“And if you were wrong?” Jill growled back, leaning toward him.
“Ah, Jill.” Steve’s voice cut her off from saying more when Adam sneered at her. “Maybe we just better order our food.”
“No. If this shit with Angelina is going to be hanging over his head, it’s going to be hanging over ours too.” Jill’s voice shook slightly. “I can’t get kicked out. I have nowhere else to go and I’d rather die than be kicked out.”
“You never have to worry about being alone, Jill.” Adam leaned back in his chair. “You will always have us. I will not fuck this up for us. I’m good.”
“He’s right.” Steve backed him. “No matter what, we will always have each other. He’s not going to let some cheating bitch screw this up for us.”
Jill’s eyes widened when Adam grabbed Steve by the shirt, pulling him so they were nose to nose. “If you ever call her that again, I will smash your face in.” Adam let go with a shove and a hiss. “Understood?”
“Ah, yeah. Totally got it.” Steve smoothed his shirt down, eyeing Adam as a small grin tipped his lips. “With that kind of aggression, we’re going to kick some serious ass.”
“Yeah.” Jill gave a nervous laugh, her eyes still gaging Adam’s response to Steve’s words.
Adam tried to calm himself, knowing that Steve was just being a loyal friend, who was seeing Angelina as exactly what he called her, but Adam didn’t see her that way. Not at all. She was still his Angel and she had made her choice, which wasn’t him. So he had to move forward; he had people counting on him and he wouldn’t let them down, not this time. Adam slammed his hand back on the table. “Damn straight!”
Steve did a fist pump in the air in excitement. “Hell, yeah, man.”
“Where’s our waitress? I’m starving.” Adam turned to find everyone staring at them as two overgrown farm-fed boys headed their way.
“Well, unless they hire burly boys as waitresses, I think we got trouble coming our way.” Steve scooted his chair out from the table slowly; the squeal on the tile floor echoed in the quiet diner. Steve put on a big smile and looked up as the two guys stopped in front of their table. “Think we’re ready to order. I’ll take a Spare-Time burger with extra onion and some of those delicious looking fried taters.”
The two guys glanced at each other in confusion before anger flashed across their faces. “We’re not taking your order, freak.”
“Ah, now, you didn’t have to go and be like that.” Steve went to stand, but Jill stopped him.
“You’re making people nervous,” the shorter of the two replied.
Steve glanced around the two guys before looking back up at them. “Okay, then what do you suggest. I can do something other than the taters, you got onion rings?”
“You’re a funny freak, huh?” The bigger guy with muscles bulging underneath his white t-shirt sneered, showing tobacco-stained teeth.
“Man, we just want to eat and then we’ll be on our way.” Steve went to scoot his chair back in, but ‘muscles’ clipped it with is boot sending it and Steve crashing to the floor.
Adam was up and had ‘muscles’ pinned face first to the table, his hand holding him by the neck. “That was a real bad move.” Glancing back, he saw that Steve was up and Jill stood between him and the shorter muscle head. “Now, I’m going to let you up. You are going to turn back around and sit your ass down while we order and eat. We don’t want and didn’t ask for trouble. You understand me? You approached us.”
“Let him go.” A short older woman with graying hair and kind eyes came into Adam’s view, her shaking hand gently grasped his arm. “Let him go, please.”
Adam did as asked, but when the guy jumped up quickly, Adam made sure the older lady was behind him and protected. “Don’t do something you’ll regret.” Adam cocked his eyebrow in warning. “And you will regret it.”
The older woman pushed Adam out of her way with surprising strength. “Jimmy Jacks!” she snapped her white towel at him, hitting him on the arm.
“Jimmy Jacks?” Steve recovered quickly from his tumble and had been standing at a ready stance, but now he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. “Jimmy Ja—”
“Shut up, Steve.” Jill, who was still standing between Steve and the other guy, tried to hide the smirk tilting her lips.
“If you can’t behave yourself, then get out of this diner right now before I call the sheriff, or better yet, your momma.” The older lady snapped her towel at him again.
“Now, Ida.” Jimmy frowned, backing up and rubbing the spot on his arm the towel had snapped. “I’m just trying to make your customers comfortable.”
“The only one I see making anyone uncomfortable is you.” She waved her bony arm around at the customers, who sat staring at the scene. “Now git, and mind your own business.”