Read Offensive Behavior (Sidelined #1) for Free Online Page B

had a lot of
practice at. The kind of thing those he was apologizing to usually enjoyed
immensely.
    And
once he’d done that, he’d quit obsessing about her, move on, maybe learn to
cook, or travel, or go build houses in Cambodia, ask a woman on a date, anything
that had potential to make him a better person.
    It was another
two days before he stopped feeling dizzy and weak and left the apartment. It
was the first time he’d felt motivated by anything other than getting plastered
since his exit from Plus. He went to Lucky’s and when the regular hostess who
served him came over with his usual rotgut he asked her name.
    She
laughed and put the glass down. “Absence made the heart grow fonder, did it?”
    “What?”
Cinnamon was on stage, which meant he’d missed Lux’s first set.
    “We
haven’t seen you in a while.”
    He
looked at the woman. “That’s because your chef poisoned me.”
    “Holy
shit, you had the surf and turf. I’ll go get Lou.”
    “No. I
don’t want to complain.”
    She
balanced her tray on one hip and tipped her head in the other direction. “You
don’t?”
    “Nope. I
don’t want that bourbon either. Just a Coke.”
    “As in pop?”
    “Yep.”
    She
shook her head. “Honey, you can’t sit here and not drink alcohol?”
    He
looked directly into her heavily made-up eyes and didn’t blink. “Why not?”
    She blinked,
but held his stare. Impressive. “Because that’s how we make money. No cover
charge.”
    “Do I
look like I want a lesson in dive bar economics?” That didn’t come out the way
he’d thought it would, she wasn’t smiling.
    “You
look like a bear crawled up your rear.”
    He
almost laughed. Why hadn’t he flirted with her, she was fun. Because he didn’t
have the first idea how to flirt, that’s why. “What’s your name?”
    “Violet.”
    “Your
real name.”
    She
leaned forward, still holding eye contact. “That is my stupid, useless mother-given,
goddamn real name.” She gestured to the glass. That’s on the house since we
mighta killed you. I’ll get your Coke.”
    Hmm. That
hadn’t gone as he’d hoped. He’d hoped he might get to Lux through Violet. He
didn’t want to ambush Lux outside the bar, that was a terrible option, but he
didn’t want to sit at the edge of the stage and throw money at her either. He
watched Violet on her way back to him. When she drew level with the table he
held up a fifty. She looked at him like he’d slapped her.
    “What’s
wrong now?”
    “A
fifty. I bring you a kid’s drink and you tip me a fifty. That’s not how this
works.”
    “How
does it work then?”
    “With
you, I don’t know. With most normal men, they stare at my tits, call me Vi,
tell me I’m gorgeous even though we all know I passed gorgeous two decades ago.
I bring them overpriced drinks, we flirt, they tip, we all have a good time. But
you.” She shook her head, her red lips pursed. “You sit there with storm clouds
rumbling above your head, and you don’t speak, and no one wants to serve you
even though you tip well, and you barely acknowledge my existence.”
    It
wasn’t news to be told he could inspire bad weather. “I noticed you.”
    “Like
you’d notice if your dick fell off. Look, I get it, you’ve got a thing for Lux,
but she’s never going to talk to you.”
    “Did
she say something?” Fricking hell, did he sound like a wet behind the ears
schoolboy? Hell yes, he did.
    “She’s
not like that and she has a boyfriend. Sent a whole florist shop this week, so
she doesn’t need no loser barfly.”
    What’s
the bet there was no flower sending boyfriend. “If I wanted to get a message to
her?”
    “You
know there are plenty of bars where you can get up close and personal with the
girls. This ain’t one of them. This the cleanest damn strip club in the US of A,
unless you count the kitchen, and you don’t want to have anything more to do
with what goes on in there.”
    “How do
I get a message to Lux?”
    Violet
shifted her