Chapter 6

Zak was watching Jess from across the club, wasn't that hard considering he was about a foot taller than most of the people there, she was talking to the bartender. Then she took her jacket off and Zak's eyes almost bugged out of his head. She was wearing the tiniest top he'd ever seen in his life, deep blood red silk and backless, and cut impossibly low in the front. The shirt wasn't lost on the bar tender either. Zak saw him lick his lips openly as he stared at her chest. Douchebag Zak thought to himself. The guy wasn't even good looking, huge nose, crooked smile, he just gave off a townie vibe. A guy that was content to stay in the same place his whole life, and bang whatever girls he could find after he finished his shift at the local gas station. The fact that Jess was flirting with the ass made Zak want to drink. A lot. She could do so much better than that guy. Not that Zak cared, she could do whatever she wanted. He decided earlier that the unpredictable psychic was no longer his problem. He took his jacket off and hung it over the back of a chair, his black t-shirt straining to contain his biceps as per usual. He smirked to himself when he noticed the majority of the women in the area checking him up whether they were single or not it didn't matter. He could find plenty of distractions here to keep his mind occupied. But he couldn't keep his eyes from the bar try as he might. When he saw Jess stir her drink with her finger then suck that same finger in her mouth something inside him snapped.

He wanted to leave right then, get a on a plane and go home. His head was pounding and his emotions were erratic. He could not center himself for some reason. The second he relaxed something would happen that inexplicably send him over the edge in one way or another. Constantly feeling the emotions and energy of the people around him didn't exactly help either. He could feel the lust coming from the dancers close by and the anger and disrespect some guy by the door felt at not being allowed in the club. He needed alcohol he decided, he needed to numb himself to everything that was going on around him so he could focus on what he was truly feeling. Zak flagged down one of the women carrying a tray of shots, when she noticed she walked over quickly. She was a tall petite brunette, supermodel thin though she didn't look unhealthy.

"Hi, my name is Cara, I'm a huge fan of your show. What can I get you?"

"Thanks always happy to meet a fan. You have any tequila on there?" he asked eyeing the tray, there was a wide array of different sized and colored drinks.

"Of course, this is a bar after all." She replied with a grin.

"Right- can I get two shots of Patron please? What do I owe you?" Zak grabbed for his wallet.

"Not a dime. Anything you want is on the house." She said with a firm nod. He gave her smile and picked up two shots from the tray downing them in rapid succession. He then picked up two more handed one to Cara and kept the other. He held his out to her and said "To Cara, one of the cutest fans I've met in a long time." He winked at her clinked his glass to hers and downed another shot while Cara stared.

"I'm not really supposed to accept drinks from the customers but how often do you get to take a shot with Zak Bagans?!" she squealed tipping her head back as she gulped the tequila. Zak smiled warmed by the girls' general enthusiasm or the liquor he couldn't be sure right now having taken three shots of hundred proof tequila in matter of 45 seconds. Tequila was his kryptonite it did one of two things, made him extremely giggly or really horny. Sometimes both. If he got into vodka, well then, you didn't want to be around him. He was a dick, he admitted it. After he'd sobered up of course, he stayed away from the stuff as best he could.

He didn't have long to debate the pros and cons for the amount of liquor he'd just consumed because Kira swooped down out of nowhere and dragged him out to the center of the dance floor. Zak wasn't a fan of dancing unless it was for fun, he could do that all day. Kira wanted to grind and shake her ass on him. He tried to reciprocate her movements but kept getting lost in his thoughts.

"What are you doing with me, when it's obvious your attention is on the bar, more specifically on Jess?" Kira asked suddenly ceasing her movement completely. She didn't look angry, just curious.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He snapped, hating himself for it immediately.

"Yes you do, you like her. You're only hanging out with me to try to make her jealous. Hate to break it to you, but, that's not going to happen. She doesn't have it in her." Kira chuckled, again not unkindly. Zak was starting to like this girl. She wasn't what he thought before.

"Go talk to her. She knows you would never break into her mother's room. I bet she wants to apologize, she's working up the courage. Vodka helps."

"She looks pretty busy with the bartender." He muttered darkly.

"Who Dylan? They have been around that block so many times I'm surprised they haven't named the street after them. And dude, you are Zak freaking Bagans, nut up buddy." And with that she walked over to Aaron and asked him to dance. Aaron looked thrilled. Kira gave Zak a 'why not' shrug of her shoulders and he gave her a smile. She smiled back and looked toward the bar. Her smile fell and she turned back to Aaron and held up a finger. She walked briskly back over to Zak.

"You're wavering confidence is about to take another hit, you have bigger problems than Dylan." Zak whipped around to look at the bar and saw another guy talking to Jess. This one was Zak's height and build. He could be a problem. The way Jess was looking at him it was like she was seeing the sun for the first time.

"Who the fuck is that?" Zak demanded

"Kevin. They've been friends for a long time. They had it bad for each other but they never dated. Too afraid it would ruin their friendship. But the way he's looking at her now I think he's got a bit more than friendship on his mind." Kira whispered like she was afraid they would hear her. She stole another glance at the bar and continued.

"Kevin knows all her secrets. Dylan is a distraction, Kevin is a force of nature. Maybe it was a bad idea to dress her in clothes from high school." She added, more to herself than to him.

Zak's stomach dropped. He had no chance. This guy was from her past, they had too much history, 'Zak freakin Bagans' or not, he couldn't compete with that. Kira punched him the stomach suddenly.

"Kira what the fuck?" he gasped hunched over slightly.

"Dude you actually deflated, like I watched your whole body just….slump. I think your hair might have even lost some height. If you want her, fight for her. Who cares about those two? They have both left her in a puddle of her own tears. You could be her hero, the guy that's never hurt her and never would." Zak straightened when he heard that both men had hurt her. It pissed him off a little because he couldn't picture Jess doing anything that would warrant being hurt. Sure she was a little fiery but that happened when you had to constantly worry about being assaulted with images from touching people or things. It would put anybody on edge.

Shaking his head slightly, he stood as confidently as he could and walked toward the bar area. When he spotted Jess he suddenly had tunnel vision, she was all he saw. She was glaring at Kevin clearly the spell the man had cast on her was broken. Zak moved faster when he saw Kevin thrust his hands into the air, and Jess put her head down on her arms. He reached them in time to hear the guy say something about how he wished he could take it back.