Luke (Bear Shifter) (New World Shifters) Read Free Page B

time with him tonight, but he surprised me by burping, lifting his shirt to scratch at his belly and then turning away.
    I was dismissed, and I was glad for it.
    Everly stomped his way to the door and left, and I heard Carla breathe a sigh of relief that sounded almost as loud as the one I let out myself.
    “Wow,” she said. “That guy gives me the creeps.”
    “He sure does. At least he’s gone.”
    “Hopefully he wanders off into the woods and never comes back”, Carla said. “I was worried that things were going to go another direction, but thankfully I think he drank his pecker to sleep. You think maybe that's the secret, Zoe? I know we try and keep them happy and keep them drunk, but maybe the best thing that we can possibly do is just pour alcohol down their throats until they pass out. They’d sure as shit be less trouble, then…”
    “Maybe,” I said. “But I have a feeling that there's not enough beer in the world to make those bastards pleasant.”
    “I'd say you're right about that.” She checked her watch. “But it's getting late. Let's not talk about the politics of town when we can’t change it, huh? There’s just one more customer, if we can even call him that, and then we can all go home.”
    I nodded. I looked over at cute guy in the corner, and realized that he wasn't there anymore. “Or not…” I said. “Did you see him leave?”
    Carla shook her head, her brow furrowing as she tried to think back. “No, I didn't. I was so worried about Everly and whether he was going to kick up a storm, I didn't even notice the guy take off.”
    “I'll check the bathroom,” I said, unwilling to lock the poor guy into Bruno's once we closed. The prospect of finding him in there both scared and thrilled me though. Just think of the possibilities , I told myself, imagine yourself in a confined space with that man, just you and him, away from the music and the din, free to find yourselves and see if there was something to the connection you think you feel .
    “Get that look off your face,” Carla said, laughing at me softly. “It's only a bathroom. It's really not the most romantic place in the world, don't you think?”
    I shrugged. “A girl can dream, I suppose. And get out of my head, will you?”
    “I don't have to be in your head to know the thoughts you're thinking,” she told me. “It's written all over your face.”
    I got out from behind the bar and went to the bathrooms, knocking on the men’s door and calling out, “We’re shutting up. Is anyone in there?”
    No answer.
    I frowned and pushed the door open, then went and checked the stalls. He wasn’t anywhere to be found. I even checked the women's, and that was empty too.
    “He must've left already,” I said to Carla as I came back out.
    “Good riddance,” she said. “Good riddance to bad rubbish. The lot of them can all blackout and never wake up if you ask me, and the whole world would be better off for it.”
    I shook my head slowly. “Not him,” I said. “He's one of the good ones.”
    “He's a drunk,” Carla told me matter-of-factly. “If he's ever going to be one of the good ones, he'll have to stop drowning his troubles and face them.”

2
     
     
    Even though everyone was already gone, it still took almost an hour to get the place ready for the next day of work. There were tables to wipe down, chairs to stack, an endless parade of glasses to wash again and, just like always, broken glass to sweep up from the floor. The cause of most of that was the Wolf pack, of course. They probably smashed about one out of five of the bottles and glasses we brought them, but we just had a grin and bear it.
    I tried not to bitch and moan about it. After all, Bruno had the money to replace it, so why should I care? It was only backbreaking labor at a bare minimum wage, but at least it kept us warm. Now that the place was empty, I could feel the cold wind that swirled outside pushing in around the seams, oozing past the badly