What Judgments Come

“Your place?” Qui

Rolling her eyes, Allie replied, “You know what I mean, you idiot. Tom wanted me to throw you out weeks ago, but I kept talking him out of it, because I know you’ve been hurting, but I can’t keep covering for you if all you’re going to do is cause trouble. You get that, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” Qui

In short,he reminded himself, to hell with it. To hell with every last damned bit of it. He knew that such a cynical stance should not include i

Reaching out to grip the doorjamb in an effort to steady himself, Qui

“I know you do,” Allie said, placing one hand on his arm. “But that’s not good enough, not right now.” She nodded toward the door. “Go and get yourself cleaned up. Until you do, I don’t want to see you around here.”

“Come on, Allie,” Qui

“Don’t make Tom ban you outright,” Allie said, her tone now firmer. “Go sleep it off. I’ll check on you when I get out of here, okay?”

Unable to resist one more leering grin, Qui

Allie’s response was to push past him and open the door, after which she prodded him toward the street. “I mean it, Qui

Holding up his hands in mock surrender, Qui

“Damn,” he muttered. “I hate when that happens.”

He turned back to the bar, but Allie was already gone, the door closing behind her as she made her way into the crowd and back to work. His last sight of the comely bartender was of her shapely, leather-clad backside.

Anyone who doubts the existence of a supreme being need only look at that.

Chuckling at his lascivious thought, Qui

“Guess it’s another bar, then,” he muttered, the fingers of his right hand fishing into his trouser pocket to retrieve his credit chip. He tried to focus his bourbon-fogged mind long enough to recall his account balance, and decided the best way to verify the state of his funds was while buying another drink.

“Qui

Turning at the unexpected summons, Qui

“Cervantes Qui

Qui

“I’ve been looking for you, mate,” Pe

Holding up a hand, Qui

Pe

“Oh,” Qui

Thanks for that,Qui

His expression darkening further, Pe

“Talking about it means I have to remember it,” Qui