The Hastings Series

by Vanessa Siena

  “Are you sure you wanna drive three and a half hours to Hastings with me, just for me to sign some papers?” I wasn’t going to stop her from doing just that, because I did want her with me. I was just making sure she was certain of her own plan.

  She shrugged, giving me a shy smile. “Your sister sounds nice. And you said Frankie’s Diner is incredible. So…yes. I do want to drive three and a half hours down to Hastings with you.”

  I laughed, getting up from my seat and takin a step to her. I leaned down, cupping her face in my hand, and kissing her lips. I was getting a little too comfortable with this. Kissing and touching her whenever I wanted to. But she didn’t seem to mind. Her lips moved gently against mine and a small moan escaped her throat. Fuck. She didn’t seem to mind at all.

  I moved away from her again and grabbed my phone. “Which days work best for you?” I asked Gray, making sure I wouldn’t just pick a day myself. I would have to let Dallas know about it tonight if I decided to start working at his club after tonight.

  “I can close the gallery from Tuesday to Thursday. Not many customers coming in on those days,” she explained and got up from the table and started putting away the dishes. I nodded and typed a message for Harlow, letting her know that I would be driving to Hastings on Tuesday and staying a few days. I included my companion’s name.

  “Great. Tuesday through Thursday, then.” I put my phone on the counter and helped her clean up the table.

  I was excited for Gray to meet Harlow. I was sure they would get along well. Hunter might joke around with me, telling me that he saw this coming. And Bliss…let’s just say I wished she wouldn’t start a scene the moment she saw Gray.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jagger

  Later that day, Gray left after giving me another one of her sweet kisses and a bright smile, telling me how excited she was to drive up down to Hastings and meeting my family and friends. I was excited too. First, because of the long drive ahead of us, and second, because I would see Harlow again. I missed her a lot, even though I was the one dragging my heels to go see her. There was always someone standing in my way to go back. But now, it seemed like I could step in front of that person without any worries that something would happen between us. I was over her a long time ago, but sex did sound appealing with her.

  With Gray too. But since my heart didn’t feel like breaking hers, I wouldn’t push her too far. I wanted her to come to me. Tell me what she wanted. How she wanted it.

  While I was fantasizing about Gray and where we were heading, her brother opened my front door unannounced and stepped into my apartment without permission once again. I looked up from the sandwich I was eating and leaned back against the counter.

  “I should lock that door,” I mumbled, keeping my eyes on him, and raising an eyebrow, silently asking what his deal was with trespassing.

  “Are you ready? What…you look like you’ve had a rough day.” His words were amused, which did not reflect my facial expression. How was he so annoying, but at the same time acceptably fun to be around? That was controversial as fuck, but somehow he pulled it off.

  “I was just thinking about getting a restraining order against you, so you’d stop coming in my apartment without asking for permission.” I was joking, of course. But it was a little annoying. What if Gray was still here and we were still making out right here in the kitchen, with me standing between her legs while they were holding me tightly against her body?

  Dallas laughed and walked right up to my fridge, opening it, and taking out a can of Coke. “If you do that, I’ll make sure Gray doesn’t step into your apartment, either. I saw her leave earlier. She had a big fucking grin on her face.”

  I smiled at that because we had a great night last night and this morning was nice too. “We get along pretty well. She’s amazing,” I told him and took a bite of my sandwich. He nodded, opening the can, and taking a long sip. As he drank, he kept his eyes on me. Concern flashed through them, and I knew he was trying to figure out if he should just let go of it and accept that I was dating his sister now. I was good at reading people. I’ve read Harlow’s thoughts since she was little. But then, finding out what she was thinking wasn’t hard. Her eyes told stories. One look at her, and you immediately knew how she felt. But that was also because she wanted people to be able to read her when words didn’t come to her easily.

  Dallas was different. He tried to hide his thoughts, but that didn’t work with me. “I’ve told you before, man. I have good intentions with Gray. I like her.” I hoped that was enough to ease his mind. He studied me for a while, then nodded and chugged the whole can. “Let’s see how well you do tonight. If you can work the bar right, I’ll let you see my sister again. If you mess up, I get to fight you and then kick out of this town.”

  I laughed hard at his stupidly crazy imagination and finished my sandwich. “Watch it, Washington. Just because I stopped fighting doesn’t mean I’m not good at it.”

  “We’ll see. Come on. We gotta go.”

  ***

  The club Dallas owned was called The Red. Not sure if the name was as boring as it sounded, or if I just had higher expectations for a fight club. But then, people who didn’t come to the club for alcohol and parties probably didn’t know there was underground fighting going on. Because then, the name The Red made some sense, since the floor where the fights took place was painted red.

  We immediately went down to the fighting space as we entered the back entrance to the club. Dallas told me he wanted to show me where he had his fights, and probably just wanted to show off his cage. It was big, I’d give him that. But it was too clean. The club I fought at had broken down walls and bloodstains on the floor no one cared to clean after fights. His club didn’t fit the underground fights stereotypes.

