Chapter 8
KNIGHT
Hollywood arrived at five, a six-pack of some fancy frou-frou beer under his arm. I didn’t care for it, but he seemed to love the designer brands.
“Where do you want this?” he asked as he came up the porch steps.
“Fridge inside is fine.”
“You want one?” he asked.
I lifted my half-finished Miller. “Good for now.”
“Okay.” He disappeared through the door.
I finished setting up folding chairs so we could hang out on the porch. I’d tasked Joyride with bringing the food in the hopes he’d feel too obligated to bail. He hadn’t come to any casual hangouts with the guys yet, but this was important.
One of our own had dropped out of the program, and I wasn’t willing to let that lie. If we didn’t look out for one another, no one would.
Ghost pulled up in a black eighties-model Jaguar that had seen better days. It was a fucking cool car, but it wore a big dent in the passenger door and rust around the fenders.
He’d found it out in the junkyard and gotten Forrester Bros Auto to help him get it running enough to drive. By the sounds of the motor, it was still rough.
Ghost parked and came through the gate. “I brought beer. I can’t stand that IPA shit Holly buys.”
Hollywood leaned out of my open door. “I heard that.”
“Good,” Ghost grumbled. “Maybe you’ll stop foisting it on everybody.”
“None of you has any goddamned taste,” Hollywood said as he dropped into a chair. “Tex is the worst. He always says—”
He stopped abruptly.
“What happened with you two?” I asked.
Hollywood shook his head. “I really don’t know.”
“Your argument sounded personal,” I pushed. “Ordinarily, I’d say that’s your business, but—”
“You’re right,” Hollywood gritted out. “It’s my business. Besides, there’s nothing to tell. He bailed. Said it was what he does best. He didn’t want to explain much more than that.”
Ghost came up the steps and leaned against the railing. “Some men don’t know how to be at peace,” he said quietly.
“Well, he’s one of us,” I said. “We can’t just let him go off the rails. Do we know if he really went to his family in Hayworth?”
“I haven’t heard anything,” Hollywood said. “Don’t imagine I will.”
“Yeah, he’s ignoring all my calls,” I said. “I couldn’t get even a text back.”
Ghost cleared his throat. “I, uh, talked to him.”
Hollywood whipped his head toward Ghost. “He talked to you?”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“I called to check in, like everyone else.” Ghost set his six-pack of beer on the fence railing. “He didn’t say much. He’s at his sister’s place. He thought it was best we let him be. He said he wasn’t in the right headspace to be talking to anyone.”
Hollywood blew out a frustrated breath. “So nothing new, then.”
Ghost pulled out a beer and twisted off the cap with a grunt.
“At least we know where he is,” I said. “We can go check on him.”
“Not sure that’s a good idea,” Ghost said. “The man wants to be left alone.”
“I know, but he’s—”
“Ghost is right,” Hollywood said. “Leave him alone. It’s what he wants. He can run away and hide forever. Fuck it.”
He tipped up his beer and guzzled half the bottle. Ghost and I exchanged a concerned look.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Holly? I know you two were tight.”
He lowered the bottle and wiped his mouth. “Yeah, just bored with the Tex drama. Let’s move the fuck on.”
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “I guess we should order pizza. It’s looking like Joyride is a no-show again.”
“Not so fast,” Hollywood said, shifting forward. “There he is.”
A bright yellow Hummer came around the curve of the circle and cruised toward us, damn near as wide as the whole road.
He parked in front of the driveway, blocking me in and ensuring Aiden wouldn’t have access. Douchenozzle behavior, but what could I expect from a guy driving a fucking Hummer?
The door opened, and he hopped out with a grocery sack dangling from two fingers. “Nice place you’ve got out in the boonies.”
Such a little shit.
“Well, he could just move into your Hummer,” Hollywood suggested. “It’s as big as a fucking house.”
“Probably cost as much too,” Ghost added.
Joyride grimaced. “Dad’s making me drive it. Says he doesn’t trust me to drive the BMW.”
“That’s rough,” I deadpanned. “What’s in the bag? I was expecting takeout.”
“Oh, sorry.” Joyride came up the stairs and handed it to me. “I didn’t know what you wanted.”
I opened the bag, expecting to see bags of chips or pretzels, but instead I got an eyeful of red meat. “Holy shit. You got steaks?”
“Is that okay?”
Hollywood’s eyes brightened. “Hell yes, that’s okay. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had steak.”
“Beef is too damn expensive,” Ghost agreed, reaching for the bag. “I’ll get these prepped. You got some seasoning?”
“Yeah, cupboard by the stove.”
He nodded and went through the door. I turned to the gas grill. Luckily, I’d given it a good cleaning, so it shouldn’t take much to fire it up.
