Coast

“What, is there a gator out there or something?” York asked as he came down the stairs, still pulling on his shirt, to find Kylo standing at the front window with the curtain pulled back.

Giving up on getting some more sleep, I sat up on the couch, reaching to pull a fuchsia bra out from under me.

The owner of it must have left without it.

It would have to go in the club’s lost & found with all the other discarded articles of clothing.

One girl had left a whole jean skirt once.

And, randomly, an actual vibrator. We were still stumped at the idea of someone being attached enough to it to actually bring it around in her bag with her.

“You didn’t hear all the equipment?” Kylo asked, pulling the curtain wide.

Sure enough, there were excavators, backhoes, Bobcats, cranes, forklifts, and about two dozen men wandering around what had previously been an empty lot.

“I thought that was protected land,” York said, moving to stand next to Kylo.

“Nothing is safe anymore,” Kylo said with a sigh. “I didn’t even hear about any plans to build.”

“Probably involved a bunch of palm-greasing,” York said. “See any signage for what is coming?”

“Either way, Huck isn’t going to like it,” Kylo said.

I might have been a new member of the club, but I was up on the lore. And it seemed like the reason they didn’t rebuild the clubhouse that blew up back in Miami was that they wanted more space and privacy.

We’d been able to do just about anything we wanted, thanks to the only neighbors being actual club members and their families.

But whether these would be houses or something industrial, it would mean a lot more eyes around, seeing shit they maybe shouldn’t. And that wasn’t even to mention the cameras.

It was a hard time to be a criminal. Every business, personal home, and fucking doorbell has a camera these days. So unless you live in Bumfuck, Nowhere, the chances of your crimes being caught on film were pretty high.

Seemed like a bunch of challenges would be coming to the club in the near future. Whether any of us liked it or not.

“Oh, ah, morning,” Candy, one of the regular club girls, said as she came down the stairs in nothing but one of Velle’s band shirts. “You guys are never up this early.”

“What time is it?” I asked, reaching for a warm can of beer and taking a swig.

“Eight,” Candy said with a smirk. “But since no one went to bed until five…” She paused, shifting her feet. “Any chance Eddie is here yet?”

“He’s pulling in now,” Kylo said, nodding at the sleek sports car making its way into the drive after a short pause to gawk at the construction.

“I’ll make some coffee,” York offered.

“Absolutely not, Big Guy,” Candy said, pressing a hand to his chest. “The last time you made coffee, I had heart palpitations all day. I’ll make the coffee.”

“What makes you the expert?” he asked.

“I literally do it for a living,” she said, rolling her eyes at his lack of knowledge about her life outside of club girl good times.

“Do we need to clean the couch?” York asked, looking at me sitting there in nothing but my bathing suit trunks, some random girl’s bra draped over my thigh.

I scrubbed a hand down my face. “Nah, we fucked outside. We just crashed here.”

“She was cute. What was her name again? Mandie? Molly?” Kylo asked.

“Mindy.”

“Think she’ll be back?”

“Nah. She’s just here on summer break. Gonna be a pussy doctor up in Connecticut,” I said, finishing my warm beer and climbing up off the couch.

“Bird,” I greeted Mackie, the club’s blue & gold macaw as I passed by, narrowly avoiding his beak as he lunged toward my shoulder.

“Fuck, fuck,” he grumbled to himself.

“Better luck next time,” I said, opening the back door for Eddie.

“Shit, everyone’s up already? Hey, pretty lady,” he said, giving Candy a smile. “Look at you, working when you’re off duty,” he added as she hit the brew button on the machine. “You gonna stick around for breakfast?”

“Like I’d ever miss your food. Even though I’ve gained eight pounds since I started hanging out here.”

“Speaking for me, I love a good curve. Or roll. That little belly roll girls get right here,” Eddie said, running a hand across his stomach, “cute as fuck. Especially in jean shorts and a crop top.”

“Good to know,” Candy said with a soft smile for our club hangabout. “I’m going to go grab a few flowers for the tortoise,” Candy said, making her way out the back door.

“What’s going on across the street?” Eddie asked when she was gone.