  “You have a fight tonight, right?” I asked and looked over at him. He nodded, gleaming at the slightly elevated cage. He was proud of it. And proud of fighting in it too. “Yeah, I’ll let you come watch if you want. I think I got enough guys upstairs tonight so you can come bet on me.” His grin grew and I chuckled. “I’m not spending my money on stupid shit like this anymore. But I’d love to watch you get punched in the face. I had this urge in me to do it myself before we came here, but I need the job.”

  I was being sarcastic and luckily, Dallas didn’t take anything I said seriously. He laughed it off and nodded toward two doors right next to the staircase we came from. “Those are the changing rooms. And over there are some bathrooms.” He then pointed to the other two doors on the other side of the stairs. I nodded, not sure about why he told me all of that. It’s not like I intended on fighting here.

  “Let’s go upstairs. I’ll show you some things and then let Levi take over. He’s a good friend of mine and actually owned the club before I did,” Dallas explained and started walking back to the stairs. I followed him, taking one last look at the cage. It does look appealing. No, no more fights.

  “Did Levi fight too?”

  “Yeah, but he had to stop a few years ago because of his injuries. He’s a badass. Don’t fuck with him. He’s got more muscles than both of us together.”

  “Got it.”

  As we got to the top and entered the night club area, my eyes immediately flew to the two strip poles in the middle of the floor. I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I missed something when Dallas first talked about his club.

  “You’re not the owner of a strip club, right?”

  That made Dallas chuckle. “No, but we have some girls coming around to put on a show every time I have a fight down there. It pulls customers. Male, horny, old customers who happen to have fat wallets too.”

  I nodded slowly, thinking that it wasn’t a bad idea to hire some strippers to get more people to watch your fight. Smart strategy, I’ll give him that.

  Dallas showed me around the club, explaining some things here and there and showing me all the important rooms that I needed to know about before starting at the bar. When we made our way back t
o the bar, a big guy walked through the doors which led to the kitchen, holding a case of beer in his hand. He put it down on the counter and looked at us, then nodded. “This your friend?” he asked Dallas.

  “Yeah, this is Jagger Curtis. Can you show him around the bar and kitchen? Show him how to make some drinks and all that stuff. I’m gonna get ready.” Levi nodded and held out his hand for me to take, and I did, shaking it once and letting go of it again.

  “Levi. Follow me. I’ll show you where we store our bottles in case they go out. Tonight’s a big night.”

  I didn’t doubt that. Dallas Washington’s fights were always a big deal. And I was excited to see him fight tonight.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gray

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea that I’m here, Sage.” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked up at the club’s sign. Sage made me dress up and come here for reasons that would only benefit her. Joey would be here to watch my brother’s fight, and Sage liked to party. I knew about Dallas’s fights and how many people came to see them, but I had no interest in watching him beat the shit out of another guy. I also had no interest in sitting in a booth upstairs and watching others drink themselves into a coma or dance like crazy people.

  Or maybe I just didn’t want to be that crazy girl stalking the guy she’s dating and following him around town like a puppy. I knew about Jagger getting a job at The Red because he told me. He wanted to make sure I was okay with him working close to my brother. I didn’t mind. But I didn’t want to come off as clingy.

  “Nothing I ever drag you to seems to be a good idea to you. Come on, it will be fun.” She pulled me toward the entrance where Andrew was standing. He’s a huge guy, making sure only people who are old enough to enter get inside the club. “Girls,” he said with a nod and stepped aside for us to get in.

  “Hi, Andrew,” I greeted him with a small smile, appreciating the way he stopped checking our ID’s since Dallas told him to just let us in. You are family, Dallas always said, you’re always welcome at the club.

  Sage took that for granted. She spent most nights here after work and hung out with Joey and his college friends. But the last time I was here, I almost had a heart attack watching Dallas fight some guy who obviously was much weaker than him. I left early that night, ignoring all the men watching those strippers on the poles. Let’s just say that The Red was not my scene. Eating snacks and watching movies was more my speed.

  “Joey is already here,” Sage informed me and pointed to a booth her boyfriend was sitting in. “He told me his friends won’t be around until the fight starts. But he’s got some beer for us. Come on.” That didn’t really appeal to me. Not much did in here. The only thing I found intriguing was the brown-haired and incredibly handsome guy standing behind the bar, smiling my direction. Jagger seemed surprised but pleased to see me. I smiled back, hoping he didn’t see this as me stalking him. We’d seen each other some hours ago, and I still couldn’t get the way his lips tasted out of my head.

  “I’ll be right there,” I told Sage and walked over the dancefloor to get to the bar. Not many people were ordering drinks. As soon as I got there, Jagger’s smile turned into a smirk.

  “Here to see me?” he mocked, and I couldn’t help a laugh.

  “Sage dragged me here. I told her it would be weird if I just showed up at your job after our first night together.” I reached for the peanuts on the counter and put them into my mouth with an apologetic smile.

  Jagger chuckled and shook his head. “It’s your brother’s club and he’s got a fight tonight. I’m happy to see you again.” He said the last part with such honesty in his voice that it made my heart flutter.

  “I’m happy to see you too,” I told him sincerely, wishing I could go behind the bar to hug him. But keeping my distance was the better thing to do. He was still working, and I had no reason to distract him.