I turned it on, and adjusted the temperature, then gave it a liberal coating of cooking spray.
Joyride helped himself to a can of Coors from the six-pack Ghost had left on the porch.
“I’ve got some Goose Island IPA inside if you’d rather have that,” Hollywood offered.
Joyride wrinkled his nose. “Not a fan of the IPA shit.”
I laughed. “Even the rich kid turns up his nose, Holly. Might be time to admit your taste is crap.”
Hollywood didn’t fire back as usual. He just sighed. “It’s seeming that way.”
Somehow, I didn’t think he was really talking about beer.
I’d always wondered if there might be more than friendship cooking between Tex and Hollywood.
It was tough to tell because Tex could be such a dick about making inappropriate gay jokes.
I was torn between him being a homophobe or a closet case.
Hollywood had never given any sign he was into men.
He had an ex-girlfriend and a young daughter.
That didn’t mean much, though. There were plenty of men who were bi or pan—or, in prison, sexually fluid because of their limited options.
Ghost returned with a plate of steaks nicely seasoned with a peppercorn rub. I took it from him and slid them onto the grill one by one, relishing the sizzle of cooking meat.
“I hope you like your steaks medium rare. When my roommate gets home, you’ve all got to clear out.”
“Don’t want to spring a bunch of felons on him, huh?” Joyride said.
“It’s not like that. Aiden had his first day at the hospital. He’s probably stressed enough without a bunch of strangers in his space. We’re still adjusting to living together, you know?”
“Shit,” Hollywood said. “I totally forgot Tex was supposed to move in with you. Damn, he fucked you over too.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but it’s okay. Flynn’s brother needed a place to stay.”
“That’s a lucky break,” Hollywood said.
Was it? I wasn’t sure yet. Aiden had seemed a little uncomfortable after I’d stupidly barged in on him this morning. I’d been half-asleep, and it’d taken too damn long for me to realize I was staring at him like a creeper.
He was obnoxiously gorgeous, though. It was just damn hard to look away. He was slender, but not fragile. His features were delicate—soft, but not feminine—but his body was harder. He wasn’t rocking six-pack abs, but he was tight and toned.
And I should not be thinking about how badly I’d wanted to rip that towel off him this morning.
Aiden had made it clear that he didn’t want to relive our hookup in Omaha. It would be a terrible idea, even if he did.
But I’d never been much good at resisting a terrible idea. If I had, I never would have run after Puck that night. Probably never would have hooked up with him or joined the Serpents either, for that matter.
I was the fucking king of bad ideas.
“Hey, where’s Matteo?” Joyride asked out of the blue.
“Probably at home with his pretty fiancée,” I said. “He doesn’t join us for beers. Not professional enough for the director of the program.”
“Shit,” Joyride said. “You mean I didn’t have to come?”
Ghost snorted. Hollywood broke into a laugh. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.
“What?” Joyride asked, a defensive edge to his tone. “What’s so funny?”
“You’re such a goddamned brat, that’s what,” Hollywood said.
Joyride gave us all a glower that would rival any teenager pissed at his parents. That just made us laugh harder.
“Shit, kid.” I pulled the tongs off the side of the grill to flip over the steaks. “You sure as hell had to come.”
“Why?” he demanded.
Hollywood gestured toward me. “Matteo might lead the program officially, but Knight here is our den mother.”
Ghost made a choking sound.
“You’re gonna kill Ghost with jokes like that,” I said. “He’s not used to laughing. Also, fuck you. I’m not a den mother.”
Joyride smirked. “That’s why this whole thing has reminded me of Boy Scouts.”
I flipped him the bird. “Go get plates and silverware. There’s some potato salad in the fridge too. Grab that.”
Hollywood pushed out of his chair. “I’ll go supervise.”
“I don’t need a boss,” Joyride sniped.
“Too bad. You’ve got three of them.”
They continued to bicker as the screen door slapped shut and they headed for the kitchen. Ghost shifted over to the grill.
“Those look great.”
“Yep.” I pressed my tongs into the top of one, feeling for how much give it had. “They should be about done.”
It would be better to let them rest, but we didn’t have all night. So, when Joyride emerged with plates, I slid a steak onto each and we all crowded in around the tiny bistro table on the porch.
Hollywood brought out a bag of barbecue chips along with the potato salad. It wasn’t a gourmet pairing, but hell, we were mostly excited for the meat, anyway.
“Ghost, toss me another beer?”
He pulled one out and tossed it my way. I caught it and set it on the table.
Hollywood had fetched another IPA for himself, and Joyride was still nursing the Coors. I got the feeling the kid didn’t like beer but didn’t want to admit it.
“I’ve got soda inside,” I told him.
“Fuck off,” he said. “I’m over twenty-one.”
“I know that. Just realized I’d never asked if you liked beer.”
