The dinner rush is winding down, but that doesn’t mean The Wolf’s Den is free from its fair share of entitled customers. Tonight, it’s some guy at the takeout counter - late picking up his order and now demanding it be reheated like it’s the kitchen’s fault he couldn’t get his timing right.

Wade, as usual, tries to handle the situation his way. “Sir, I totally understand where you’re coming from,” Wade says, leaning on the counter, his tone dripping with false sympathy. “If I had a nickel for every time I let my crippling indecision ruin my meal, I’d have - well, I wouldn’t have to work here, let’s put it that way.”

The man glares. “Are you serious right now?”

“Not even a little bit,” Wade replies cheerfully. “But listen, I get it. You’re hungry. You want your food hot.” He presses a hand to his chest, feigning deep understanding. “But the thing is, our kitchen staff is very busy. If you wanted piping hot food, maybe you should’ve, I don’t know, picked it up when it was ready instead of rolling in here half an hour late like you’re rolling into the drive thru - ”

“Where’s your manager?” The guy snaps.

Wade gasps dramatically. “Oh, no, don’t do that - anything but that.” He leans closer. “Tell you what - how about we try something a little different? I’ll get you a specialist.” He spins on his heel and marches over to you where you’re retying your apron behind the counter. “You’re up, sunshine,” Wade says, clapping his hands. “You know how men - ” He rolls his eyes, “ - are totally and explicably immune to your adorable charm and sweet smile? Maybe you can get this guy to chill the fuck out before I lose my job.”

You sigh, smoothing down your uniform. You’re used to handling difficult customers. Most of the time, a calm demeanor and a friendly tone can do the trick. You approach the counter with a warm, polite smile. “Hi, sir,” You say in your usual sweet tone. “I heard there was an issue with your order?”

The guy barely looks at you, just scoffs. “Yeah, I want my food reheated. Shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

You keep your pleasant expression. “I completely understand, but unfortunately, once food is prepared for takeout, we aren’t able to reheat it. We have to make sure everything’s fresh and handled safely.”

The guy sneers. “So what, you’re just gonna leave me with cold food?”

You remain patient. “It’s still warm, sir, but if you’d like, I can - ”

“Jesus Christ, are you dumb?” The man mutters, shaking his head. “Is it that hard to put something back in the oven for two minutes?”

Wade gasps, looking between them. “Ohhh, big mistake there, buddy.” He exhales anxiously.

Your pleasant expression doesn’t falter - but inside, your stomach twists. It’s not the first time you’ve been called something like that by a rude customer, and it probably won’t be the last. The difference this time is that Logan is in the kitchen. And if there’s one thing you know, it’s that Logan doesn’t take kindly to people disrespecting you. So instead of arguing, instead of giving the man the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you, you simply straighten your apron and say, “Let me get our head chef for you.”

Then, without another word, you turn and walk straight into the kitchen. The moment you step inside, Logan is already looking at you, like he sensed something was wrong the second you appeared. “What’s goin’ on, baby?” He asks, wiping his hands on a towel.

You exhale. “We’ve got a guy at the counter who wants his food reheated even though he was late picking it up.”

Logan nods once. “Okay. So what’s the problem?”

You shift, crossing your arms. “I tried to explain we don’t do that, but he’s just looking for a fight.” You hesitate. “And…he called me dumb.”

The kitchen falls silent.

“Who?” Logan asks, his voice low, dangerous. You cross your arms, rolling your eyes as if to say it’s not worth it, but Logan needs to know. His girl shouldn’t have to deal with some disrespectful prick just for doing her job. You had seen Logan annoyed, has seen him grumpy, but you have never seen him look quite like this. Logan exhales slowly, nostrils flaring. Then, in a voice so calm it’s dangerous, he says, “Stay here.”

“Logan,” You warn, touching his arm, but you know better than to stop him. He glances down at you, softening just for a moment. “Don’t do anything that’ll get you fired.”

