Chapter 28 #2
Simone lifted both hands and pointed her index fingers at him at an angle. “No, Nickel, things are about to get wilder around here, and I want Felicity in her own space.”
I stood and carefully handed Felicity over to Simone.
“You want another?” Alexandra asked, grabbing my empty cup before she stood.
“We’re not drinking beer,” Ryan said.
“I see.” Alexandra turned to me. “Have fun. I’m going to find Bluff.”
I slowly stepped closer to him. “Are you upset?”
He took a deep breath. “No. That would never upset me, Ivy.”
“But you were shocked,” I said, not sure why I couldn’t let this go.
He paused. “I’m not ready for a family—”
“Neither am I,” I blurted.
With a grin, he nodded once. “Yeah, but I like seeing you holding a baby. A lot fuckin’ more than I probably should.”
I leaned toward him and put a hand on his chest. “Don’t tell me your biological clock’s ticking.”
His eyes went up and to the side for a beat. “How many beers have you had?”
I laughed. “Two. But I haven’t had any food.”
He nodded. “That’s why I came in here. If you like crab legs, the low-country boil is done. If you want something else, there’s burgers, dogs, brats, and pulled pork out there, too.”
“I’ve never had a low-country boil, so lead the way.”
Two hours later, it struck me that Simone had called it.
The party had become increasingly wilder.
It also didn’t take me long to see the difference between the Devil Lancers and the Riot MC.
There were plenty of people getting their drink on, and some were smoking weed, but the moment a Devil Lancer brought out harder drugs, the air went tense.
The Devil Lancer with the drug wandered off the patio and out to the farthest edge of the backyard, three of the others following.
The vibe quickly went back to the raucous party mood. My gaze darted around the backyard and I saw Jasmine talking to a Devil Lancer with corkscrew curls similar to mine. He nodded at her, then hurried away, but he didn’t go in the direction of the Devil Lancers who were hitting harder drugs.
Music was blaring from speakers set up on stands. Somehow, a Bruno Mars song came on after an alternative rock tune and Alexandra raced to me.
“We should dance!” she declared.
Ricochet was siting close by and grinned at me. “Dance on the table! Let’s see how much you’re really like Lark. I dare you!”
Nickel turned venomous eyes to his brother who shrugged and smiled bigger.
“Don’t look at me like that, bro. Her friends say she’s impulsive, I wanna test that.”
I glanced at the table. “People’s plates are on the table,” I said.
Alexandra pointed at a table across from us. “That one’s empty. Let’s go!”
Next thing I knew, Alexandra and I were dancing on the table to ‘I Just Might.’
Over the music, I heard a man yell, “I’m not watching Cal’s little girl dance like that! This’ll get them to stop.”
I made big eyes at Alexandra, but she wiggled her hips even more. In seconds, the song switched to ‘The Twist’ by Chubby Checker. We laughed our asses off at the attempt to make us stop, and we proceeded to do the twist until Bluff and Nickel were forced to make us get down.
I pointed a finger up in the air at him. “I never pegged you for being a party-pooper.”
Ryan lowered his face toward mine. “Tic is watching you like you’re his next meal. We call him Tic, but it’s short for Lunatic. Until you wear my property patch, I don’t trust him and I don’t want you provoking him.”
My eyes darted to the side and I recognized Tic from the first night I was at the clubhouse. “I didn’t realize—”
Ryan kissed my temple and straightened. “I know, babe. You want dessert? I want to see if Block needs help with the beignets.”
My eyes went wide. “You know how to make beignets?”
He laughed. “Yeah. It’s not that hard, Trouble.”
“Baloney! If it weren’t that hard, more donut shops would carry them.”
He slung his arm around me. “Let’s go get you some dessert.”
“And another gimlet,” I said.
“After that, you’re cut off.”
I looked up at him. “I thought this was a party.”
“It is, but we’re taking this party to my room, and I want you tipsy, not sloshed when we go upstairs.”
I wrapped my wet hair up in a towel after I dried off from my shower on Sunday morning.
Once I was dressed and the steam cleared from the mirror, I examined the skin surrounding my eye.
It was a garish shade of yellow-green, but it had faded.
After learning a few tricks from Abby, I knew I could hide it from my coworkers tomorrow.
Ryan had dropped me off at my townhouse half an hour ago to work a six-hour shift at the bar. They offered Sunday brunch, which they hadn’t promoted yet because Lark was still perfecting his menu options.