He shrugged. “It’s no Gatorita, I guess.”
“Gator-whata?” Hollywood asked.
“It’s Gatorade and tequila.”
“Ugh. Do you vomit blue when you can’t hold your liquor?”
Joyride laughed. “Or purple or red. But hey, at least you’re getting your electrolytes with the alcohol.”
“That’s either stupid as hell or total genius,” Hollywood said.
I chuckled and took a swig of my beer. “I’m glad my partying days are over. Trying to keep up with the Serpents was brutal.”
Joyride turned toward me. “The Serpents?”
“Motorcycle club. We were a small subset, actually. Sons of Serpents. We did a lot of the petty jobs for the larger club.”
“Whoa,” he said, sounding more impressed with me than before. “So you were, like, a real badass then?”
“I was a criminal,” I said bluntly. “Just like everyone here.”
“Not me,” Joyride said. “Not really. Not like…like you. I mean, I fucked up.” His voice grew heavy. “I made such a stupid mistake. Ruined everything for no reason. But I wasn’t a badass, you know. Just an idiot.”
“That’s how it started for all of us,” Hollywood said. “Even Knight.”
I nodded. “That’s true, except you kind of pulled your shit on purpose. Wasn’t really a mistake.”
Hollywood smirked and spread his hands. “Guilty. I wanted to stick it to the man.”
“And take a little tip for yourself?”
“I mean, I spent a lot of labor in writing the code that would skim NGO Corp’s profits. It was only fair to compensate myself, right?”
“You did what?” Joyride asked.
Hollywood delved into the details of his embezzlement scheme, which had a little Robin Hood flavor in that he diverted profits to former employees cheated out of their retirement funds by company bullshit.
“Of course, I never meant to get caught,” Hollywood said. “That part was sure as shit a mistake.”
“Damn,” Joyride said. “What about you, Ghost?”
Ghost’s jaw tightened, and he looked away. “Doesn’t matter. We’re all in the same place.”
He was never one to talk about his past. I suspected he’d gone to prison for something really fucking bad. He’d been in a long time, longer than any of us.
I cleared the plates, returning just as Aiden’s car came into view.
“All right, guys, it’s been fun, but Aiden’s here. Time to clear out.”
“Damn, just like that, we’re not welcome,” Joyride grumbled.
“Well, maybe if you hadn’t blocked the drive like an asshole…”
“My bad,” he said, pulling keys from his pocket. “I’ll see you guys next week.”
He jogged down the steps, and Ghost followed.
I put a hand on Hollywood’s arm as he moved to follow. “I know you don’t want to talk about Tex. I respect that. But I can’t stand by and let him go off the rails.”
“Do what you gotta do,” Hollywood said. “Just leave me out of it.”
Damn. That was not the answer I’d wanted.
The Hummer took off and Aiden pulled into the drive.
Ghost tipped his head at him as he silently passed.
Hollywood exchanged a hasty greeting and made a beeline for his Toyota.
Kind of ironic that the flashiest guy among us drove the least flashy car.
But then, Hollywood had been hit hard by restitution, just like I had.
He lived in a tiny room for rent, far from the upper-middle-class life he’d been living before he went all Robin Hood on his corporate overlords.
“Hey, didn’t mean to break up the party,” Aiden said as he came up the sidewalk.
“Oh, we were about done.” I folded the two chairs I’d brought out of the house to carry back inside. “Did you get dinner?”
“Yeah, I grabbed something at the cafeteria.” He held the door for me, and I went inside, a chair under each arm. He wrinkled his nose. “Probably won’t make a habit of that.”
“Not great, huh?”
“It won’t kill me,” he said. “Not sure I can say much more for it.”
I chuckled as I resettled the chairs around the table. “I could make you a snack. I make a mean hatch-chili quesadilla.”
“Thanks, but I’m just going to call it a night,” Aiden said, hovering by the entrance to the hall.
I paused, surprised. It was only seven. “You can chill and watch TV or something. This is your house, too.”
“I know. I’m just tired.”
Worry flared. “Did your first day go okay?”
He shrugged. “Kind of boring. You know how first days are.”
“Ah. Well, maybe tomorrow you’ll have more to report, huh? If you want, we could coordinate our dinner plans. Seems silly to cook for one.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll be working late. I’m volunteering at the free clinic, plus I want to observe surgery whenever I can.”
“Sounds like a busy schedule.”
“It is.” He shrugged. “I told you the other day. We’ll be like two ships passing in the night.”
He went into his room and closed the door. Well, damn. I’d hoped to break the ice and make up for my misstep this morning. But if Aiden wanted to avoid me after I’d drooled over him half-naked, I couldn’t really blame him.
I’d just have to respect his boundaries and hope he’d give me a second chance.