Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Did Lainey cry?” I asked, my stomach twisting at the idea of not being there for her.
“She knocked out until just about half an hour ago.”
“When I stole her, gave her a quick change, and convinced Coast to let me feed her. I love babies. I want a million of them. And yours is a complete angel.”
“She is,” I agreed as Jade walked over toward the playard to gently place her down. “Okay. I’ll leave you guys alone. But if you ever—ever—need a babysitter, Coast can give you my number. For free. I would pay you,” she added with a little laugh.
“Think she might actually mean that. About paying you,” Coast said, coming in and kicking the door closed. “Got you some breakfast.”
“You… what?”
“Breakfast,” he repeated. “Eggs, pancakes, sausage. Breakfast shit. And a coffee. Figure you gotta drink it as a single mom.”
“I think I’m half coffee at this point,” I agreed.
“This is, unfortunately, take-out. Normally, Eddie cooks for us. And it’s always banging. But he’s sick, so we’re stuck with the local chain place. It’s alright.”
“I… you didn’t have to get me food.”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” he asked. “If you’re here, you eat,” he added, putting the tray down on the end of the bed.
I actually still felt stuffed from all that pizza. But the scent of syrup had my belly rumbling regardless.
“Okay. Thanks,” I said, taking the tray over to the recliner with me. “I can’t believe Lainey slept that long. She never goes more than four or five hours.”
“She got a little fussy two hours before she woke up. Fished the pacifier out of the bag and she settled right back down. Your dark circles look better already.”
“I don’t remember the last time I got eight hours of sleep.”
“I know a thing or two about not sleeping,” he said, fishing one of the sausage links off my plate. “But the body’s gotta catch up here or there.”
“Apparently,” I agreed, cutting into my pancakes after pouring the syrup over them.
“Feel better?”
“Actually, I feel foggier than before,” I admitted.
“Yeah, get that. I feel like I function better with four hours than eight.”
“Why don’t you sleep?” I asked. “I mean… single mom, baby, various life stresses,” I said, waving toward Lainey, then myself. “What about you?”
“Carried over from my childhood, I guess. No one really notices it around here since we’re all up most of the night.”
He was being deliberately vague. He didn’t want to open up. And there was no reason some part of me really, really wanted to pry.
“So, this is your… clubhouse?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, but what does that mean?”
“Biker clubs have a clubhouse,” he explained.
“Right. I noticed the bikes on the way in. So, you all live here?”
“Some of us do. The older members have moved on to their own places. They pop by here and there to hang out or work or whatever, but it’s just the four of us—no, six now—living here.”
“And you just… party all the time?”
“A good part of the time.”
“And you mentioned work.”
“Yeah, we work for the club.”
Normal people elaborated on that question. Coast not doing so made me think that whatever “work” he did for his biker club was maybe not all above board.
My mind flashed back to his casual carrying of a gun in that alley.
That certainly felt like someone who did, you know, illegal things.
I probably should have been panicking to be in a clubhouse full of criminals. But, well, these so-called criminals had treated me better than anyone else had in years.
“What did you do before Lainey made you need to do gig work?”
That was a tricky question.
But I could give him a partial truth.
“I was a dancer.”
“Like on a pole or in a tutu?”
The way he said that made it sound like he would feel the same way about me regardless of which answer I gave. Which was incredibly endearing.
I obviously didn’t know Coast well, but he seemed to be completely without judgment.
“Tutu. Sort of. I’ve been a ballet dancer pretty much my whole life. And I… managed to make a living out of it for a while.”
The particulars of that, I certainly didn’t want to get into.
“Were you any good?”
I let out a choked laugh, finding his lack of decorum charming. “I like to think so.”
“Cool shit. You wanna get back to it one day?”
“I think I would like to maybe teach one day. Maybe when Lainey is old enough to be in school or in classes herself.”
“Yeah? Gonna get your boss bitch thing on?”
“I guess so. It would be nice. I mean, obviously, that’s nowhere in the near future. But a girl can dream.”
“How’s the gig work going?”
“It’s… going. Some days are better than others. The dog walking has been the best. Both for Lainey and money. I don’t have to keep hauling her around in her seat or in a carrier. She loves the dogs. We get fresh air. It’s a win-win. And no one can stiff me on tips with the dog-walking gig.”