Page 21 of A Sniper's Devotion
Leon raised an eyebrow. “The Hector? The amazing, wonderful, handsome Hector who’s been your hero from the moment you came screaming into this world Hector?”
“Shut up. And yes, that Hector.”
“So how is it staying with him? He’s a cop, isn’t he? Aren’t they all super boring and disciplined?”
“No, he’s not like that. He’s just Hector.” Miguel smiled as he thought of Hector teasing him to help him get ready for his job interview and eating cereal on the weekends like he was still a kid. Until he realized Leon was staring at him. His face heated, and he picked up his beer to take a drink. It worked both to cool him off and to hide half of his face from his friend.
“Oh my god. Please tell me you’re not being a huge cliché and falling for your straight BFF.”
“I’m not falling for him,” Miguel said as he put his beer back on the bar top.
Leon rolled his eyes. “Of course, you’re not. Because you’re already in love with him.”
“I’m not! In fact, we’re barely even speaking right now.”
“Why not?”
Miguel clamped his mouth shut. No way was he telling Leon about the blow job and the fallout afterward. He’d never hear the end of it if he brought it up.
Leon stared at him with narrowed eyes for several long moments before he finally let it go. “Oooh boy, you are lucky I have to pee. When I get back, we’re dancing again, but you are not going home until you tell me everything that happened.”
Leon went off to the restrooms. Miguel stayed, swaying his hips to the music as he took a sip of a fresh beer. He wasn’t drunk. But he was tipsy and feeling good. This was what he needed after a week of barely any conversation with another human. Music. Dancing. Talking. An elbow gently nudged Miguel’s arm where it rested on the bar. Miguel glanced to his left to see a big, burly dude sitting on the stool next to him.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Miguel looked the man over. He looked rough, with a shaved head, scruffy beard and a T-shirt decorated with red and silver metallic skulls. He wasn’t even close to Miguel’s type. Miguel gave him a polite smile and held up his full glass. “No, thanks. I’ve already got one.”
“How about I wait till you finish and buy you another?”
Ugh. Miguel hated when dudes couldn’t accept a polite turn-down. This time he let a little snark slip into his tone when he responded. “How ‘bout no?”
Baldie glared at him for a long moment before he snorted and rose from his barstool. “Fucking hood twink.”
Miguel’s mouth dropped open in shock at the insult. “What’d you say, asshole?”
The guy didn’t respond and that pissed Miguel off. He probably should have kept his mouth shut. But he hated when guys couldn’t handle being told no without resorting to name calling, and the beer gave him the courage to call the man on it. “You’ve probably got a small dick anyway.” Baldie was just close enough and Miguel shouted just loud enough to be heard over the music. The guy spun back around, and before Miguel could blink, Baldie shoved him hard in the chest.
Miguel went flying back. His hat fell off as he stumbled into the crowd of people behind him. He tripped over several pairs of feet and went down hard with his ankle twisted beneath him. Tears spurted to his eyes at the pop of pain. Miguel tried to push himself up, but when he put his hand on the floor, someone stepped on his fingers.
“Fuck!” he yelled, snatching his hand out from under the boot heel. The person who’d stepped on him turned and looked down.
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, man.” He squatted and grabbed Miguel’s arm to help him to his feet. But when Miguel tried to put weight on his right foot, pain shot up his leg.
“Fuck that hurts,” he gasped.
“I’ll help you sit down, okay?”
Miguel nodded, biting his lip to hold back any more pained curses. The guy helped him over to an empty barstool. He’d just sat down when Leon came rushing up.
“What happened?”
“Some asshole pushed me and I fell.”
Leon whipped around to glare at the guy who’d helped Miguel off the floor.
“No, not him. It was someone else.”
The man asked Miguel if he’d be okay with his friend. Miguel nodded and said thank you, so the helpful guy went back over to his group. When he was gone, Leon pushed Miguel’s pants leg up. He cursed when he saw Miguel’s ankle.