I had to go grocery shopping because Kristen and Chad were swinging by for Sunday dinner. Bonus, Ryan would be back in time for the fun. I hadn’t looked forward to one of our Sunday cooking sessions this much in a very long time.
My phone rang and I saw it was Chad.
“Hey!” I answered.
“Hey, yourself. You are very chipper this morning.”
I glanced at the clock on the stove. “It’s almost noon, so the morning’s nearly over. What’s going on?” I paused. “You don’t have to cancel do you?”
He chuckled. “Not a chance. I wanted to know if things are handled yet…or should I be on the lookout for an angry man who’s searching for you or your new beau?”
I grinned. “That’s why I sound chipper. Yesterday, things got sorted. Tomorrow I get to go back to work, and things will get back to normal.”
“Well, hot damn! That’s the best news I’ve had all week.”
The doorbell rang while I was washing the romaine lettuce. “Can you get that? I’m sure it’s Chad, but you can check the doorbell app on my phone if you want.”
“I got it, babe,” Ryan said, sauntering to the door.
A moment later, I heard people moving into the townhouse and I looked toward the foyer.
“Okay,” Chad said, sailing into the kitchen with a bottle of wine. “Your man says he’s helping. How is he doing that?”
“He’s helping by manning the grill and the deep fryer.”
“Come again? He should not be taking care of two tasks. Is his brother coming?” Kristen asked, perching on a stool at the breakfast bar.
“You wish his brother was here,” Chad muttered under his breath.
“Zip it, Chadwick,” Kristen said with a saucy smile.
“No, we’re grilling shrimp so it’s not even that much work. For dessert, we’re having beignets – hence the deep fryer,” I said.
Kristen smiled. “Awesome! Are we having Cajun sides?”
I shrugged a shoulder at her. “We could, but I picked up Boursin so you could make your uber-rich mashed potatoes.”
Chad held up a bottle of wine. “I brought two bottles of wine tonight.” He looked to Ryan. “Do you drink wine?”
Ryan smiled. “I do, but I made a pitcher of gimlets if either you want one.”
“Mm, gimlets. Is Ivy taking another day off tomorrow?” Kristen asked.
I beamed at her. “No. Yesterday, Ryan, Lark, and Volt took care of everything. I’m headed back to the office and I have two closings tomorrow.”
“That’s outstanding news,” Kristen said.
“My sentiments exactly,” Chad chimed in, then looked at Ryan. “I definitely like you now.”
“Good to know, but I had plenty of help from the other brothers,” Ryan said while pouring four cocktails.
“I thought there were some missing people involved here. How is this over so fast – not that I’m complaining,” Kristen said.
Ryan filled them in on the connection to Corrupt Chrome MC and what was going on with the bodies.
“What a wicked web,” Chad said, sipping his gimlet.
“Are we doing lunch on Wednesday?” Kristen asked.
“That’s not a good idea,” Ryan said.
She aimed a confused look at him. “Why?” Her expression shifted to realization “Oh, I was talking to Ivy. I didn’t mean for us to horn in on your lunch with your brother and sister.”
“Let’s do Thursday. I have a staff meeting on Wednesday,” Chad said looking at his phone.
From behind me, Ryan wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling my back to his front. I felt his whiskers tickle the shell of my ear. “You’re coming to lunch with me, Kill, and Mick on Wednesday,” he whispered.
I smiled.
Chad stared at us. “As thrilled as I am for you, girlie, you two are making me feel ill.”
Kristen laughed and so did I.
“Don’t worry. I got potatoes to peel,” I said, breaking free from Ryan’s hold.
“I’ll help you with that,” Chad said, grabbing the peeler from the drawer.
“Why are you called Nickel? If you don’t mind me asking,” Kristen said, sipping her cocktail.
“The brothers make the prospects do all kinds of arbitrary shit before they earn their patch and road name. We had to go out and shoot at various targets. One of them was a nickel. My brother’s shot ricocheted every time he tried, and he gave it five tries.
I was the only one who hit it and put a hole in the coin. ”
I turned wide eyes to him. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. They named my brother first. My name really stuck when Liar pointed out the shortened versions our names would rhyme. Nick and Rick.”
Chad’s face twisted with outrage. “There’s no way those bikers are that corny.”
Ryan grinned. “I wouldn’t tell Liar he’s corny if I were you.”