Roscoe held up a finger to negotiate further but cocked his head. “Wait, that’s not how you do this. Yer supposed to go down until we meet in the middle.”
“Now it’s thirty-seven, because you’re forgetting I have the golden ass.”
After a moment of silence, he begrudgingly held out his hand. “Fine, thirty-five.”
I grabbed hold and sighed. “All right. Let’s make some porn, I guess.”
I took a bite of leftover bratwurst while leaning back in the lounge chair, watching the sunset over the ocean waves, occasionally fending off hungry gulls. Roscoe sat next to me, and Darryl was inside working on something.
“It actually feels kind of nice outside with the sea breeze,” I said, finishing the sausage before setting my plate on the sand next to me. “Maybe we should just find a place to live here.”
“I don’t think it works like that. You don’t really have a choice where they put you. It’ll probably be in the Ruskin area.”
“God, I hope not. I also hope it’s not a complete dump.”
“It’s government housing, Cody,” Roscoe said, picking my plate off the ground before standing. “It’s not going to be Shangri-La, but at least it’s free.” He stacked my plate on top of his. “Still hungry?”
“I’m good.”
“One day, I’ll make you my baked ziti. You like tiramisu?”
I looked up at him. “Were you some kind of chef or something?”
“Nah, I just really like food.” He started walking back to the beach house. “It’s nice to cook for someone else for a change.”
“Hello? Why don’t you do that for a job?”
Roscoe stopped and looked back at me, shaking his head. “No way. Once you start doin’ something you like for money, it ruins it. Plus, I’m a walking health code violation.”
“Wait a minute. You were just talking about having sex with me for money.”
“Gotta get the dishes done before Darryl gets mad,” he said, scrambling up the steps before disappearing inside.
“Since you get too hot sleeping in the bed with us, I think this is a good solution. What do you think?” Darryl asked while standing next to Roscoe.
I examined the mesh hammock Darryl set up between the two main support beams. It had a blanket and a pillow on top of it.
“I guess it matches the nautical theme, but I’ve never slept in one before.”
“Try it out,” the larger werewolf prodded. “We’ve still got to have our swimming lesson tonight.”
I shot him a concerned glance.
“Onlyswimming, I swear.”
After a moment of hesitation, I carefully positioned myself to sit on the swinging bed, but every time I’d try to sit, the hammock rocked too much.
“I don’t know about this.”
“I’d sleep in it myself and give you the bed, but I’m too heavy,” Darryl said. “Just don’t make any sudden movements.”
“Don’t make any sudden movements? This is supposed to be a bed. I’m not hiding from velociraptors,” I said, my ass now making contact with the netting. When I leaned back slightly, the entire hammock flipped with me, the blanket, and pillow falling to the floor. “Damn it!” I shouted, rubbing the bump on my head.
“You okay?” Darryl asked, both werewolves snickering as they reached down to help me up.
“I could have broken my neck!”
“Yer a half-turn. You ain’t gonna break nothin’,” Roscoe said casually while helping me back onto the swinging bed.
