Man in the Middle [Wolf Creek Pack 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) by Stormy Glenn (elon musk reading list txt) 📗

another place to sit. Surprisingly, the entire place was booked. If he wanted to eat, he was stuck right where he was.

The little bumps continued until Flo came back over and set a plate down in front of Justin. He was surprised to see a turkey sandwich on the plate, complete with whole wheat bread, lettuce, tomato, and a pickle on the side.

He smiled up at Flo. “Thank you, ma’am. This looks very good.”

“Eat up, honey.” Flo patted Justin’s hand again. “I’ll work on some dessert for you.”

“Oh, please, don’t go out of your way,” Justin said quickly. As much as he wouldn’t mind biting into a big, thick piece of pie, he knew he couldn’t. “I can’t have very much sugar. It makes me sick.”

Flo’s dark-blonde eyebrows drew together, and then she bent over the counter, getting real close. “Honey, do you have diabetes?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Justin said, surprised that the woman even knew what it was.

“Do you take medication for it?”

Justin patted his fanny pack. “Got it right here.”

“Good.” Flo stood up straight again. “My grammy had diabetes for over fifty years. You keep eating right and taking your meds, and you’ll be just fine.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now eat up like I said.” She pointed at the plate of food. “You need to keep your blood sugars level.”

Justin smiled and then grabbed his sandwich. He was just about to bite into it when the man next to him bumped him so hard that the sandwich flew out of his hand and ingredients scattered all over the counter top.

Justin shot the man what he hoped was an evil glare and then turned to gather up his sandwich makings. He carefully stacked them all back into place and then lifted the sandwich to his mouth.

The guy bumped him again.

“Really?” Justin snapped as he slammed his sandwich down on his plate. “Would you like me to lift my juice again so I can wear it next time you bump me? Or maybe I should order a cup of coffee so you can really do some damage.”

“I done saw you flirten with Flo,” the snarly man snickered. “Ain’t gonna do you no damn good. Flo don’t put out for no one.”

Justin looked the disgusting man up and down. “Gee, I wonder why.”

The man’s face flushed with anger, and Justin suddenly wished that Taylor was there. Taylor always kept him out of trouble even when his mouth overrode his common sense. As the man grabbed him by the collar and started lifting him out of his chair, Justin didn’t think he was going to walk away from this scrape.

He wasn’t a fighter. Had never been a fighter. But the guy had ticked him off. Rude was just rude, no matter what form it came in, and this man was downright mean. Justin may not be able to kick anyone’s butt, but he wasn’t going to let anyone walk all over him either. Those days were over. The Teacher had done enough damage to last Justin a lifetime. No one else was going to push him around or bully him.

But it sure would be nice to have Taylor here right about now.

“You put him down this instant, Rufus,” Flo shouted as she started beating the man over the head with a dirty dishrag. Rufus sputtered, and Justin suddenly dropped when the man let go of him, barely catching himself before he hit the floor. “Get out, Rufus, and don’t come back until you learn some manners.”

“You can’t kick me out of here!” Rufus bellowed.

“Sal!”

Justin blinked in shock when the biggest damn man he had ever seen lumbered out of the back of the restaurant, meat cleaver in hand. “You called, little darlin’?”

“Rufus was rude to this little boy, and when I told him to leave, he yelled at me.”

Rufus started to stammer when Sal simply arched an eyebrow at him. “You gonna leave peaceful like, Rufus, or do we need to have us a conversation out back?“

Rufus glared at Sal, and then he glared at Justin. When the man turned his head, he gave Flo a head nod. “I’m leaving, Flo. But don’t think just anyone can flirt with ya. A man can only have his heart broken so many dang times.”

“Just get, Rufus.” Flo pointed a finger at the door, her brightly colored nail standing out against her pale hand. “Come back when you ain’t so feisty.”

“That’ll be never,” Justin mumbled under his breath as he dusted himself off and sat back down at the counter. It didn’t help that he was feeling a bit nauseous and knew it was because he hadn’t taken his meds yet.

“I’m goin’,” Rufus pouted and then clomped toward the door. The man was too damn big to be pouting. It didn’t look right on his beefy face. He gave Justin one more menacing glare before he stormed out of the diner. Justin shivered. He knew if a fight happened, Rufus would pound him into the ground. Thank goodness Flo was so nice and defended him.

“Let me know if you need any more help, darlin’,” Sal said as he winked at Flo and then went back into the kitchen.

Just where in the hell was he? Justin was beginning to think he should have found another town to wander into. This place was insane. He was a slim man, not weighing much, and Rufus was threatened by him? From the looks of Flo’s admirers, Justin lacked about two hundred pounds for Flo to even bat an eye at him.

And he so didn’t want her to bat an eye at him. She was nice and all, but Justin knew he needed to eat up and get the hell out of Hicksville.

“Sorry about that,” Flo said to Justin. “Eat up and ignore Rufus’s insults. He doesn’t mean no harm.”

Yeah, and bears didn’t shit in the woods. Oh, god, he was already thinking like a country bumpkin, and he hadn’t been here a whole day. Justin chuckled to himself as he ate his food. It