Page 103 of Hard Rain
Didn’t mind the shit-talking when it was this bunch.
They claimed three high-top tables near the bar and shoved them together. The televisions overhead bounced football highlights across the room while classic rock mixed with the hum of conversation and the occasional burst of laughter from the other end of the bar.
Heat rolled out from the open kitchen as employees shouted orders over the hiss of the ovens and the steady buzz of conversation.
They ordered enough pizza to feed a football team.
Fifteen minutes later, pizza boxes landed in the middle of the tables one after another.
Pepperoni.
Supreme.
Meat lovers.
Something Cho insisted was healthy enough to count as vegetables.
Knox reached for a slice before the last box even hit the table.
Beth smacked the back of his hand.
“Wait.”
“I’ve been waiting since SeaTac.”
“You’ve been complaining since SeaTac,” Beth corrected.
“Same thing.”
Laughter circled the table.
Knox took a slice, grinning at her as he ate.
“I’m still growing.”
“You’re twenty-six,” Axel pointed out.
“Exactly.”
Cho rolled her eyes.
“I don’t think that’s how biology works.”
“It does when you’re hungry,” Knox argued.
The kid would argue with a signpost.
Axel reached for a slice of pepperoni pizza off Whip’s plate. Other than an eye roll, the man had no objections.
The bartender stopped beside the table, a towel slung over one shoulder.
“How’s everything tasting?”
Axel looked up.
“Good.”
She smiled.
