He nods slowly. “Just checking.”
I spin for the door, because the redhead at the bar might have gotten the drink, but I’m the one getting wet. And that can’t happen. “I’ll tell Destiny you say hi.”
When I hit the sidewalk, I take a second to catch the breath Bran stole from me, then try to clear my head.
It’s still spinning when a voice comes from behind me. “Hey.”
I turn, expecting Bran, but instead see the guy Bran threw out. His friends are nowhere to be seen.
“Hi.”
“You’re probably thinking I’m some kinda stalker,” he says, his words fuzzy with alcohol.
I hug my guitar case in front of me like a shield. “The thought crossed my mind.”
He holds up his hands. “I just wanted to apologize.”
“For…?”
He takes a step toward me. “I was a dick in there. It’s my birthday and the guys were buying me drinks. I guess I had a few too many.”
“Happy birthday,” I say without moving.
He laughs. “Would have been better if I coulda not gotten my ass booted outa there.”
“So, was he right? Were you lying about the Army?”
His smile turns sheepish. “Yeah.”
“So, what’s the real story?”
“Where you headed?” he asks, instead of answering.
“Home.”
“I’ll walk with you and tell you the whole sad story.”
Does this guy seriously think he’s coming home with me?
“You know what?” I say, my hand rifling through my bag. “I left my keys on the bar.”
“I’ll wait,” he says as I back toward the door.
The redhead is still at the bar and one boob, partially encased in a black lace bra, has fully escaped her shirt now. Bran is leaning toward her on his elbows and she’s laughing shamelessly at something he said. He smiles…until he sees me standing in the door.
Carol’s passing by with a tray of drinks and stops. “Hey, hon. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Just waiting out the creep Bran threw out of here earlier.”
Her eyes widen. “What do you mean, waiting out?”
“He’s out there,” I say with a jerk of my thumb at the door.
“Seriously,” she says, glaring at the door. “Want me to call the cops?”
“I think that’s probably overkill. He’ll get the message when I don’t come back out.”
“Normally I’d do this myself, but…” She rubs her belly. “Hey, Bran!”
I glance his direction and see he’s at the end of the bar wiping the counter, but he’s watching us.
“Stalker,” Carol says, with a tip of her head at the door.
Bran steps around the bar. “Can you keep an eye on things in here?” he asks Carol.
“Got it,” she says heading with the drinks to the group in the corner.
He grasps my elbow and I’m totally unprepared for the electric rush as he pulls me aside. “What’s going on?”
“That guy you threw out was waiting for me outside.”
His eyes narrow and cut to the door. “Fucking dick,” he says under his breath.
“I just figured I’d wait him out,” I say with a shrug.
“Like hell.”
He slams through the door and I follow.
Stalker is standing with his hands in his pockets, grinning. But the second he sees Bran, the grin falls off his face.
“I thought I told you if you showed your face here again, I’d bloody it,” Bran snarls.
He lifts his hands in surrender and staggers back a step. “You said not to set foot in your bar, dude. I didn’t.”
Bran takes a step. “But you’re stalking my friends, which isn’t cool with me.”
The guy glares at Bran. “You know, you’re a fucking piece of work. You go off and blow up a bunch of people because George fucking Bush told you they’re terrorists, and now you think own the world.”
“Go home,” Bran says, rage oozing out with the words and turning them into something darker. “I’m not having this conversation.”
“Figures you’d say that,” Stalker spits. “Because then you’d have to think about all the babies you killed.”
Bran is in his face the next second, pinning him against the wall with a forearm to the windpipe. “Get the fuck out of here. I’m not going to say it again.”
He shoves away from the guy, who grabs at his throat and staggers back.
“Fascist,” he snarls, then turns and lumbers up the sidewalk.
“C’mon,” Bran says to me. “I’ll walk you home.”
Neither of us moves for a minute and I realize he’s waiting for me to show him the way. I’m honestly not sure if I’m any more comfortable with Bran walking me home than the stalker. “You’re still on the clock. I’ll be fine.”
He shakes his head, staring into the darkness in the direction Stalker just went. “No way I’m leaving you alone out here with that pervert.”
I start toward the middle of town. He keeps step at my side.
“Did you?” I ask.
He glances sideways at me. “What?”