“That’s the question everyone’s got this morning.”

“Where you going?” he asked as he pulled out eggs and a large skillet.

“Gonna go ask what they’re building,” I said, slipping into a pair of slides, grabbing a cigarette, and making my way to the back door.

“Should you be doing that?”

“Better than standing around discussing it like a group of old ladies.”

It was the ass crack of summer—miserably hot even first thing in the morning with the humidity hovering around eighty percent. I could feel the sweat beading up almost immediately as I lit up my smoke and made my way across the grounds.

Candy was in the front flowerbed, choosing various hibiscus flowers. In the yard next door, a couple of Che’s kids were already outside fucking around in the yard.

Across the street, about five guys were working while another fifteen were standing around—long live unions, man—as I approached.

“Yo,” I called, making a few of them turn around. “The fuck is this shit?”

“What?” one of them asked, gaze tracking over me, likely trying to decide if I was a threat or just a gnat to swat away.

“All this building shit,” I said, waving at the lot. “What is it? What are you putting in?”

To that, the men shared looks, no one seeming willing to speak.

“Sure it ain’t some big fucking government secret,” I said. “Is it houses? Warehouse? What?”

“It’s a fifty-plus community,” one of the guys in the back said.

“Fucking serious?”

“Though, they’re talking about mixed-use on the back over there,” the guy went on, gesturing into the distance.

“Any idea when it’s supposed to be done?”

“They want it in a year,” the guy said, getting a few chuckles from the others who clearly thought that was an asinine goal.

“Alright, thanks,” I said, giving them a salute before making my way back toward the clubhouse.

To find Huck standing in the side yard.

“The fuck you doing?” he asked.

“Getting some answers,” I told him. “Save you from having to hire that computer nerd to figure it out for you.”

To that, I got a snort from the president. “Alright. What’d they say?”

“Get ready for some blue hairs. It’s a fifty-plus community.”

“Christ,” Huck said, shaking his head. “Fifty is a blue hair in your mind, huh? Right. Well, at least we know.”

“Cops are gonna be living here,” I said. “All the noise complaints. Guess we can hope most of ‘em are hard of hearing and won’t wear their hearing aids.”

“Always looking on the bright side, huh?” he asked.

“They probably don’t know how to set up doorbell cameras,” I added.

“Still. Looks like we are gonna have to make some changes around here. Especially when it comes to packing the cars heading to Shady Valley and the trucks going to Zayn.”

“Yeah. Old folks are always quick to call the cops over the smallest shit,” I said, finishing my smoke and snuffing it out.

Huck followed me into the kitchen where Eddie was hard at work at breakfast, getting an assist from some random woman I recognized from the night before. Her blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun and her tight turquoise party dress was covered with a tee that was so big it had to belong to York.

“Old people community,” I announced to everyone as they walked in.

“That’ll be fun,” Velle said, grabbing a cup of coffee as Kylo grabbed a grape out of the fruit bowl on the table and handed one to the macaw.

“While I got you all here,” Huck said, glancing at the girl who was cutting up strawberries, then deciding to continue regardless. “We have some new prospects making their way over this week.”

“Someone been hanging around I haven’t seen?” Eddie asked.

“No. Came across these two through Seeley. The Cider brothers,” he said, lips twitching in advance of saying the next part. “Caymen and Dixon.”

“No fucking shit,” I said, a laugh escaping me.

“What?” York asked, head tipped to the side.

“Gotta put it together,” Huck said.

“Caymen… Cider,” I supplied. “Came inside her. And dicks inside her.”

“Those can’t be their government names,” Velle said, shaking his head.

“They are,” Huck said.

“From birth?” Velle asked.

“From birth.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna have some questions for them about their family,” Velle said.

He was our resident profiler slash therapist slash mind-reader. Which was probably why I didn’t usually have one-on-one conversations with the guy. I didn’t need anyone up in my head. I tried not to get up in my own damn head too much.

“Yeah, as usual, I want to hear what everyone here thinks of them,” Huck said. “Especially if you hear either of them say something that you know I won’t like. Won’t give ‘em their prospect cuts until you all give me your approval.”

