Deadly Match

Chapter 2

Becker

“Be a good boy tonight, okay, Zeus? I’ll be out only for a few hours.” He barked in response, seemingly understood his daddy would go out for some booze. Well, I needed it. I rubbed Zeus’ head and gave him a smooch when I heard a horn from outside. Must be Shane. “See you later, bud.”

I walked out, seeing Shane’s Santa Fe in front, and hopped on. “Hey, man.”

“Hey.”

“Ready to be attacked with a few bottles?”

I smirked. “Keep them coming.”

“Great. Oh?” He looked in front as my eyes followed. Seeing Zeus standing with two legs while looking at us through the window. Aw, cute. “Such a good boy, isn’t he?” Shane commented and waved his hand to Zeus. I waved too and he reversed the car, heading to the bar. Passing the road where I met the mysterious woman last night. Does she live around here? Jeez, knock it off, Becker. That woman had warned me too.

Don’t look at me that way.

Maybe you will be my next poor target.

Well, the thing was I was free. I was not into commitment. And I was never planned on settling down. So, if one day we were about to f**k each other, I won’t be bothered if she moved on to another man. No commitment, happy life. Simple. My father never demanded me to so yeah, I wanted to enjoy my life.

“Are you sure you’re not going bring a woman home tonight?” my buddy asked like he could tell what I was thinking. You see, I loved my mate, I really do. Sometimes he was being a pain in my f*****g ass. 

“I have Zeus back home.”

“Maybe he will like the woman.” I laughed in the fakest way possible.

“That is not going to happen. Zeus hates women around me, most of them.” I knew the reason; they hated dogs or Zeus being a smart dog he was, able to sniff the sneaky intentions the women had on me. I couldn’t be more grateful to my boy for doing that to me.

“You will never change your mind about settling down?”

“No,” I answered without thinking twice. He sighed in surrender.

“You know, not all ladies will be like your mother or even your stepmother.”

“Shane, no.”

“I’m just worried about you. You’ve quit the military and I’m happy when you said you want to help with Tiffany’s pet hotel. After all, you love dogs more than chicks.” I cracked.

“I appreciate your wife for accepting me.”

“She has a crush on you.”

“Who isn’t?”

“Asshole. Anyway, with you around, more people will come to her hotel and more money into her pocket.”

“I’m just going to take the dogs for a walk, play, and bathe them.”

“And being a delivery guy,” he added. Yeah, that as well. “I’m sure women will come every ten seconds and want you to deliver their dogs to them. I hope they won’t invite you home.”

“It’s a job, Shane. I won’t do it.”

“Great. Have you spoken with your dad?”

“I did, this morning. s**t, man, why are you acting like one now? Is Tiffany expecting?”

“No, not yet. We’ve been knowing each other for decades, Becks. Like I said, I’m just worried.”

“Thanks, but you don’t need to worry about me. I’m an adult and I know what I’m doing.”

“I hope you are.”

Shane was right though. Since our days together in the military, I could only talk about everything with him. Including my past. Not everybody knew it. The real reason I joined the military. The real reason I left home. The real reason I was staying far away from my family. Everything. Only Shane and Tiffany knew. I was happy though with this life so I won’t complain. 

We reached the bar and the place was already packed with people. Shane parked in front and we entered. “I’ve asked the owner to reserve the bar table for us.”

“Cool.”

“Hey, Dom!” he greeted the bartender. Seeing him was talking with a woman and his eyes were on Shane.

“Shane, my man!” Dom had his eyes on me. “Oh, is this the man? The ex-soldier you were talking about?”

“He is.”

“Hey, man. Name’s Dominic. But you can call me Dom.”

“Becker. Nice to meet you, Dom.”

“So, what would you like, gentlemen?”

“A bottle of Blue Moon, Dom. Becker’s favorite.”

“Sure.”

We sat on the stool where the woman ushered in. “Hey, Shane.”

“Hi, Gail.” Gail. She was quite tall for a woman’s standard. She had short dark hair with a pair of gray eyes. 

“Hi, there. I’m Gail. Dom’s girlfriend.”

“Becker. I haven’t seen this bar before,” I told Shane.

“Dom opened it two years ago when you were still on the job.” That explained it.

Dom set the Blue Moon on the table with two glasses in front of us where he asked Gail, “Are you going to wait until the shift was over?”

“Of course. Today is girls’ night and I’ll be staying over at Amber’s.” Amber?

“I thought Amber has told you that she will pick you up after the bar closed.”

“I don’t want to spoil my night with her.”

I unscrewed the cap and poured myself until almost full glass. I poured for Shane too as he proposed a toast, “Congratulations for the discharge, Becks.” And we tossed. I drank it within a single gulp. f**k, that tasted awesome. 

