I say quietly and he drops his hand, putting them
on his hips. “I don’t know, babe. When I got off the
stage some drunk guy grabbed me so I kneed him in the nuts.”

He
rakes his hand through his hair and down his face, then brushes my
hair off my shoulders looking at my chest he frowns.

“Sorry darlin’, I
didn’t mean to shout at you.”

I
shrug and pull my hair over my shoulders to hide the four marks on
the top of my chest from the guy’s nails. My strap is broken so
I have to fold my tank into my bra to keep it from falling down.

Knox
watches me. “Darlin’?”

Looking
up at him, I just shake my head. “Why did you automatically
assume it was my fault?”

He
sighs and closes his eyes for a beat, then looks down on me not
saying anything.

“Yeah
just as I thought. I am not a troublemaker, Knox. I told you this
before but I damn well will defend myself against some drunk asshole
who thinks he can just grab my boob and stick his dick in my ass.”
I bang into his arm as I leave, moving him out of my way. I swing the
beaded curtain so hard I hear some of the beads hit the floor. Paige
has my jacket and purse ready when I reach her I shrug it on.

Knox
comes out behind me. “Bailey, where are you going?”

Turning
I glare at him. “Away from you,” I hiss then leave the
bar with Paige.

We
go straight to her apartment and I flop onto the sofa. How the hell
did this night go from good to bad so quickly? I am so pissed at
Knox; this is the second time he has not believed me. I wouldn’t
mind but he punched the guy in the face who grabbed me, so what does
that tell you? Paige hands me a glass of water.

“Thanks.”
I drink it in one go, still breathing hard.

“You
okay, Paige?” She laughs then sits on the floor by the coffee
table.

“Yeah,
it was scary seeing all those bottles and stools flying and I wished
Max was there but I’m okay now.” I smile at her, leaning
my head back against the sofa.

We
sit and talk about what happened until one o’clock in the
morning.

“Okay,
I am out night Paige,” I tell her and she frowns at me.

“Do
you want to stay?”

I
shake me head no and smile. “No, I’m going home. See you
tomorrow.”

Wrapping
my jacket around myself, I walk fast, back to my car. Finding the
side door of the bar propped open I walk inside. I peek through the
beads and see Knox counting the cash.

“You
shouldn’t leave the door open like that. I could be an armed
robber,” I say and he looks up at me, and smirks, then
continues to count.

When
he is done he looks back over at me. “You don’t need a
gun, darlin’. You have a pretty mean weapon already.”

“What
would that be?” I ask a little offended, locking up the cash
register he points at my mouth.

“That’s
not a very nice thing to say,” I tell him, folding my arms
across my chest.

“It’s
true though, you say some mean stuff to people.”

I
cock my eyebrow at him. “And who would that be, Knox? Because
if you are referring to you, then you should look in the mirror.”

He
snorts as he turns off the under bar lights.

“Maybe
you should leave for the night and I will see you tomorrow,” he
says holding the bag of cash.

I
look at his face but he shows no emotion.

“Right, well take care of
yourself, Knox. I’ll see you around.” I walk back the way
I came and open my car.

“What’s
that supposed to mean?” he asks from behind me.

I
open the car door then look at him. “You figure it out.”
Sliding behind the wheel, I glance at him and his now shocked face.

I
guess he just realized it’s over. Pulling out onto the street,
I drive home like a maniac just because I am extremely pissed off.

Knox

I
can’t believe she just did that. Did she break up with me? I am
confused now. Maybe I should let her cool off for a day or two, and
then see how the water lies. I grab my backpack and jump onto my
Harley, driving in the opposite direction of Bailey’s house. I
arrive at the hospital twenty minutes later, wondering how the hell I
am supposed to get in to see Max. I hear an ambulance wailing as it
pulls into the ER bay. Hopping off the bike I use the distraction to
skirt past the nurse’s station and jog down the hall to the
elevators.

Stepping
out on the second floor I see a nurse behind the desk. Shit how can
get by her now? I decide to just walk right past her and hope for the
best. She is reading a magazine and doesn’t even bother to look
up as I walk down the hall. I slip into Max’s room closing the
door behind me. He is obviously sleeping at this hour, but I need to
talk to him.

“Max.”
I shake him a little but he doesn’t move. “Max,” I
say louder and his eyes spring open.

He
looks around then back to me.

“What time is it?”

I
check my watch. “It’s two in the morning.”

He
raises an eyebrow. “This better be good, asshole.”

Sitting
in the chair, I open my backpack and pull out two hotdogs I grabbed
on the way. I hand one to him and then I give him a bottle of beer.

“Booze,
sweet.” He smiles.

“Non
alcoholic,” I tell him, but he shrugs.

We
eat our dogs in silence.

“So what did you do for me
to deserve a midnight visit?”

I
take a pull of my beer and prop my feet on the end of his bed.

“There was a fight at the
bar tonight. The place is trashed and the cops came.”

He
looks shocked then amused, “Let me guess, a certain hot blonde
was smack bang in the middle of it?”

I
frown at him. “Why would say that?” I ask, but I know why
because it was my first thought too.

“She is smoking hot, bro.
It was bound to happen. I see the dudes checking her out every
night.” He shrugs. Okay, so maybe we weren’t thinking
along the same lines.

“Well
was it your girlfriend?” he asks smirking at me, knowing it was
and I nod. He laughs out loud. “What happened?”

I
tell him the story and show him the pictures of the damage I took on
my phone. He whistles and hands it back to me.

“I
didn’t see the dude grab her chest. I thought she just kicked
him in the nuts for saying something to her. Paige was hysterical but
she was okay. Bailey shoved her out of the way.”

Max
looks at me. “Paige was there?”

I
nod and pull out a second beer for us handing him one.

“Yeah
she is okay though, but I think Bailey broke it off.”

Max
laughs at me shaking his head.

“Okay,
what were her exact words?”

Frowning
I tell him and he cringes.

“Damn
Knox, sometimes I wonder about you.” He shakes his head at me.
“You can be a dick, you know that? And yeah you were dumped.
Good luck with that.”

My
heart sinks and I groan, laying my head back against the hard leather
of the chair. “Fuck this shit,” I say feeling defeated.

“You
need to get on your knees, bro,” Max tells me as I put the
bottles into my bag.

“I
know,” I sigh and stand. “Wish me luck.” I hug him
goodbye then leave the hospital.

On
the ride home I debate on going home or up to Bailey’s but my
heart wins out and I fly up the hill.

The
house is in darkness as I cut the engine and coast down the driveway
to the front door. Climbing off the Harley, I walk quietly up the
steps and unlock the door. Thankfully the alarm is off and I quickly
make my way up to her room. She is fast asleep in her funky Pj’s
that Summer had bought her last year and I just want to kiss her so
bad. I sit down beside her and rub my knuckles across her cheek.

“Darlin’,”
I whisper;

Her
eyes open and she scowls at me. “What are you doing here?”
she asks none too friendly.

“I
wanted to apologize.”

Sitting
up, she holds out her hand and I look at her. “The key, give it
to me.” She shakes her hand for it.

“Bailey,
please, come on.”

She
climbs out of the bed and switches on the lamp, casting the room in a
pinkish glow from the colored light bulb.

“I
said we are done, Knox. If you don’t trust me, then there is no
point to this.” She waves her hand between us.

“Darlin’,
please. I said I am sorry and I do trust you I just..” I trail
off, not knowing what I want to say at all but I do know I don’t
want to loose her.

“Give
me the key and go home, Knox,” her voice cracks and I know she
is about to cry so I stand up taking all my six inches of height
advantage over her.