Karma's Kiss

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Rose

*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*

Antonia pulled up outside The Rose and checked her phone. There was a text from Maverick saying he was inside waiting for Levi to finish practicing. She hurried in, looking around until she spotted him as far back from the stage as he could sit and walked over to him.

"Hey!" He smiled at her. "They aren't bad." He gestured to the stage with his beer.

"Apparently not." She sat next to him and pulled the menu toward her. "It's not my type of music, but they did get signed."

"Huh. Good for them." He looked impressed. "I don't know if they're that good, but it's not my type of music either. How did the co-habitation agreement go?"

"Good. He agreed to everything I put forward." She held up her hand to get the waitress's attention. "I'm starved." She said apologetically.

"I figured you would be. I ordered you a fish and chips." He paused. "I hope that's okay. I wasn't sure if it was still your favourite pub food, but I ordered a lobster roll, so we can switch if you want."

"No, it's perfect." She smiled happily. "I can't believe you remembered that." The waitress came over and ordered a Celtic Red to go with it.

He shrugged, looking faintly embarrassed. "I remember a lot of little details. It's why I'm such a good PI." Antonia chuckled.

"Uh-huh. Sure." She teased.

He smiled and sipped his beer. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Dallas told me something about Jynx's girlfriend, and now I have to tell her. I'm not sure how to do it."

"How bad is it?" He raised his eyebrow. "Because you know Jynx, the best way to tell her is just to say it."

"Keanna beat her last girlfriend so badly that she ended up in the hospital, and one of the first responders helped her get a restraining order." It all came out in a rush, and Antonia put her head in her hands.

"Oh shit." She felt Maverick's hand on her shoulder and looked up at him hopelessly.

"It's bad, right?"

"I mean, it is, but I'm not sure what you're worried about. You didn't know." He hesitated. "Do you think Dallas knew?"

"He says he didn't." She leaned back and looked at the ceiling, groaning. "She really likes her, Mave. This is gonna break her heart."

"Maybe. Probably." He nodded. "But she'll get over it, and she won't blame you. Besides, this is a thousand times better than her finding out the hard way."

"True." He had an indisputable point there. The waitress came back with their food and her drink, plus a soda for Maverick and her stomach growled. "Is she out with her tonight?"

"No, I'm pretty sure her and Raven are haunting your sister tonight." Maverick grinned. "It's something they're enjoying immensely."

Antonia had to laugh. "I'll go join them after. It'll be a better conversation if Raven is there too."

"If you want to wait until after I talk to Levi, I'll go with you."

"I'd appreciate that." She smiled, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. "Oh!" She quickly wiped her mouth with her napkin and gripped his arm. "I almost forgot, Dallas said there were several firefighters who are trying to sabotage his promotion to Lieutenant, like going so far as to disobey his orders on calls and risk being written up. He's actually blaming them for the glitter bomb and the fox piss in his truck. Do you think it would be worth talking to them?"