I, for one, was happy for some new blood. Since Alaric and Levee had shacked up with their women, we were getting short on single men to party with. More guys meant we could pull more girls from the bars and clubs to come hang at the clubhouse to party.

Plus, it loosened up some of our time, since the new guys would pick up a lot of the grunt work that was put on the rest of us: mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, doing the laundry—all the chores that none of us loved but had to do.

I wanted to be in a biker club for the fighting and the fucking, not scrubbing the bathroom.

“Do we know anything else about the brothers?” Velle asked.

“Not much. They have been known for being rough-and-tumble types. Seeley said he has heard about them from the old neighborhood.”

“Are they connected to a crew there?”

“No. They’ve always operated by themselves, doing odd jobs for whoever paid best. Sounds like they’re interested in something more stable. And, I imagine, brotherhood.”

“Sounds good,” Velle said. “Always happy to have more family around.”

“Less leftovers to have to throw out,” Eddie agreed.

“Like there’s ever anything left over,” Huck said, shaking his head. “They should make it here by Friday. I expect you guys to show them a good time. And give me your first impressions.”

“Got it,” York agreed.

“Good. Let me know if anyone hears anything else about that damn construction,” he said, waving toward the front of the house before making his way out back.

“We can bring ‘em to check out that new bar down the road,” I said, trying to decide if it was close enough to walk if we got trashed there. “Find some girls. You got friends, honey?” I asked, making the girl—who’d been pretending she wasn’t actively listening—look over.

“I have friends.”

“Any chance they want to party on Friday?”

“Depends.” She shot me a flirty smile.

“On?”

“If you’re going to serve anything other than whiskey and beer.”

“Baby, you can have anything you want,” I said, watching her cheeks go pink.

“Margaritas?”

“You’re in luck. Eddie makes some bomb-ass margaritas. Can even put a little umbrella in ‘em if you want.”

“Well then… I think I can round up a friend or two.”

“That’a girl. I’m gonna go grab a shower. Wanna join?” I asked, only partly teasing.

To that, she cast an unsure look toward York, who was checking something on his phone. She’d clearly warmed his bed the night before.

“Open invitation for anytime in the future,” I said, shrugging, then making my way upstairs.

“Oh, hey,” Cherry said, nearly plowing into me in the upstairs hall.

An experienced club girl, she brought a change of clothes in her bag so she didn’t have to do a walk of shame in last night’s club dress.

She was changed into one of those romper things I liked because you got a girl naked in one quick motion.

That said, her hair was a mess, and her black liner was smudged.

“Hey, Cher. Eddie’s cooking. Seems like Candy is staying for food, if she’s your ride.”

Cherry turned her wrist to check her smart watch. “Shit. I’m gonna need to get a ride-share then.”

“Shower can wait. You want a ride?” I asked, always up to go out on my bike.

“Oh, that’d be great. Don’t you want to grab a shirt?”

“Why? You don’t wanna look at this?” I asked, waving down at myself.

“I was thinking more of how you’d be out of commission for months with road rash…”

“Fair enough,” I agreed. I ducked into my room, grabbed my shirt and cut, then headed down with her. “You hear we’re getting new prospects?”

“Oh, yeah? They cute?”

“Haven’t met them yet. But you can see for yourself on Friday. You should bring some friends.”

“Why? You having trouble pulling your own women?” she teased.

“Baby girl, have you seen me?” I asked, getting a laugh out of her.

“I have, in fact. Every last inch. And as much as I don’t think you need the ego boost, you’re right. Have I mentioned how glad I am that you haven’t gotten yourself an old lady yet?”

“Yet? Try never,” I said as we made it to my bike.

“Oh, you totally just jinxed yourself.”

“Never gonna happen,” I insisted as she slid close, arms going tight around me.

“That’s what they all say,” she warned. “Right before they fall flat on their faces for some woman who comes crashing into their lives.”

I had to admit she was right about the rest of the guys in the club.

But I never saw myself settling down.

There was way too much hell to raise still.

I didn’t need a girl to put a wrench in those plans.