Chapter 2 #2
“Which you deserved for acting like a psychopath,” she said simply as she helped me take the rest of the groceries out of the bags.
“I knew that guy was a creep. You’re lucky I was there.”
“The ends do not justify the means,” she said, shaking her head. “Which I also explained thoroughly back then.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The banter was as easy as breathing, that’s what happened when you knew someone so well—but my mind was in a completely different city. In a different time.
“You sure everything is okay?” Lou asked, tipping her head to the side. “You can talk to me, you know?”
“Really?” I replied, a little mocking. “Because I wasn’t really sure if we were there yet.”
Lou rolled her eyes. “Fine, but the offer is on the table.”
“Thanks, Lou.”
“Do you think I should put those in the fridge until people start getting here?” she mused, leaving the conversation alone. “I probably should.”
“I need to run out to my bike real quick,” I said as she turned toward the refrigerator.
It felt like I was walking through ankle-deep mud as I left the house and strode over to my bike. I didn’t really need anything except to get away from the gaze that saw right through me.
Clenching my jaw, I flexed my hands as they started to tingle. Bernice’s estate. I was a beneficiary to Bernice’s fucking estate. The woman barely had two pennies to rub together, I couldn’t imagine what that estate could entail.
My throat felt tight as I wandered into the yard.
She was dead. Bernice was dead. That’s what it meant if someone was handling her estate. It meant they were getting rid of her shit now that she was gone. They didn’t hand out people’s stuff if they were still alive.
Fuck, my chest felt tight.
Was I having a goddamn heart attack?
A car pulled up behind me, so I walked further into the yard like I was checking out the playset or something instead of just standing there in the rain losing my shit.
A hundred memories rose to the surface like a tidal wave of all the things I’d tried to forget.
“What are you doing out here in the rain?” Titus’s little sister Myla yelled.
Taking a deep breath that felt like I was sucking it through a straw, I turned to face her, hoping that I’d cleared my expression. “Mind your own business,” I joked, the words coming out just slightly less than funny or charming.
“You good, big guy?” she asked as Cian slammed the hatchback and stepped into view.
“I’m fine,” I answered, nodding hello to her man.
If Lou saw right through me, Cian was the one who’d take one look and know exactly what was wrong and why. He had the uncanny ability to read me.
“He’s good,” Cian told Myla, urging her toward the house.
My shoulders relaxed fractionally as I followed them toward the porch.
“You guys get the kegs?” Cian asked as his eyes drifted to Myla’s ass.
Swear to God, she must’ve felt his gaze because her hips started swinging with each step. I looked away in a hurry.
“Yeah, two. Should be enough since there’ll be liquor, too.”
“That better be enough,” Myla said knowingly. “If Brody invites a bunch of randoms, Titus will kill him.”
“I’ll play bouncer,” Cian said as we walked through the house. “Anyone I don’t recognize I’ll kick out.”
“Yeah, right,” Lou called as we reached the kitchen. “You’ll be too busy making googly eyes at Myla once she’s a few drinks in.”
“Everyone loves drunk Myla, what can I say?” Myla joked.
“I like sober Myla better,” I argued.
“That’s a big fat lie, and you know it,” she teased, glaring at me. “Did you get the trays, Lou?”
“Yep, I put them in the fridge…”
The two of them fell into a conversation that I tuned out as Cian set the bags he was carrying on the counter and jerked his head toward the living room.
“You look like someone just sucker punched you,” he said quietly as soon as we were out of earshot. “What’s goin’ on?”
“I’ve been dodgin’ a call from a lawyer—” I reached up to rub the back of my neck.
“Shit, you got a kid?”
“What?” I gaped at him. “No, I don’t have a fuckin’ kid.”
“Sorry, that’s where my mind went when you said lawyer.”
“No, it’s not that. Someone I used to know left me some shit in her will.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“That’s all it is?”
“Pretty much.”
“Then why the hell do you look like that?”
“I thought I was gettin’ sued or something,” I shot back. My hands wouldn’t stop tingling. I shook them out and flexed them again.
“Well, good news is—you’re not.” Cian grinned.
“Yeah, bad news is—she’s dead.”
My best friend’s face fell instantly. “Shit, Bas. I’m a fuckin’ idiot.”
“Nah, you’re fine.”
“You knew this woman well? I guess you must’ve if she left you something in her will, right?”
“I hadn’t seen her in years,” I confessed, shame crawling up my spine. “But once upon a time, yeah.”
The fucking understatement of the century.
“I’m sorry, man,” Cian said with a grimace.
“Just surprised me,” I replied quietly. I cleared my throat.
Shit, was I going to fucking cry?
“Hey, when did you get here?” Titus called as he jogged down the stairs, slicking wet hair back from his face.
“Just got here,” Cian replied, glancing over his shoulder. “Your sister’s in the kitchen.”
“You brought food?”
“Yeah, she’s been working on it for two days.”
“Sweet,” Titus said with a smile, passing right by us on the way to the kitchen.
“I’m guessin’ Noel’s still in the shower,” Cian said with a chuckle.
“Good chance, yeah.”
“Look, man, if you want to head out, I’ll make an excuse. I’ll tell ’em you’ve got the shits or somethin’.”
“No, it’s fine,” I assured him.
Spending the night surrounded by people that would undoubtedly notice something was off was marginally better than spending it alone in my apartment, spiraling about shit I couldn’t change even if I wanted to.
There was a comfort in being surrounded by the people who had become my family, even if I was hoping they wouldn’t ask me any questions.
I could be cool for a few hours. I just needed to figure out a way to put all of that mess out of my mind. I’d deal with it on Monday when I called that lawyer back. If I called him back. I wasn’t even sure I wanted anything to do with Bernice’s estate.
“Fuck this, I’m getting a beer,” I announced, shoving Cian out of the way.
He laughed as he followed.
Within the hour, the house had started filling up with the usual crowd and quite a few people I’d never seen before, and unsurprisingly most of them were women.
Someone had strung caution tape across the stairs to keep the strangers from the bedrooms, but beyond that it was a free-for-all.
Every inch of the couch was covered, the kitchen was standing room only, music was playing so loud that you could barely hear yourself think, and the dining room table was taken over by a rowdy game of quarters.
I’d managed to be personable thanks to frequent refills to the keg, but when the alcohol had begun to feel less like a party and more like drowning my sorrows, I headed out back for some air.
The rain had stopped, and the noise was muted when I sat down on the little outdoor loveseat and lit a cigarette.
I barely smoked, but I always had a pack either in my pocket or the saddlebag on my bike.
I’d had to quit while my lip and tongue piercings were healing, and I’d never really started up again, even after I’d ditched them.
In the beginning, I’d had something to mess with instead of having a cigarette in my mouth, and eventually I’d just no longer craved them.
The urge only came back when I was drinking or was dealing with heavy shit.
Tonight checked both boxes.
I glanced up as the back door opened and watched from the dark area of the back porch as a familiar woman snuck outside and quietly closed the door behind her.
She walked over to the railing and let out a loud sigh, raising her arms out at her sides, turning her palms up like she was going to catch raindrops that weren’t there.
“Glad to be home?” I asked, making her shriek in surprise.
“Jesus, Bas!” Harper spit, her hand pressed to her chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“I was here first,” I reminded her, barely holding back a laugh.
“Well, you didn’t have to sit silently in the dark.”
“You would’ve been less startled if I was out here talking to myself?”
“At least I would’ve known you were there,” she replied with a small laugh as she walked toward me. “Why are you out here all alone?”
“Wanted some quiet.”
“Yeah, I can understand that,” she said, plopping down beside me. “I forgot how crazy the parties get.”
“This is nothin’,” I reminded her. “Tame compared to parties at the club.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t been to one of those in a while either.”
“You should.”
Harper made a little noise in her throat and pulled her knees up to her chest as I dropped my barely smoked cigarette in the sand-filled coffee can left outside for that purpose.
“The oldies would love to see you.”
“I see them at family dinners,” Harper replied, resting her chin on her knees. “Parties aren’t really my thing.”
“Seemed to be doin’ just fine in there.” She’d blended right in when she showed up with Gray and Frankie earlier in the night.
“I’m good at faking it.” She grinned.
“Why you out here?” I asked curiously. “Mask slippin’?”
“Something like that.” Her smile faded. “What about you?”
“Same thing.”
“I thought you liked these parties,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“Normally do,” I confirmed. “Just got some shit I’m dealin’ with. Probably should’ve headed home before I started drinkin’.”
“I bet Gray would drive you home if you wanted,” she offered helpfully. “He’s our DD.”
“I’m not askin’ your brother to drive me home,” I huffed.
“Why not?” She swayed a little toward me, then snapped back upright. “I bet he wouldn’t mind.”
“I’d never hear the end of it.”
Harper shrugged and pushed her glasses up using one finger at the bridge of her nose. The movement was so fucking cute it was almost startling, and she did it with no self-consciousness.