Chapter 2 #2
Lexi polished off her drink as the big guy tapped out. A fifty dollar bill appeared in front of her, and she grinned. She turned to take it from Stark and was surprised to see his hand out to shake. They shook hands and he grinned at her.
“I’ll see you around, Princess.”
He stood and walked away, and she noticed for the first time he was unaccompanied.
She wrinkled her nose at being called Princess, but she tucked the fifty into her little crossbody purselet.
“Finished making friends?” Byron asked beside her.
His tone was snotty, and she rolled her eyes.
“Finished with everything thanks. Here.”
She dropped the collar and key on the table and met his enraged eyes. With the mass of people exiting the arena post-fight, it was easy for her to promptly get lost in the crowd.
Back in the main passageway, she started heading back to Randy’s bar towards the front of the club. One tall bouncer caught her attention and she smiled, passing close to him. He’d already seen her and smirked.
“Lex.”
“Kris.”
That was pretty much all they ever said. He’d asked her out once and she’d gone. While they both agreed there was no chemistry, they were friendly at the club. A man of few words, her name was all he ever said, he just changed the intonation to mean different things.
In his Russian accent, she liked how ‘Lex’ sounded. It always made her think of Lex Luthor, and made her feel like a badass. After dealing with Byron all night, even coming out on top in their Gladiator battle of wills, she liked the boost it gave her, both seeing him and hearing her nickname.
She was almost up to Randy’s bar when a hand clamped onto her shoulder and spun her around.
“You think you can take this off and run back to one of your bitch boys when you’re here with me?” Byron hissed, his face close enough to hers that she could see a bead of sweat rolling off his forehead.
That wasn’t the only thing she noticed, now that her adrenaline jumped into high gear. Her mind gave her a detailed layout of everything and everyone around them. There were two women at a high top table next to them.
Estimating forty people in the lounge area, she saw more than half sitting, and at least ten who were watching them outright. She judged Byron’s weight as leaning too far forward, and she knew she could pull him forward off-balance quickly.
From behind him, Byron was unaware of Kris watching them from against the wall, waiting to see if she needed help. The bar a few feet behind her got quiet and she heard Randy’s voice calling her name.
Her own pulse was beating triple time but she didn’t move. In her heeled boots, her feet had already stepped into a fighting stance. She shifted her crossbody purselet behind her as she breathed slowly. In. Out slower. In. Out even slower.
“Take your hand off me,” she said, making herself loud enough to be heard by everyone near them.
“I don’t think so,” he hissed. “You put this on, you’re mine, little girl, and it’s about time you learned your place.”
His other hand came up to her neck, holding the collar, and she leaned back.
The collar just brushed her neck before she was out of reach, and she saw Kris coming up behind Byron in her periphery. Lexi edged backwards, the asshole stepped forward, and before she knew it her elbow swung at his temple in an arc.
Her elbow made a solid crack and the impact sent him swinging around, unbalanced just as she thought.
The second his back was towards her she stepped up to slide one arm around his neck, and secured her other arm under his left armpit.
It shoved his left arm flailing in the air, rendering it useless.
He tried to spin out and she increased the pressure on his neck.
Byron’s right hand tried to grab her behind him but she pulled her body tight behind his, making it impossible for him to get a hold.
He planted his feet on the ground and tried to pull her up, using his back for leverage.
Lexi braced and arched backwards, again increasing the pressure between her bicep and his neck.
Someone new in a stiff, ironed button down came hurrying into the bar area, looking stressed.
“Hello Lovelies!” they said, getting everyone’s attention.
From above two-foot-long dreadlocks, they waved their hands for effect.
“I love the enthusiasm!”
Lexi snorted. She doubted it.
“If we could please keep the punishments to the Punishment Room? It’s only two rooms down, I can show you!” they finished a bit desperately, their eyes willing Lexi to release him.
“This is not a punishment!” Lexi called out.
Aside from the music it was the only sound in the room; all eyes were on them.
“This scumbag tried to force his collar on me!”
The newcomer’s eyes widened.
“I demand his membership be revoked!”
They gasped, along with several people around them. According to Club rules, as the injured party it was her right to make the request. The new person in the stiff-collared shirt nodded and rushed back out of the room, for someone in management, she presumed.
“I am not yours, By,” she said into his ear.
He was panicking, making panting, choking sounds as he tried to wriggle free.
“Don’t you ever pull shit like that again. You do not get to touch me. Ever.”
Kris was in front of them, waiting for her to let Byron go.
But she found she didn’t want to. His nasty comments all night; his presumptive fucking ownership of her; his shitty cologne that was in every breath she took; it all merged and thundered through her veins like fury.
Besides, by her gauge, he would be unconscious in… Huh. Now.
He passed out a little faster than she expected, but she attributed that to the alcohol more than too much pressure on his carotid. Still looking at Kris, she let the asshole fall to the floor in a heap. The collar fell from his hand and she picked it up.
As she stepped back from Byron in his pile, a few more bouncers showed up behind Kris. He must have called for backup. He started pushing Byron around, a lot more gently than Lexi would have, until he was laying flat on his back. The extra bouncers each took a limb and lifted him.
