Page 35 of Riding Dirty

“And now that you’re almost thirty?” I ask.

She frowns, her gaze searching mine. “You know how old I am?” she asks.

I snort. “Haze,” I begin. “Elodie Langley, twenty-nine, born here in Boulder City. Dad unknown. Mom is alive, but you don’t have a relationship with her because she’s been on drugs your whole life, same with Alex’s mom. Considering they’re sisters, guess it runs in that family.

“Alex has lived with you on and off because your mom might have been a crackwhore, but she at least always kept a roof over your head, unlike his mother. You have a sister named Maren, who is thirty-one, married, and has two kids. You’re close, but not that close. Trauma does that sometimes.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said all of that out loud. It’s the quiet part, but I looked into her before I hired her. I had to know who I was bringing into my club. It wasn’t difficult to find any of that information because most of it was public.

“My dad isn’t unknown,” she whispers.

“No?” I ask. “Didn’t see him listed anywhere.”

She hums, clearing her throat once. “Well, he didn’t want to be associated with her for obvious reasons,” she begins. “But he was her dealer. He went to prison a few times. He lives in Vegas now. Maren and I do not have the same father. Hers has been in her life since the beginning, probably the only reason she’s less fucked up than me and was able to meet, marry, and have children with a decent man.”

“You saying she had a better chance? Being born to the same mom? Sometimes people with the same mother and father can have vastly different outcomes.” I should fucking know.

My own sister turned out to be a lot like Elodie’s mother—a crack whore, hooked on shit. She couldn’t ever get off, fucked herself up so goddamn badly that there was no fucking hope. And I’d hoped for decades that she would come back, that she would rise up, that she would marry Dare and make a good old lady. That she would just be my big sister, Kaitlin, again.

Elodie laughs softly, though it doesn’t sound like she finds anything about this conversation funny. I’m thinking I should have just fucked her instead of asking her about her mattress. Now I’m thinking about Kaitlin, and I try pretty fucking hard not to think about her as a general self-rule.

Elodie doesn’t even realize all the shit I’m working through, too, in this simple conversation, and as she continues, her nails gently digging into the flesh of my chest, she jerks my focus off my own thoughts and onto her.

“I was about to say something, but the look on your face tells me you’re a million miles away,” she whispers.

I should probably tell her what, or rather who, I’m thinking about, but I don’t feel like it’s the time. Hardly anyone, aside from Dare and a few of the guys my age down at the club, even knows who Kaitlin is. Talking about her makes me feel some kind of way, and I’m not ready for that.

At least not right now.

“Maren had a better chance and a better life than I did. Her father saved her in more ways than one. She didn’t always live with me, but she was always good to me and always loved me. She’s always there for me, the way a sister should be, and she really didn’t have to be. I wouldn’t have blamed her at all if she didn’t want to have any contact. Life isn’t always about the mom and dad you have, Coast. Sometimes it’s about you, too. Sometimes it’s about ensuring that you don’t become something, and sometimes it’s one wrong choice with no idea of how to get out.”

Food for fucking thought if I ever heard it.

I cup her cheek, and as I slide my thumb across her bottom lip, I don’t shift my gaze away from hers. Being vulnerable, having deep conversations, it’s not something I’ve ever done before.

Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about it.

But I like being in this bed, being beside Elodie, so if a couple of deep conversations is what it takes to keep this, then I guess I’ll have to do that.

“I’m getting you out of the hood, babe,” I announce. Her eyes widen, but I shift my thumb so it’s pressed against the center of her lips to keep her from talking. “No questions asked, and I won’t be answering them, either. You and Alex are moving.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

ELODIE

Once the conversation is considered finished, by Coast’s standards at least, I can’t do anything but stare at him. He’s announced I’m moving, and that is that. Which I think is kind of funny, because we aren’t even together, and he’s already dictating where I’ll be living. Next, he’s going to try and tell me what to wear.

I mean, Coast is hot and great in bed, and it’s not like I’ve dated much, so I don’t really know how relationships go, but I’m not going to let him do that.

“Oh, I’ve got questions,” I say. “Like, how are you trying to tell me that and say that I can’t ask any questions? I can’t afford to get out of the hood yet,” I point out.

His lips curve up into a grin, his eyes focus on mine, and I swear my pussy clenches at the sight. Absolutely breathtaking. I didn’t think a man could be, but Coast is. He’s beautiful in the most rugged, rough way, and I want him again.

He wraps his fingers around my wrist, tugging me forward so I am lying against his body again. The feel of his warm flesh against my own is so damn sexy. Then he wraps his arms around me and rolls me onto my back.

The pure definition of rolling in the sheets, and I love it.