It was a great night. Chatting with my best buddy. Drinking until the second bottle. Sometimes Gail would grab some just for her while Dom was busy handling other customers. I took another glass until I needed a bathroom. 

“Where’s the restroom?”

“Oh, it’s on the other side of the bar,” Gail directed.

“Thanks.” Not even two bottles gave me enough booze. I definitely needed more.

I took a quick pee and when I was to walk out, “Hey, come on. I know you want me,” someone was flirting with a woman. 

“I’m not. Just f**k off,” the woman denied and the man chuckled.

“I know you were looking at me.”

“I do not!”

“You’re alone, right? Me too. Why don’t we go out to somewhere more private?” Oh, man.

Opening the door, “Hey—” I was about to confront the poor guy until someone else walked past me.

“Excuse me, sir? You are harassing her. It’s prohibited when the lady said no.”

“Oh, piss off—” He looked back at the…woman who just passed me. He grinned and left the poor lady. 

Wait.

I knew that voice. And that dark blonde hair. 

“Ah, you. How about this? Why don’t you replace her and I won’t cause any commotion here?” he asked and was about to touch her face. And in a millisecond, with one quick move, the man was gone. What the f**k? One second he was standing, the next he was…on the floor? Holy s**t! Did she just throw him down? “Motherfucker!”

“Should I throw you out, sir?” the woman coldly asked.

“Okay! Okay, let me go! I’m sorry!” he struggled to get free and the woman let him go. He stood up. Barely. And escaped. I could imagine his tail was in between his thighs. Poor bastard. What an insult.

“You’re okay?” the woman asked.

“Yes, thank you so much. As usual, you saved the day.” As usual? What of her? A f*****g wonder woman? The lady looked at me. “Thank you to you as well. I saw you were about to approach him.” I only smiled and she excused herself, leaving me with the wonder woman.

“That was a great takedown.”

“I learned Taekwondo before.” Wow. I better not poked the tigress. Or I would be next. “Sometimes it happened here,” she added while turning around and my smiled dropped. My eyes widened and she set her dark eyes to me. Not so much dark anymore. Now she was within pulling distance, I could see the color. Bright emerald color, like the color of nature. The forest. Mysterious. Like she was hiding something within those mesmerizing colors. Smoky eyeshadow around her big eyes. Looking enigmatically seductive. She was wearing a black leather jacket with a black crop top inside. Even leather jeans, did she have a thing toward leathers? Only by looking at her, I knew she was a strong woman. Physically yet the inside, she seemed…broken. Why I was thinking like that? 

The woman blinked, almost like she was avoiding me trying to read her. Almost like she realized I could see what she was hiding. “Oh. You are from last night, right?” She still recognized me?

“You remember?”

“Of course I remember the man who almost killed me.” Well, ouch.

“Sorry about that.”

“I’m just joking.” She giggled. Damn, that was…cute. “That was my fault though.”

“It’s not. Is your back okay?”

“It’s fine.” She smiled. Oh, what a gorgeous sinner she was. She put on that half-hearted smile. Her eyes didn’t match her lips. A business smile. What she was veiled from the world anyway? From me? And why she was not smiling? Her eyes were cold. That gaze looked bitter. Was she silently reminding me to not look at her or I would be her next target? “You’re alone?” she asked, splitting my mind back.

“No, I’m with my friend.”

“A woman?”

“A man. He’s celebrating my homecoming.”

“Homecoming?”

“I used to be in the military but I’m retired now.”

“Oh? You don’t look old enough to be retired now,” she commented as I nervously chuckled. Why the heck I was nervous around her? 

“I served my country enough. It’s time for me to enjoy my life.” That was the only answer I could give to her.

“I understand. Sometimes you shouldn’t forget that you have the right to be selfish for once. You only live once anyway.”

“Y-Yeah. You’re right.”

And our eyes infused. What was this between us? I couldn’t look away. Neither she could. This mystifying and gorgeous woman. How did she put up this effect on me? And why she didn’t look away? She was the one who warned me, right? 

Until she said what I was waiting for, “Don’t look at me that way.”

“Or I will be your next poor target.”

“Exactly.”

“But you are looking at me too.” I took a step forward. She remained in her place until I fully invaded her space. Our eyes were never apart. Her green eyes kept latching on mine. Somehow, she let me read her. Just for a second. 

And I found the answer.

She blinked and looked away. Eventually, she left me. I smirked. She knew she almost let it slipped. Almost letting me see everything. She let her guard down. 

Looking back through my shoulder, seeing the woman leaving me. Oh, that gorgeous ass. What a view. 

And I turned around to follow her.

I mean, back to Shane.