Paper in a File {Brollins}

- Chapter 53 -

"Well, I'll be damned." A thunderous voice boomed through the bar the moment Rebecca and Colby walked in after successfully dropping off Chase. "If it ain't the old lass-kicker!"

"Hey, Stephen." She smiled as a tall and well-built redhead walked around the bar to hug her. "You're still kicking rubble round here?"

He walked back behind the bar as he chuckled, and Colby whispered. "Lass-kicker?"

"Not the best nickname I've garnered, but it is what it is." Rebecca shrugged with a grin that was unfamiliar to Colby. "I told you, troubled childhood led to terrible teen years."

He nodded, "Interesting."

She walked to the bar, and Colby followed suit, scanning over all of the engravings in the wood and seeing one that looked remarkably like Rebecca's writing. 

RQ runs this town.

"Stephen, this is Colby." She sat on a stool, leaning her crossed arms on the bar. "Colby, this is Stephen."

Colby sat next to her with a nod. "Nice to meet you, man."

"Likewise." Stephen smiled, looking between the two. "I'd say a friend of Rebecca's is a friend of mine, but it seems like the two of you are already long past that stage."

"Oh." Rebecca looked down and blushed at their rings, even when reminding herself the meaning wasn't real.

"This is the man you chose?" He raised an eyebrow. "One that can't even buy you a diamond? I don't know if Fergal would appreciate that."

"I asked for it." Rebecca rolled her eyes before looking at Colby. "Ignore him. He's just teasing."

She leaned back slightly when Stephen turned his back, and she moved her head beside Colby's ear, whispering. "Means he likes ya."

Stephen slid two shot glasses and beer bottles their way, grasping Rebecca's attention. "Thanks, big man."

"Good to know." Colby chuckled and swallowed some liquor before lowering his voice an octave below hers. "But he's not the one I'm trying to impress."

"Lightweight." She coughed the word out with a smirk. "You've barely had three sips, and you're already speaking nonsense."

He downed the rest of his drink with a grin. "That's not the beer talking."

Several drinks later and the beer was all that was talking. 

Rebecca and Colby had downed so many drinks they lost count, moving effortlessly between drinking to dancing to dominating in darts.

"Maybe it's your Irishness rubbing off on me!" Colby's words were only slightly slurred but were loud in order for Rebecca to hear them over the music.

She shook her head and laughed, slamming down more shots off the bar counter. "Nah. You're wasted, man."

"Am not!" He shook his head fervently with a goofy grin on his face. "I feel perfectly fine."

"Well, you don't look it." She smiled, feeling free, gently taking one of many locks of his curly hair which managed to escape his normally neat bun amid things, and tucked it behind his ear.

His eyes practically glistened in the light, allowing Rebecca to see the lighter areas of brown within his typically dark eyes. She felt his arms snake around her waist, and he pulled her so close, their bodies pressed against one another. "Rebecca-"

"What are you doing?" She cut him off as they swayed slowly to the heavy banging music that everyone else was jumping around to.

Colby looked at her, confused. "What?"

She wrapped her arms over his shoulders and moved her face so that their noses touched, whispering slowly. "I don't think flirting is a part of your job criteria, detective."

He grinned, hoping he seemed more relaxed on the outside than the jumble of nerves building up within him. "You seem to be the one flirting with me."

"That's the thing." She smiled again, leaning in even closer, and Colby's eyes couldn't help but remain fixated on her slow-moving lips. "I don't have a job to deal with."

He shook his head, completely enamoured with the woman in front of him. "Are you sure you're not the wasted one?"

"Positive." Her eyes travelled down his face towards his lips.

The moment felt heavy, and Colby continued to stare at her lips as he spoke. "Listen, there's something I wanna tell you-"

"You wanna share with the rest of us?" A man startled the two of them, causing them to break apart.

"Excuse me?" Colby's prior feeling of elation quickly deflated.

"The lady you've been keeping next to you all night." The man clarified, and Rebecca took in the size of him, chalking him up to some sort of steroid freak. "You gonna stop being such a hoarder and let the rest of us share?"

Colby raised us his hand, bearing the ring. "Dipshit."

Colby turned to Rebecca and shook his head with a smile full of disbelief. "There's something about you that attracts trouble, Quin."

"I'm not afraid to take the woman of a married man." The stranger laughed, looking back at some of his buddies. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Part of Colby knew he should've let it slide, after all, they were just meaningless words. But a more compelling instinct let him know he never would've. 

He was never the best at hiding his emotions if he was being honest with himself. It reminded him of how he hated the way Rebecca was spoken to the last time he was in a bar, and that was before they had gotten so close, plus he was sober.

Next thing Rebecca knew, Colby swung at the man in front of her, causing the whole bar to erupt with loud yelling and some other fistfights. She was just glad he had left his gun in the hotel room as she watched him receive a blow to the face, causing him to spit out some blood, yet grin even harder than before.

"Oi, fellas!" Stephen pushed the two of them apart so forcefully that they both fell back before Rebecca had a chance to react to anything. "That's enough!"