See No Evil

Chapter 4

Stone

Can this night get any shittier?

First, Big Jim tells me I’ll have to lock up tonight since Janet called in sick, turning my six-hour shift into a nine-hour one, which will definitely show tomorrow morning on my first day back at school. There won’t be enough concealer under the sun to mask the bags under my eyes. And secondly, Janet bailing couldn’t have happened on a worse night. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear the bitch did it on purpose. Anytime my boss a

Tonight’s poor excuse for a contest is an old favorite of my employer’s, as well as every last pervert within a twenty-mile radius. The wet T-shirt night at Big Jim’s Bar is not like the ones broadcasted on TV or spring break music videos. Instead of girls gone wild, it’s more like moms without shame.

A prime example of this is Wanda and her old man doing it doggy style for everyone’s eyes to behold, while her seven-year-old kid is probably sound asleep at her grandma’s place again. Poor kid should be thankful her folks didn’t bring her in tow this time. Watching her parents get wasted and do live porno would scar her for life. But if I’m being real, she’s probably seen worse.

Most of the kids who grow up around here are used to shit like this anyway. I sure as hell saw my share of fucked-up things growing up. I really wish I could say this sort of crap was a one-off here at the bar, but it’s not. Shit like this happens most nights. I guess you just become immune to the filth after a while.

It’s also a side effect of living on this end of town. We expect the grime and the dirt. It’s the shiny and new that raises our hackles. Case in point—Fi

However, Easton doesn’t get on my nerves as much as the friend frowning at his side. Easton wasn’t born into money like Fi

Fi

Worst thing is, he’s a cocky asshole, and he knows it. Just by the way he gloated about his size, he’s proud of it too, making him as vain and shallow as I suspected him of being. He’s just like any other jock with a pea-sized brain that thinks muscles will get him far in life. I can’t help but be a little bit resentful of guys like him because, in Fi

While I bust my ass and study like crazy, trying to get out of the Southside, Fi

Just what the hell are those two up to?

I place five beers on a tray, ready to head back and give these losers their booze, leaving the two college boys for last. When I finally get to their table, Fi

“I think we started off on the wrong foot,” his smooth-talking friend begins, deepening his learned southern twang like he’s one of us.

“Did we, now?” I cock my hip to the side, wondering what fine line Easton Price is going to spin.

If he thinks he’ll get anything out of me, he’s dead wrong. The ‘rebel without a cause’ persona Easton Price lives by doesn’t get my motor ru

His blue-eyed friend would stand a better chance, even though everything the elitist jock represents a

“You’re Stone, right? Fi

Like hell, they have.

Guys like them don’t pay attention to anything or anyone but their own reflection. I’d never be on their radar, so Easton suddenly knowing my name is all the warning I need to know they are definitely up to no good. I’m not sure what their intentions are, but I certainly need to make it clear I want no part of it. I have better things to do than waste my time with two entitled Northsiders looking to cause trouble on my side of town.

Screw that and screw them.

“And?” I quip back, unamused, hoping my resting bitch face is enough to dampen whatever game they’ve got going.

“And my friend here is trying to be polite. How about you cut him some slack, huh?” Fi

“Oh, that’s so cute, you sticking up for your boyfriend. Is that why you boys came here? To hide your love affair away from your mammas and pappas? Chin up boys. It’s the twenty-first century. No one gives a rat’s ass if you like cock or not. Own that shit. I do,” I reply sarcastically, giving them a little wink and blowing a kiss to Fi

I sway my way back to the bar, the tiny adrenaline from toying with those idiots putting a smile on my face. It will probably be the only amusement I’ll get tonight. But too quickly is my fun tarnished when Fi

“You are something else, you know that, little girl?” he growls, his chest heaving against mine.