Trooper stood to his feet and threw back the rest of his beer. “Oh? What kind of bet? Is it one I can participate in?”
“It’s about you, actually,” I said as I walked toward the trunk of the car.
Trooper leapt over the railing and came soaring toward us. “I knew I felt my hears burning. What’s the bet?”
Ranger pulled out a duffle bag and tossed it to him. “You fucked her yet? Or no?”
Trooper didn’t even have to answer for me to pinpoint. “Ha-HAH! Just a tease, right? You’re way too cocky with those fingers—Ranger? Ante up,” I said as I held my hand out toward him.
Ranger grumbled beneath his breath as he pulled out his wallet and slapped a hundred-dollar bill into my hand. “Fucking waste, if you ask me.”
I folded my hand over the money before tucking it into my hip pocket. “So, how was she?”
Trooper shoved his fingers into my face. “Smell ‘em, and weep.”
Ranger barked with laughter as I shoved his hand out of my face. “Yeah, no thanks.”
Trooper shrugged as he hauled his duffle bag toward the porch. “Suit yourself. But, you’re the one missing out.”
“You got another one of those beers?” Ranger asked as he tossed me a duffle bag.
I caught it and headed toward the porch. “Make that two.”
Trooper tossed the bag into the house before pointing toward the cooler. “Help yourself.”
Ranger tossed his two bags in before I set mine on the floor near the coat rack. “Don’t mind if I do.”
“You fed the girl lunch yet?” Ranger asked.
I walked over to the cooler and dug out drinks for both myself and him. “Yeah, she’s kind of no good to us if you starve her.”
Trooper grinned as he closed the front door. “I should’ve fed her something else, honestly. Lesson learned, I guess.”
I handed Ranger his beer and he snatched it out of my hand. “Gotta go place some calls. Get this money allocated. Don’t sit out here too long. We need to keep a low profile for the next forty-eight hours.”
“We know, we know,” Trooper said as he flopped back down into his chair, “just give us enough time for a beer and we’ll come inside.”
“You better,” Ranger murmured as he cracked open his glass bottle.
And as he headed inside, I eased myself into the rocking chair next to Trooper.
“We really need to make sure we feed her on time,” I said as I opened my own beer. “A girl can’t live on dick alone.”
Trooper snickered as he clinked his fresh beer with mine. “She likes it more than she realizes. I don’t think that fiancée of hers has dicked her down for a while.”
“Shame,” I said before I took a long pull from my drink. “What a waste.”
He patted my shoulder. “You’re telling me.”
I had to admit, the sun on my face felt nice. “Got any plans for this one?”
Trooper knew what I meant. “I’ve got my eyes on a nice, shiny new prize.”
I rolled my eyes. “Pretty soon, you won’t have room on those walls of yours to store anything else.”
“And that’s half the fun, Dee. Half the fun.”
I sat there, gazing out over the deserted flatlands of the plot of land the crew had purchased scores before I had ever pledged myself to the Twisted Metal crew. Had anyone told me that one day, I’d be the lead Enforcer for one of the liveliest crews on the West Coast, I would have punched their fucking lights out. After all, the U.S. Army didn’t take too kindly to their men working for the other side.
