Dean checked his gas gauge and sighed as he started looking for another gas station in Nowheresville. He really loved his baby but man, was she high maintenance. Gas prices were going up again which didn't help anything. Unfortunately, there was nothing that he could do about that.
He filled up at the next station and paid cash since he recently had a run of luck at the tables. He asked the attendant, "Where is the nearest diner or burger joint?"
"Next town has a good one. Beacon Hills, up the road about five miles, there will be a street to the left. Turn there. Should be about three miles on your right side. It's called Al's Sports Bar," the attendant answered briskly.
"Thanks," Dean replied then left.
He climbed into his baby and headed to Al's. He found it easily in spite of the setting sun. He parked toward the back of the parking lot even though there were plenty of spaces up front. He wasn't willing to risk his baby's body if he could avoid it. He locked up after he got out then headed to the front of the diner.
He slid up to the bar and got a burger, fries and a beer. After he ate, he surveyed the crowd. None of them really looked loaded but he still needed some money to make it to his next hunt.
He and his dad finished a job three weeks ago, Dean's first job since the incident which had him laid up for two weeks. Dean had had a hard time convincing Derek to let him go but he finally realized that it was Dean's job and there was nothing that was going to stop Dean from doing it. Of course, within an hour of finishing the hunt with his dad, his dad had left him which was the norm now.
Instead of letting it bother him, Dean immediately started to look for a hunt on his own. He'd found one two towns away and managed to clear it up quickly. He found that working jobs made him feel better about being on his own so he kept as busy as he could.
Now he was on his way to his next job which led him here. He walked over to the pool tables and started to rack up for a game. He had just grabbed up a pool stick when he heard the challenge.
"You any good?"
Dean quickly hid his smirk when he turned back to his challenger. He shrugged innocently, "A little. What's your game? Eight or nine?"
The challenger smiled widely and picked, "Eight. Name's Cal."
"Dean," he answered, quickly deciding to use his own name.
They shook hands then Cal asked, "Ever play for money?'
"Once or twice but not for more than about twenty to start," Dean lowballed, trying not to be too obvious.
Cal kept smiling, "Twenty works. Why don't you go ahead and break since you're new here and all?"
Dean smiled back and drawled out, "Much obliged." With that, the game commenced.
Two games later, Dean was up a hundred dollars which made Cal very annoyed. "You been playing me, boy? Don't make me get the law in here."
Dean shot back a wide innocent look that was a blatant lie to anyone who knew him.
"Don't worry, Cal," a familiar, deep, baritone voice promised. "You know, no one hustles in this town. Remember? I got this."
Cal nodded but countered, "Well, if he didn't hustle me, Derek, don't do anything to the boy. He was really nice about it and he is good." With that, he left Derek to deal with Dean. Cal headed toward the bar.
Derek smiled wide at Dean while he replied with a taunting eyebrow, "He is, is he? Well, I just might have to try him out then."
Dean flushed lightly with sudden warmth but didn't know why. It couldn't have been an innuendo, could it? He knew Derek wasn't gay. He shook off his wandering mind and queried softly, "You stalking me? Should I be worried?"
Derek laughed deeply then shook his head. "You're in my neck of the woods now, pretty boy," he taunted playfully. "This is my hometown. Where I live. Welcome to Beacon Hills."
Dean flushed even more. He would have never hustled if he had known. He swallowed away his nervousness and offered softly, "I didn't know."
Derek smirked, "I know, and now you do. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Want to keep playing or catch up?"
Dean arched an eyebrow. "How about both?"
"Sounds good," Derek agreed and signaled for two beers. "Where are you headed?"
"How do you know I wasn't headed here?"
"No one would head here unless they knew someone and I know you don't know anyone here," Derek countered.
"Know you, Derek," Dean argued but saw the look on Derek's face. With a sigh, he relented, "Headed to a job. Needed to fill up my baby and my belly. Decided to play a game or two before heading out again."
Derek smiled and wondered, "Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"
"You'll never know," Dean taunted with a cocky smile before he realized that it could have more than one meaning. He shook it off then focused on the game and catching up with Derek.
They played for four games and Dean wound up with two hundred dollars over all. Dean really enjoyed himself and felt more relaxed than he had since he'd left Derek last. But he really had to go to work. With a sigh and a handshake, they parted ways again and, once again, Dean wondered what it would like to have a friend like Derek. At least, that thought kept his mind off the recurring nightmares that had started up in the past two weeks.
