I could be cool for a few hours. I just needed to figure out a way to put all of that mess out of my mind. I’d deal with it onMonday when I called that lawyer back.IfI called him back. I wasn’t even sure I wanted anything to do with Bernice’s estate.
“Fuck this, I’m getting a beer,” I announced, shoving Cian out of the way.
He laughed as he followed.
Within the hour, the house had started filling up with the usual crowd and quite a few people I’d never seen before, and unsurprisingly most of them were women. Someone had strung caution tape across the stairs to keep the strangers from the bedrooms, but beyond that it was a free-for-all. Every inch of the couch was covered, the kitchen was standing room only, music was playing so loud that you could barely hear yourself think, and the dining room table was taken over by a rowdy game of quarters.
I’d managed to be personable thanks to frequent refills to the keg, but when the alcohol had begun to feel less like a party and more like drowning my sorrows, I headed out back for some air. The rain had stopped, and the noise was muted when I sat down on the little outdoor loveseat and lit a cigarette.
I barely smoked, but I always had a pack either in my pocket or the saddlebag on my bike. I’d had to quit while my lip and tongue piercings were healing, and I’d never really started up again, even after I’d ditched them. In the beginning, I’d had something to mess with instead of having a cigarette in my mouth, and eventually I’d just no longer craved them. The urge only came back when I was drinking or was dealing with heavy shit.
Tonight checked both boxes.
I glanced up as the back door opened and watched from the dark area of the back porch as a familiar woman snuck outside and quietly closed the door behind her. She walked over to the railing and let out a loud sigh, raising her arms out at her sides,turning her palms up like she was going to catch raindrops that weren’t there.
“Glad to be home?” I asked, making her shriek in surprise.
“Jesus, Bas!” Harper spit, her hand pressed to her chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“I was here first,” I reminded her, barely holding back a laugh.
“Well, you didn’t have to sit silently in the dark.”
“You would’ve been less startled if I was out here talking to myself?”
“At least I would’ve known you were there,” she replied with a small laugh as she walked toward me. “Why are you out here all alone?”
“Wanted some quiet.”
“Yeah, I can understand that,” she said, plopping down beside me. “I forgot how crazy the parties get.”
“This is nothin’,” I reminded her. “Tame compared to parties at the club.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t been to one of those in a while either.”
“You should.”
Harper made a little noise in her throat and pulled her knees up to her chest as I dropped my barely smoked cigarette in the sand-filled coffee can left outside for that purpose.
“The oldies would love to see you.”
“I see them at family dinners,” Harper replied, resting her chin on her knees. “Parties aren’t really my thing.”
“Seemed to be doin’ just fine in there.” She’d blended right in when she showed up with Gray and Frankie earlier in the night.
“I’m good at faking it.” She grinned.
“Why you out here?” I asked curiously. “Mask slippin’?”
“Something like that.” Her smile faded. “What about you?”
“Same thing.”
“I thought you liked these parties,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“Normally do,” I confirmed. “Just got some shit I’m dealin’ with. Probably should’ve headed home before I started drinkin’.”
“I bet Gray would drive you home if you wanted,” she offered helpfully. “He’s our DD.”
