Her eyes widened only for a second before she took it. “Yeah, third door down that hall.” She pointed and I was already halfway across the small bar. Only two others were cleaning up. They glanced my way but paid me little attention, no doubt rushing to get out of there and back home.

I pushed the door open. Soft snores accompanied the hum of the lights above. The floor was black and covered in unknown substances as I headed toward the last stall. The door wasn’t locked as I pushed it open with my toe. There on the floor next to the toilet was Tex. His head hung between his arms, his back pressed against the wall.

The stench of alcohol had nothing to do with being in a bar and everything to do with Tex. The closer I got the stronger the smell wafted off of him. I didn’t want to touch anything here.

I kicked Tex’s foot. One of his legs slid down, jerking him awake.

“Uh, fuck off.” His words slurred as he leaned over. I caught him before he crashed to the floor.

The muscle in my jaw ticked with how hard I was holding it. “Get up, Tex.”

He groaned and attempted to wrestle free. “No.”

Now he wants to be difficult? I snatched up a handful of black hair and jerked his head back against the wall. “I wasn’t asking.”

Tex’s eyelids fluttered as if he was having a hard time opening them. He groaned as he slowly blinked. I was met with watery blue eyes that captured my soul the moment they focused on me.

His mouth turned down in a frown. “The fuck?” Tex’s gaze hardened the longer he looked up at me. I preferred the desire and fear in his eyes more, but I could work with anger.

“Why are you here?”

“Let’s go.”

Tex knocked my hand away, and his strands slipped through my fingers. He righted himself the best he could but was still leaning heavily to the right. A single breeze would knock him over.

A knock on the door interrupted us. “Hey, I want to go home. Hurry it up.”

Tex pushed himself up off the floor, every movement shaky at best.

“Hey, did you hear me?” A guy stuck his head into the stall.

I stood in front of Tex. “Get out.”

He took a step back. “Look, I just want to go home.”

“And you will, but if you keep coming back here, you won’t.”

He audibly swallowed before turning back around.

“Wow, you’re just an all-around gangster, huh?” Tex asked, laughing.

It sounded off as I turned back to face him. He was standing up, but he hadn’t moved off the wall.

“You knew that when you met me.”

His blue eyes focused on me. “Just like you knew who I was.”