Several people had come into the room to see what the commotion was. They were rewarded with the sight of Byron’s body being carried out casket-style, and a bit of drool coming out of his mouth as he was levied through the quiet room.
One new guy in the room stood with stiff-collar-shirt just to the side of the entrance, and collared shirt was whispering to the guy with frantic hand movements.
They guy looked from Byron to her back and forth as she perused the crowd and passed the thin collar hand to hand.
They both walked away and she hoped she wouldn’t be asked to leave. Kris was still standing there.
“Lex?” This time it was a question, asking if she was alright.
“Kris.” She nodded, and he stalked out of the room.
Turning her back on the room overall, she found she was hemmed in by several people -mostly guys, checking her out. She skirted them and took a stool, finally able to say hi to Randy.
“Girl, this one’s on the house,” he said, and passed her something blue and purple with a pretty umbrella. “You earned it.”
She had to laugh. Randy always made her feel better. She took her first deep breath and blew it out gradually, and took a sip. The strength of it stung the back of her throat, but it was fruity and delicious.
“What the fuck?” Randy asked, leaning over the bar towards her.
“Blind date. Awful. He tried to force this on me,” she said, setting the collar down on the bar between them.
Randy’s eyes opened to comical proportions as he picked it up.
“No fucking wayyyy,” he said, drawing out the word ‘way’ to maybe eight extra syllables.
Lexi grimaced.
“Way.”
“I see you already have a drink, but can I buy you the next one?” came from next to her.
She turned to see a guy, covered in tattoos with a mustache. The tattoos caught her interest, but the mustache was a no-go for her.
“I think I’ve had all the fun I can take for one night,” she said with a little smile.
“C’mon, not all of us are like him,” he said, leaning into her space.
Randy slid his heavy forearm between the two of them on the bar, redirecting the guy’s attention to him.
“You sure you wanna push that button, babycakes?” he asked with a smile.
The guy muttered under his breath and backed off, pushing off the stool with enough force that it spun around twice.
“I didn’t know tonight was a new theme night,” Randy said, making a series of shots in front of her.
Curious, Lexi tilted her head at him.
“Clearly, it’s Asshole Night.” He said, and sashayed off in his miniskirt, leaving one shot in front of her with a wink.
Lexi snorted a laugh and downed the shot, willing her adrenaline to go away.
It never worked of course, but she kept trying.
Her heartbeat was still thundering in her ears, and one of her feet tapped nonstop on the bar stool.
Her gaze roamed around the room behind her in the mirror behind the glass shelves of liquor.
People had gone about their business for the most part, but she could still feel eyes on her. She drew out her phone to check the gym’s social media accounts.
Most of the way through her drink she checked the time; closing in on midnight. It had been a long-ass day, and tomorrow was another one. At least, she thought as she stretched her arms overhead, she wasn’t opening the gym tomorrow and there would be no partying tomorrow night.
About three seconds before she heard his voice, she got the itch that someone had come up behind her. She met a guy’s eyes in the mirror.
“I like that you’re into it rough,” he told her, flashing a smile.
Lexi didn’t bother to reply.
“I like to bite,” he said, and moved in next to her. “Even got my incisors sharpened.”
He smiled wide and ran his tongue over his canines, showing them off, she supposed.
“Not into it,” was all she said, and cast her eyes back down.
Lexi waited another tense minute before he withdrew without another word. She let out a quiet breath; Asshole Night indeed. Sometimes this scene made her tired.
A bigger movement in the mirror caught her attention. A group was leaving her favorite table, tucked into the back of the room, and she wanted to hang out a little while longer. It was still possible her system would calm back down.
Here, the music was lower than in the rest of the club, and the lighting was more subdued. She knew she could go home, it was only a few miles away, but she didn’t know whether Byron was still around somewhere, and the walk home alone would only increase her adrenaline. She needed to relax.
“Randy!” she called, and he came right over.
“You outta here honey?”
“No, I was going to order jalapeno poppers and another blue thing? Can you send it to my table?” she asked, with a jerk of her head to the corner.
“Sure thing love. Be about fifteen minutes for the poppers.”
She scurried off to the table before someone else sat. It was her favorite because it was low, with a suede-backed round booth. It was almost hidden from view from most of the room, but with the mirrors behind the bar, she could see everything.
People-watching had become second nature to her, just as comfortable as her fighting stance. The dates, the arguments, the kissing and touching; she would never call herself a voyeur, but she liked to watch people… at least for everything PG13. Watching helped her understand them.
Growing up outside of Philly was rough, she knew, for most people. But for her, considering her baggage… she shook her head to clear out the thought and smiled at Randy as he brought her drink. As a plus he’d brought her a little bowl of crispy potato chips.
“The boss is here to talk to you, sweetness,” he murmured as he set them down in front of her. She loved his endearments - it always seemed like he had so many. Wait. Talk to her?
A tall guy wearing a worn black denim jacket stepped around the corner and sat across from her without saying a word. She recognized him, this was the guy that stiff-collared-shirt had been talking to earlier.
He had deep green eyes that stared at her steadily. She waited for him to ask her questions or hell, kick her out. He did nothing but stare at her. She sipped her drink, and waited to hear what he wanted. He had to want something.