Boss Daddy: A Secret Baby Romance by Black, L. (good books for high schoolers .TXT) 📕

And then the silence stretched out for way too long.

Way, way too long.

Before I could say anything else, the door burst open and Matt’s frantic face was there.

“Jordan,” he called out.

“What?”

“There’s a fight. You need to come take care of it!” he exclaimed.

“I hired bouncers for that,” I said. “Where are they?”

“Also handling the fight,” Matt said. “Come on, you have to get out there. I have stuff burning in the kitchen!”

“Fine, I’m coming,” I said, then pulled the phone back to my ear. “Hey, sorry, Matt’s going nuts because of a fight. I’ll have to call you back.”

“Okay,” she said.

I didn’t wait for her to say goodbye or for the words to come out of my mouth. I just hit the end button and ran toward the front door, where Matt was pointing. A thousand thoughts were going on inside my head, but I had to push them away as I neared the group of frat boys who had been served just to the point of too much. The bouncers were struggling with one of them, and another was on the ground, nursing a bloody nose. Two more were outside screaming and being handled by the other bouncer.

“They just came in fighting,” the waitress said. I didn’t recognize her at first but then placed her as one of the girls who’d come over from a neighboring bar on a temporary basis. Her nametag read “Blythe,” though I had no memory of hiring a girl with that name, so it must be something she went by when working with customers at the bar. She seemed like she had a few years of annoying kids hitting on her under her belt already.

“You didn’t serve them?” I asked.

“No, they were already like this and bust through the doors,” she said. “Security has been fighting them the entire time.”

“Alright,” I said, rolling up my sleeves. “Go see your other tables.”

Blythe ran off, and I jumped into the fray, holding the flailing one down long enough that the security guard could get a few moments to breathe. Tossing his hat away, he jumped back in and helped me get the kid to his feet and forcibly exit him through the door. The bloody nose one stood up but had his hands in the air. I was about to toss him, too, when Blythe showed back up behind him.

“Don’t,” she said. “This is my brother. They came in and just hit him out of nowhere.”

“Do you know them?” I asked.

“I know one of them,” he said through a tissue Blythe had brought him for his nose. “He has a problem with me for dating his ex. He’s a douche.”

“Well, he’s a douche who is banned from this bar. You okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “He got me by surprise, otherwise…”

“He’s a boxer,” Blythe said.

“Ah. Well,” I said. “Maybe I’ll hire you for extra security next time so you can see them coming.”

Blythe’s brother laughed mirthlessly. I turned back to the door and went outside where two guards were sumo-pushing two frat kids away from the door. I stepped up and was immediately pushed by one of them. He didn’t get a chance to get his feet settled before I decked him back. He went down like a felled tree, and his buddy stood in shock.

“You hit him!” he screamed.

“You’re next if you don’t get the fuck out of here,” I snarled.

“Yo, your boy hit him first, I saw it,” one of the security guys said.

“Me too,” the other agreed.

“Me three,” some hopeful waiting in line by the door chimed in.

“Get out,” I said. “Take your buddy and any of your friends and never come back here again.”

“Man, fuck you,” the snot-nosed brat said, but only as he was walking away. I noticed a girl join him in the classic outfit of a blouse that was more akin to a bathing suit top and leggings that she might have had to paint on. Another guy joined them, and they walked off toward the cars, getting into two of them and driving away.

“Let that guy in,” I said as I turned and pointed at the extra witness in line. “Good job, fellas.”

“Yes, sir,” one of the guards said as he opened the door and I walked through. The other witness came in behind me and went right to the bar, as if attracted by a magnet.

With that behind me, I looked down to see my knuckle was all scratched up from decking the kid, and I went to the back to wash it off. As I stood in the bathroom with the door open, Matt came by and ducked his head in.

“All good?” he asked.

Suddenly, the conversation I had with Hannah jumped back to the forefront of my mind, and I tried to shake it off.

“Yeah, fine. Just drunk kids who had a bone to pick.”

“Gone?”

“Like the wind,” I said. “The waitress Blythe, she either knows them or knows how to find out their names. Remind me to get that so I can post their info in case they try to get back.”

“Will do,” Matt said. Then he stopped and looked at my reflection in the mirror as I shook my hands dry. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “Going to go finish my break now, though. I’ll come let you know when I’m headed back out to the floor.”

Matt nodded and tapped the doorframe with his hand before heading back into the kitchen. I dried my hands on a paper towel and tossed it before heading back to the office. Once inside, I took a seat at the fancy office chair I bought for the desk. I pulled out my phone and hesitated before I dialed Hannah.

She had taken way too long on that pause. Maybe she was having a scare? Maybe she had a medical thing and couldn’t have kids and my saying that was like a cruel joke? I tried to come up with every possible scenario except the one that seemed the