Axel

Chapter 7

Axel

"Make it a double." I instruct River as he reaches for the vodka. I stare at the bottles behind the bar as I wait for him to fix my drink, and I focus on my breathing. In, out. In, out. Calm. You're absolutely fine. You don't wanna go after that Murdoch fucker and strangle him to the point of unconsciousness before kicking him hard enough in the nuts to ensure no one will ever have to worry about him reproducing, then dumping his limp body in the nearest gutter. Preferably one overflowing with trash and dirt.

No, I don't have to worry about doing that.

Seth's gonna do it for me.

"So, you wanna tell me why I just covered for your ass back there?" River asks as he sets the vodka down in front of me. He leans his elbows over the bar and crouches down, eyeing me with amused interest.

"You heard every word." I mumble, then I knock back the vodka in one, slamming the empty glass down in front of him. He reaches for the bottle and tops it off.

"You haven't lost that Del Testa Eye." He snickers to himself, pushing the glass back to me. "You saw him slip that shit into Maya's drink even though you were no where near her. Hell, Izaak didn't even notice."

"You know me." I murmur, turning my head to look back in her direction. She's still standing with her precious Izaak, and he's still touching her.

"Nothing gets past you." River comments, then he's looking to my left and smiling, and I know Shay's just sidled up next to me. "Or you."

"I didn't see what that asshole did." Shay says regretfully, like she's annoyed with herself for missing it. "It's a good thing Axel has his wits about him. That could have ended real fucking badly otherwise."

I'm glad she thinks I have my wits about me. I don't, not like I usually do. I've consumed too much liquor already.

I just couldn't stop looking in Maya's direction from the moment I first spotted her tonight. She looks ridiculous, and it irritates the hell out of me. It irritates me almost as much as how fucking stupid she was when she laid that glass of wine down on a table and turned her back on it. Murdoch wasted absolutely no time sprinkling the crushed pill into her drink, then turning back to his group of friends like nothing happened. He had his eye on Maya ever since she blatantly blew him off over by the bar.

And I really don't like it when guys don't understand that no means no.

Didn't matter that Maya was his intended victim. I would have done the exact same thing no matter what girl he had his sights set on.

It wasn't about her.

It wasn't.

Well, not entirely.

"Good job the barman was willing to turn a blind eye." Shay raises an eyebrow on River and he blows her a kiss, then she's patting my shoulder and heading back over to Drake and the others.

"Thanks for that, by the way." I'm serious when I address River. I know he has my back, always. But he had no idea why I randomly threw some college kid against the bar and cut off his airway. He just went with it, and I love him for it. He risked his job by not breaking that situation up.

"No sweat, brother." River throws me an easy smile. "You may have removed your HARM tattoo, but mine's there for life." I glance down at the ink on his knuckles. "AR for life."

I roll my eyes and laugh at him as I pick up my drink for another sip. AR doesn't have the same ring to it, but I get what he means.

"Hey, Zak and I are heading out."