Valentinoâ:
The lack of sleep fogged his brain, taking a moment longer than it shouldâve to register that it was Manu sat in front of him.Â
He blinked before he gave quick glance down to the apron he wore, suddenly all too self-conscious when reason settled in then and soothed his embarrassment, thinking, âAs if heâd care. It isnât like heâs looking at me any sort of way, anyway.â âWater, yeah, got it,â he reiterated his order with a nod just as the other man spoke. âDucklingâs my day job,â Val answered with a half-hearted shrug. âBeen workinâ here for the last month on the night shift, and it ainât all bad.â If he didnât include the fact that he hardly ever slept these days, emphasized by the dark circles under his eyes. âGot to make ends meet somehow, man,â he said, âguess King Jerk-Off didnât think of how us VKs would be fucked once we got here, but what the hellâs new?â
He gestured for the other man to give him a second while he went to get him his water, bringing it back and setting it in front of him with a straw. âWhatâre you doing out so late?â he asked. âAnd better yet,â Val remembered their run-in wasnât as casual as he wouldâve liked, pulling the notepad and pen from his apron, âwhat am I getting you to eat? Just a heads-up that the fish isnât fresh, so Iâd steer clear, unless you want a wicked case of food poisoning. Canât fuckinâ sue my ass if I warned you.â The slightest upward tick of his lips formed his features as he uttered the last part, his tone teasing.Â
it made sense. shit wasnât easy for vks on the mainland. two jobs were almost a given. unless you got lucky enough to get decent money in the first one. then you just worked yourself to the bone and could cover shit. Manu knew he had gotten lucky. found a place that didnât think twice about having him under cars and out of view in the beginning. once he proved he could take apart and rebuild an engine. good enough for them. still, with that thought in mind, he smiled slightly. a sort of humorless smile when he brought on the king. flexing his knuckles, he heard the cracks from years of breaking peopleâs faces. probably couldnât count how many times he broke something but kicking the shit out of the King had been worth it. but he had to admit, he put up a bit of a fight. worth it. âhe needs to get his head out of his ass.â was all he offered on the subject. stopping himself from going off on a tangent he had to Sydney and Siren one too many times.Â
âjust got off work.â he supplied as he leaned back in the booth. his muscles stretching in a strange uncomfortable but also a soothing way. hearing the fish was terrible, made him inwardly sigh. of course, it was. couldnât have good fish if it was on the menu. what he wouldnât give to be back in Seaside. despite being near the family and royalâs that his mother had tried to fucking murder, it at least had good seafood. he would probably kill a man for some good fish. âoh, i donât know. could still be worth it. obviously, i would have the best legal representation.â the retort was followed by a laugh as he glanced at the menu before nodding.Â
âalright, how about a burger and fries. can i trust that?â humor-laced his words as he looked Val over again. everything about him screamed that he was tired. exhausted. like so many of the other vks he saw around the place. if they werenât exhausted, they probably had nowhere to go home to. matter of fact he had one of those on his couch. âthen maybe you can grace me with your presence and sit with me. keep me company.â eyeing the room around them for a minute he looked back at Val. ânot like youâre insanely busy or anything,âÂ












