“Not looking good, man!” Marshall Delphino bellowed after Kori Lightning threw her last dart. She was very much ahead in points.
Laz walked over to Jax, pulling on his arm. “Better luck next time.”
Jax scowled at the diminutive woman. “You planned this, I assume? Knew that a rematch between Kori and I would draw some bets. How did I not know?”
The woman shrugged. “Gal’s gotta make a living.” She turned to the crowd. “Last throw!” After the cheering died down, she pulled Jax down closer. “I lucked out that you were off station until today. You got back just in time.”
Jax drained his beer. “Glad I could help,” he growled. He looked around, spotting one of the wait staff. “I need another!”
The server nodded and tapped something on his tablet. Less than a minute later, a droid that looked like a cross between a praying mantis and a koala bear expertly placed a new, full bottle in his hand.
“Come on, throw your dart, so you can lose!” someone shouted.
Jax looked around, couldn’t tell who had said it. “Shut the hell up!” he shouted into the crowd, walking up to the throwing line.
“Better luck next time Jax-y,” Marshall barked. Kori, sitting on his knee at the bar, swatted his cheek.
Jax flipped them both off. He took a deep breath, centering himself. He drew back his hand and let the dart fly. It sailed true, right to the single area. “Damn it.” He hissed as the room erupted in cheers.
Thirty minutes later, Jax was sitting at the bar, having paid Marshall Delphino most of what he owed the brothers and watching the big man buy a round of drinks for everyone inside Wendy’s with his winnings from the tournament.
A hand draped over his shoulder. “Cheer up. You’ve won plenty of these.”
Jax looked over to a woman he didn’t recognize and patted the barstool next to him. He motioned to the bartender. “A drink for the lady.”
* * *
Jax rolled over and came face to face with the woman from the previous night. His eyes snapped open, taking in his surroundings, not his berth on the Osprey or even the couch in the mechanical bay office. “Hi,” he said.
She opened her eyes slowly. “Hi.” She sat slightly holding the sheet near her throat. “I won’t lie, usually at this point a guy has either snuck out as quietly as possible or is making me breakfast and coffee.” She smiled.
Jax sat up, as well. “Yeah, either of those things would be less awkward than this.” She nodded, turning her head slightly to look at the pile of clothes near the door to the small single room living space. His clothes.
“Do you, uh, want breakfast?” He scooted to the edge of the bed, raising the sheet to confirm his complete lack of clothing.
“Not really. I have to be to work in an hour,” she said. She noticed his discomfort and turned to look at something on the wall opposite where Jax’s clothes lay in a pile.
He stood and walked over, slipping his trousers on as quickly as he could. “I’ll, uh, just see myself out. Uh, thanks for last night.” He looked over his shoulder. “We should do it again sometime.”
She turned to look at him, smiling, just as he was buttoning up his pants. “See you around, Jax.”
“Uh, yeah. You, too…” He tried to recall if she’d even said her name but couldn’t for the life of him remember. The buzzing in his head made recall iffy at best. He looked pained.
“Tammy,” she offered, rolling her eyes.
He pulled on his t-shirt and pressed the door control, opening the door to her quarters. After slipping out, he leaned over to put his boots on. “I was gonna say Tammy,” he mumbled.
He fished the earpiece out of his jacket pocket, placing it in his ear. The smart material warmed slightly as it reformed to fit his ear canal securely. “Rudy, you read me?”
“Well, good morning, Casanova,” the droid replied. “Guessing your one-night stand woke up and kicked you out?”
Jax frowned. “It was more of a mutual—”
“Don’t care,” the droid interrupted. “I heard from Sandor. He has a job, possibly a big one.”
Jax growled at being cut off but swallowed it, saying, “Already? We just got in yesterday. What’s the gig?”
“He didn’t say. Said to meet him at his office.” The droid paused. “I’m on my way there now, from the bay.”
“I’ll meet you there. Gotta stop and get a coffee.”
“She sounds like a terrible host,” the droid quipped.
“Lisa...Damn it, no. Jessica...” Jax snapped his fingers twice. “Tammy was a fine host. Whatever, see you there.” He tapped his ear to end the communication.