  “So…did you ask Dallas about next week yet?”

  “Uh, no. Didn’t get the chance to. But I will, don’t worry.” His smile appeared again, and I nodded.

  “Let me go ask him. He might take it better that way,” I offered. “By the way, you look good behind this bar. Suits you. And I bet the girls enjoy the new bartender.”

  Jagger laughed and shrugged. “I’ve only enjoyed one conversation since I started.” He winked at me and I rolled my eyes in return, trying to hide a grin. “All right, let me go find Dallas before he’s got blood all over his face.” With that, I turned to walk straight to the door that led to the cage downstairs. I knew where to find my brother since I knew about his routine before every fight. I walked to the changing room with his name written on the front in big, red letters. With a quick knock, I opened the door and saw Dallas punching and kicking a huge bag hanging from the ceiling. His coach Malakai, or just Kai, was standing on the other side of it, holding it in place so it was easier for Dallas to hit it. Kai was in his fifties and made a name for himself as an MMA fighter back when he was younger. Now, he had multiple body parts that didn’t work properly, but it didn’t stop him from training Dallas.

  Dallas saw me enter the room and stopped moving, turning his head to look at me. “You’re here.” He sounded surprised.

  “Imagine that,” I mumbled, then glanced over at Malakai with a smile. “Hey, Kai. Haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?” Not that his answer would’ve changed in the past few years. He was miserable. His body hurt every step he took, and I tried to explain to Dallas multiple times that if he kept on fighting, he would end up like Malakai. And at a young age, thirty maybe. And he was very close to that.

  “I’m fine, sweetie. My wife was at your studio the other day. I love the painting she brought home.” I smiled at that since I did have some customers here and there who bought my art.

  “Glad you like it. Uh, Dal? Can I talk to you for a minute?” I turned my attention to Dallas, and he nodded, taking a sip from his water. Malakai took the hint and walked out of the room.

  “What’s up?” he asked, sitting down on the bench.

  “So, Jagger got the job,” I pointed out and he nodded. “Yeah, he’s a fast learner, and the ladies like him.”

  Of course, that was one of the main reasons why Jagger got to work behind the bar. “I see. Can you do me a favor before he fully starts working here though? He got a call this morning from his sister. He has to go back to his hometown for three days to sign some papers. He asked me to go with him. I didn’t want him to feel weird about asking you, especially after just getting the job.”

  Dallas eyed me for a while, and I could tell he was thinking about the he asked me to go with him part. He was being overprotective. I didn’t like that. I was old enough to make my own decisions.

  “Are you sure you wanna go with him? I mean, you don’t know anyone there. What will you be doing all day when he’s got his shit to handle?” Good question. But I didn’t think that far, and I imagined Jagger wouldn’t be signing papers all day long for three days straight.

  “Let that be my concern,” I told him.

  “All right, sure. Just don’t make me fire him when you’re back and he’s broken your heart.” I rolled my eyes at him being overdramatic.

  “Can you stop acting like a tough guy? I got this. Jagger’s good to me. In the end, firing someone for that is a stupid reason. Just…let him take Tuesday through Thursday off and he’ll be back at work on Friday.” I was getting sick of his behavior. One day he likes Jagger, the next he acts like he’s the enemy. It’s not like I acted the way he did when he dated girls.

  “Okay, okay. Calm down, Rusty. Now get out. I don’t have a lot of time left here. The fight starts soon.” I ignored the nickname I’d despised since I was little. It made me want to dye my hair many times in the past. But instead of letting Dallas destroy my mood, I thought about spending three full days with Jagger.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jagger

  I watched as Gray walked back upstairs with a slightly annoyed expre
ssion on her face. She obviously talked to her brother, since the way she looked was the same way Hunter looked when Bliss annoyed him. Harlow never got annoyed with me. At least, that’s what I imagined.

  I waited for Gray to come and talk to me about what Dallas said, and in the meantime, I mixed some cocktails for the two women sitting in front of me at the bar. This job wasn’t too bad. People here were nice, if not a little too flirty. I even had a guy asking for my number, but I told him I wasn’t allowed to flirt with customers or take their numbers. Not sure if that was a thing, but just some minutes ago, I couldn’t stop flirting with Gray. I’m dating her, so that’s different, I thought.

  “Thank you, handsome. You’re new in town, right?” The fake blonde who ordered a Cosmopolitan let her eyes wander all over my upper body, then down my arms and back up to my face. Her hair ended right on her tits, which were impressively large. Probably went under the knife one too many times. Her icy blue eyes were distracting enough to keep mine off her breasts, thankfully.

  “I am. Enjoy your drinks, ladies,” I responded in the hopes that she wouldn’t keep the conversation going. At first glance, she looked young. But taking a better look at her made me realize that this woman was at least ten years older than me.

  “I’m Chelsea, and this is my friend Laine,” she said with a smirk and I wished women would stop trying so hard when I obviously wasn’t interested. I had my Gray I wanted to talk to. But being a bartender, flirting came with the territory. I had to get used to it. Also, not telling her my name could make her mad. I gave them a tight smile and nodded.

  “Jagger. It’s nice to meet you both.” But that wasn’t the end of this conversation either.