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“Well, board, first of all.”

“Board?”

“Rent?”

“Fuck that. No. You’re not paying fuckingboardto stay in my room. Get the fuck outta here.”

Was he brash and aggressively caring? Yes. But I found it almost unbearably charming.

“What else?” he asked as we went down the steps.

“Well, I was also wondering about the rules.”

“What rules?” he asked.

“Well, club rules,” I said as the guys glanced over.

“Well, for one,” Eddie said, snapping a pair of tongs between turning breakfast sausage patties in a pan. “No hooking up in the kitchen.”

Everyone turned to look at the guy I remembered being named Dixon.

“What? I didn’t know!” he said, throwing up a hand.

“It’s just plain unsanitary, man,” Eddie said, shaking his head as he started to pile food onto a plate.

“It won’t happen again,” Dixon said, looking a little pink in the cheeks.

“That’s for me?” I asked when Eddie passed me a towering plate.

“I hear you’re a ballerina, but I can’t have you leaving my table looking that skinny,” he said. “It’s an insult to the food.”

With a laugh, I took the plate. “Thank you. And I don’t really dance anymore,” I said. “Aside from for fun here or there. This smells amazing,” I added. Then, in a lower voice to Coast, “He won’t be insulted if I can’t finish all this, right?”

“Don’t worry,” Coast said, taking his plate, then pressing his free hand to my lower back to lead me over to the table. “Someone will clear your plate for you. I dunno if you’ve met everyone here. So, everyone, this is Zoe. Zoe, this is Dixon, Caymen, Kylo, York, and Velle. And that,” he said, nodding over toward where a man was sitting at the island, “is Jade’s man. Levee.”

“Where is Jade? I can take back Lainey so she can eat.”

“They’re in the back on a blanket looking at the clouds,” Levee said, eyes soft just thinking about his woman. “Your daughter sounds like an owl,” he added, eyes warm.

“She does,” I agreed. “I love her little hoots.”

“Got a good laugh, too,” Eddie added.

“That’s new. Just the past week or so. It’s such a great sound.”

The memory of Coast blowing raspberries on her belly and getting that laugh out of her made my heart go all gooey again.

“Gotta find me a honey to give me about five of ‘em,” Eddie said.

“Hey, she’s got a friend with three littles,” Coast said. “She’s a piece of work too.”

“How was Brooke?” I asked.

“Strapped.”

“What?”

“She said she wasn’t worried about any issues at the motel because she’s got guns to protect her and the kids.”