Page 2 of Puck (The Lost Boys MC)
Frost held out his arms. “Guess he found it then.”
Stone lunged at his throat, but I jumped between the two guys. I wrapped my arms around Stone’s brutish chest and dragged him back across the room. Frost stood there with the cockiest, shit-eating smile on his face and it made me want to slug him myself. But I focused on holding Stone back as he drew in deep breaths.
Just like Hayley had told him to do so many damn times before.
“He’s right, you know,” I murmured.
Stone slowly turned his attention to me. “You? Of all people? After he saved your sister?”
Frost scoffed. “He didn’t save shit.”
Stone pointed at him. “You shut the hell up before I toss your ass out into the street.”
“At least he wouldn’t be cooped up here any longer,” I murmured to myself.
Stone’s eyes grew wild. “Again, I fucking heard that, you little drop of shit.”
“Hey,” I barked as I puffed out my chest, “we’re all tired of being cooped up here, not just me.”
Frost backed me up. “He’s right. We’re all sick and tired of it.”
Stone took a step back and shook his head. “Well, if you want to take your chances out there, then go right on ahead. But I won’t be sending patrols to come look for you if you go missing. Not if you go against the rules.”
I backed up toward Frost. “Since when have we ever been big on rules?”
Stone’s eye twitched. “Since the cartel turned their eye to us. This is exactly what they want, by the way. They want us to eat ourselves from the inside out. They want to divide us. That’s how they win. They want to smoke us out so that when we do finally cave and leave, we are either underprepared or fighting amongst ourselves so fucking much that it doesn’t matter if we have a plan in place. So, you go right on ahead and do whatever you think is best for you, and I’ll make sure to keep doing what I think is best for everyone else.”
I looked over at Frost and he simply shrugged as Stone stormed out of the living room. We waited until we could no longer hear his footsteps rumbling through the warehouse, then we headed into the kitchen to get another beer. We chugged back at least three of them, trying to remove ourselves from the warehouse and imagine a life outside of these decorated tin walls.
Then, Frost stood from the table. “I should head to bed.”
I snickered. “Pussy. It’s only eleven o’clock.”
He barked with laughter. “I’d rather be a pussy than hung over as fuck in the morning for that meeting. I want to make sure my voice is heard.”
“Your answer should’ve been because you don’t want to piss off Stone anymore.”
But all he did was wink at me as he pushed his chair underneath the table. “See you bright and early, pussy!”
I mockingly saluted him. “I’ll have another one for you!”
He turned around and started walking backwards. “Don’t do anything stupid, all right? Promise me.”
I waved my hand at him. “Dude, I promise, okay? You just go have your warm milk and wrap up with your favorite blanket and take an antacid, old man.”
He cackled all the way back to his bedroom, but once his laughter silenced, the entire warehouse stood still. Within a few quiet seconds, I was back to being bored out of my fucking mind.
And nowhere near being buzzed.
“Ah, fuck it,” I murmured.
I mean, who the hell would know I had snuck out for a drink if I come back in a couple of hours? Everyone else was dead asleep since we had apparently gotten old, but I still had a life to live.
So, I crept through the warehouse, gathered up my gear, then slipped right out the front door.
I walked my bike up the dirt and gravel road for almost a damn mile before I hopped on, struck up the engine, and headed back into town.
Seriously, what was the worst that could happen in the span of two hours?
Two
Brigid
“Morning, everyone!”
Grumbles came from behind the front desk as I walked in through the front door of Pathways. I’d volunteered my free time at the rehab center for the past few months now and I couldn’t wait for my first appointment.
“Are those doughnuts?” the intake woman asked.
I sat them down in front of her. “Why yes, they are.”
Another woman rolled over in her chair and sniffed the air. “I smell coffee.”
I set the to-go carafe on the table. “Surprise!”
The women descended upon my offerings like vultures over a dead carcass, giving me just enough time to slip away. The front desk ladies that helped check people in and out would talk my ear off for an hour and make me late if I didn’t bring some sort of sacrifice to put in front of them instead.