“I’m just gonna talk to him, sweetheart.” Logan says, though the dark glint in his eyes suggests it won’t be a friendly conversation. And before you can say another word, Logan tosses the towel onto the counter and stalks out of the kitchen. He was already in a foul mood from the dinner rush, but the second you told him what the customer had said to you, something inside him snapped.

Wade, who has been standing by the pass watching the scene unfold, raises a gloved hand. “Oh, oh, I can help with this one. He’s the sweaty guy at the front counter with a bad combover and a ‘will try to stiff a hooker’ attitude. Kind of looks like an off-brand used car salesman who tells women to smile more.”

Logan is already untying his apron and stepping around the pass before Wade even finishes, stalking toward the pick-up counter where the customer is still grumbling about his food, oblivious to the impending storm. “You the one givin’ my girl a hard time?” Logan’s voice was low, controlled, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

The customer, a middle-aged man with an entitled sneer, scoffed, shifting his weight as if unimpressed. “All I said was my food wasn’t warm enough, and she acted like I asked her to solve a damn math problem.”

Wade, standing off to the side, let out a low whistle. “Buddy, you just stepped on a landmine, and I gotta say, I’m glad I can grow everything back so I can watch this closely.”

Logan didn’t acknowledge Wade’s commentary. He kept his eyes locked on the man in front of him, his jaw clenched so tight the muscle ticked. “You call her dumb?” His voice was dangerously even.

The customer hesitated for a moment before doubling down. “Look, I just - ”

“Did you call her dumb?” Logan repeated, stepping closer, his sheer presence enough to make the man falter.

The customer swallowed, suddenly very aware of how much smaller he was compared to Logan. “I - Look, I didn’t mean - ”

“You didn’t mean shit,” Logan cut him off, voice sharper now. “You’re the dumbass who ordered pick-up and then showed up late. Now you wanna blame someone else ‘cause your food ain’t hot? That’s on you. Not her.”

The man looked around, suddenly aware of the eyes on him. “It’s just food, man, not a big deal.”

Logan’s eyes darkened, his fists flexing at his sides. “Yeah? Then maybe you should’ve just ate it and kept your mouth shut instead of runnin’ it at my girl.”

Standing just behind Logan, your hands on your hips, you tilt your head at the customer, unimpressed with him. “I was happy to offer to have it remade for you, but you decided to be rude instead.”

The customer shifted uncomfortably, suddenly very aware that he was the bad guy in this situation. Wade, ever the chaotic instigator, leaned in and whispered, “I’d apologize if I were you. He once beat a man with his own shoe for less.”

The customer must’ve believed it, because he finally relented, clearing his throat. “I, uh…maybe I was out of line.” He muttered.

You raised a brow. “Maybe?”

The man exhaled sharply, avoiding Logan’s still-intimidating gaze. “I’m sorry, alright?”

Logan held his stare for another few seconds before he finally stepped back, his lip curling. “Yeah. You are.” He says, voice a quiet growl. “Now, you got two choices. Take your food and leave or leave wearing it. Either way, you’re done talkin’ to her.”

The man opens and closes his mouth, his ego visibly warring with his self-preservation instincts. He must decide he values his bones in their current, unbroken state because he grabs his bag of food without another word and practically scurries out of the restaurant.

A beat of silence passes before Wade lets out a slow whistle. “Hot damn, Peanut. You just scared that man so bad, his soul left his body behind.”

Logan ignores him, turning back to you. “You good?”

You smirk, crossing your arms. “You know that isn’t always necessary, right?”

“Yeah,” Logan shrugs, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. “But I had time.”

You soften at that, and Wade dramatically wipes an imaginary tear from his eye. “Beautiful. Just beautiful. It’s like a romantic action movie with a side of aggressive customer service.” Logan rolls his eyes and heads back to the kitchen, pulling you along with him, deciding to keep you close the rest of the shift. Wade, still grinning, calls after the two of you. “Hey, next time, let me be the one to threaten people! I’ve got way more colorful material than ‘take your food or wear it’!”

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This was inspired by a bistro huddy skit after a few of you mentioned him in the comments and in my ask box. It made me want to check out his videos! It was so funny, I simply had to tailor it to line cook!logan😂