Lady Boss Takes on Vegas Bullies! novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: Four A.M. Bread

The crew went for the bags.

There were two dozen rolls in the first one and a loaf of sourdough the size of a tire in the second.

Dot tore the loaf in half without a word.

"You're early," she told Reuben.

"I'm on time. You're all just up late."

He handed a roll to the skinny kid, then one to the woman in the hairnet, then two to the man with the mustache.

He knew how each of them liked it.

Butter, no butter, extra crust.

I stood by the vending machine, watching a man who signed thirty-one firings carry bread to the night crew.

Dot caught my eye over a mouthful.

She raised one eyebrow so high it nearly left her face.

When the bags were empty, Reuben tipped his head at the door.

"Birch. Loading dock. Five minutes."

"Is that an order?"

"It's a roll," he said, and held one out.

I took it.

It was still warm, and I would have followed him into traffic for it.

The loading dock at 4:30 in the morning belonged to the pigeons and the delivery trucks.

A rusty rail ran along the edge, and past it the whole Strip glowed pink and gold, ugly and enormous.

I had grown up looking at it from forty-one floors up.

It looked different from the ground.

Reuben handed me a paper cup of coffee.

"Black," he said. "You take it black."

"How do you know that?"

"You made a face at the cream on Monday."

"I did not."

"You did a very small face," he said. "I was watching."

I drank some.

It was better than anything in the executive kitchen.

"Where did you learn to carry bread like that?" I asked.

"My mother ran a diner in Tucson." He sat on a crate with his elbows on his knees. "I worked the breakfast shift from eleven years old. You never forget how a regular takes his eggs."

← Chapter 5 · All chapters · Chapter 7 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend