Chapter 4
My bed was already the best thing about my house, but now it really was. Red sheets, black comforter, matching pillows. And now it really was. The first night I hadn’t spent alone in quite a while.
Granted, I kept a respectful distance from Monica who slept in the middle, while the lady loving Cassie laid down on the other end, but having some feminine energy was better than none.
And if anyone was expecting me to put any moves on Monica, I went against expectation by keeping to my side and lying on my back.
I’d already established myself as a dangerous man, all I had to do was play it cool and let the slituation work itself out.
I also neglected to mention the hot tub.
Almost asleep, but then the internal questions began.
What are you doing?
Is that hope I smell?
How long are you gonna play this game?
At any given time, I had the option of going on a rampage in which every attempt to kill me would trigger a stronger adaptation.
Even if there was a way to vaporize me, by the time they busted out the nukes, I’d be overturning tanks with my bare hands.
As someone I never wanted to see again once told me, I could be playing God. Change the world and all that. But I wasn’t interested in making other people’s visions, other people’s problems my responsibility.
I just wanted to live my life and have some fun, and at that moment, fun was knocking on my door. Two roommates in a single night, and all I had to do was rob some motherfuckers.
Which, on the face of it, sounded really bad, but at least the guys I was after were criminals.
But Jax, you’re a criminal.
I shook off the notion by reminding myself that I wasn’t a criminal, I was an outlaw. Critical difference. If the government was going to regard me as outside the law, then I would not bind myself to it.
My only limitations were self-imposed, because I wanted to play in society’s sandbox a while longer; get a girl, do the sexy things, maybe grow a tree or two.
So I silently made an agreement with myself. As long as the powers-that-be stayed out of my way, I wouldn’t go out of my way to break the system.
Go out of my way to break it; didn’t mean I wouldn’t.
Critical difference.
“Is he asleep?” Cassie whispered.
“How can I tell?” Monica whispered back.
“I dunno, ask him!”
“If I ask him and he’s asleep then I would wake him up!”
Cassie sighed. “Just check, okay?”
Monica’s next move was to shimmy her booty on over against my side and wiggle it a little. She’s lucky I wasn’t facing her, or that would’ve rubbed straight against my dick.
“Don’t do that!” Cassie’s whisper came out like a hiss.
“You just asked me to!”
“That was the ‘fuck me’ signal.”
“He ain’t even awake,” Monica retorted with a hint of her talking voice. “Boy’s out cold.”
“Ugh…” Cassie groaned airily. “I’m going to the bathroom. Come on.”
“What the fuck for?”
“So we can talk!”
Cassie slid out of bed first, followed by Monica, leaving me in the bed to ponder things while they went and gossiped about their next move in the en suite.
Could I have gotten up and eavesdropped on them? Sure. But there was no way I’d make it back to the bed before they came to the door.
I had listening devices for that.
One in every single room, just in case.
Call me paranoid, but I had reason to be.
On the off-chance Cassie or Monica were spying on me or planning on snitching me out to some corporate dick or government asshole, my surveillance would butt-fuck their plans before anyone else could.
I quietly picked up my phone, my big gun under my pillow, and turned on a custom app to turn on the hidden camera and mic setup to find out what they were up to.
After seeing Cassie sitting on the toilet with her pants around her ankles while Monica inspected her makeup in the mirror, I noped out and turned it off.
Yup, they were having real girl-talk.
I locked my phone, put it down, and laid there pretending to be asleep. When Cassie and Monica returned, they were giggling to themselves, hopping back in the bed like they were excited for something.
Whatever they were plotting, I knew it would be fun, so I went to sleep with a smile on my face.
***
I awoke to the sound of the front door closing, my conditioned vigilance ever sensitive to the sounds of my house. My recollection of the previous night flooded in like flashes, reminding me that I’d gone to bed with two women from my favorite urban haunt.
But when I heard the slamming of the entrance, I got out of bed quick. Donning only my pajama pants, I snatched my gun from under my pillow and marched down the hall, halting with a flinch as I saw Monica carrying paper grocery bags in each hand.
She crossed my field of vision from the hallway and headed for the kitchen, followed by Cassie shortly after, who was holding a big white plastic bag from IHOP that smelled of eggs and bacon.
I set my gun on a half-circle wooden lamp table against the wall beside me. “Are those hash browns I smell?”
“Jaxon!” Cassie saw me as I came through the hall completely shirtless, rummaging through the bag to take out a stack of black plastic food carriers with clear lids. “Your kitchen didn’t have much, so we got some food.”
“Your kitchen didn’t have shit,” Monica remarked as she slid a gallon of fresh milk into the fridge, then straightened up to look me up and down. “Well damn, you got muscles too?”
“I might have done a pushup or two,” I dismissed while coming to the counter island and pulling up a stool while Cassie set slid me a pack of utensils. “What’s the damage?”
“We took care of it,” said Cassie as she popped open a foam ramekin full of blueberry syrup and poured it in a spiral on her stack of pancakes. “Now that I don’t have to pay rent or hotel fare, I bought food instead.”
“You take my truck?” I asked while sniffing the smell of sausage links as I popped the clear lid off my entree.
“Don’t worry, I brought it back with a full tank,” Monica took my keys out of her pocket and tossed it onto the counter, taking the stool across from me. “You said it was tracked, right? I figured you wouldn’t mind since I’m workin’ for you now.”
I glared suspiciously to my right where Cassie was sitting. “Anybody follow you?”
She turned slightly paler. “Was I supposed to check?”
“No,” I shrugged as I squeezed a packet of ketchup onto my hash browns, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and dug in. “Just checking.”
Monica sighed in relief with her hand on her chest. “Almost gave me a heart attack. I’d have brought the gat if I thought I needed it.”
I smiled with a subdued chuckle. “Gat?”
Monica’s caramel cheeks turned a shade of pink. “You know, a gun? Strap, blicky; whatever works in the moment.”
“Oh,” I said with mild amusement. “I’m so behind the times it’s embarrassing.”
“It’s more of a street thing so outsiders don’t know what we’re talking about,” Monica explained. “We switch up lingo all the time so don’t feel bad. Nobody knows what the fuck we be saying.”
“Thanks for that,” I smirked with a chortle. “I only just learned what ‘rizz’ meant last week.”
“I could put you up on game, if you like.”
“Game. You mean, teach me?”
“See? You’re already learning!” Monica happily gushed.
Cassie giggled. “You should hear her customer service voice.”
I smiled at the suggestion, then looked at Monica in surprise while chewing on a strip of bacon. “You have one of those?”
“You wanna hear?” Monica asked with a face of excitement.
“Go for it,” I encouraged.
Monica immediately dropped her urban accent with clear, slang-free enunciation. “If you’re not privy to our code-switching, I can give you a primer on a number of street terms and epithets.”
I cackled with my hand clutching my gut at Monica’s ‘customer service’ impression. She was definitely smarter than she let on—which was apparently the point.
“Almost didn’t recognize your voice for a second there,” I remarked.
Monica giggled softly. “We’re not in the south side anymore, so I’ll tone it down for you.”
“Talk how you talk, and walk how you walk,” I said with an unblinking gaze. “I’ll take my time learning the rest.”
Monica slowed her chewing to hold eye contact with me for a moment, followed by Cassie clearing her throat.
“Ahem,” Cassie voiced. “So about that party…”
Monica snapped out of our locked mutual stare to gush with excitement. “That’s right!”
“We’re gonna need furniture before that,” I pointed out, looking at both women in all seriousness. “I’ll spend whatever it takes, but first, let’s talk about this warehouse we’re busting into.”
“Okay,” Monica stabbed her fork into her over medium egg. “When do you wanna run that?”
“Tonight…”