“Holy shit! My brother and Allie are gonna fucking love it.” Jett comes to a stop beside me, admiring my work.
“You think? I didn’t know whether it needed something more.”
The balloon arch I’ve spent over an hour arranging surrounds the white backdrop up against the wall, Myles and Allie’s names emblazoned in gold. It’s the first thing you see when you walk in the door and the gold balloons make the lettering pop.
“Nah, it looks pretty fucking awesome,” he praises before heading to where Rita, Ray’s wife and Allie’s mother, Ameliaare arranging the flowers that arrived by courier this morning.
Shelley, Alex’s younger sister and a couple of the other women I’ve briefly met but can’t remember the names of dress the tables, laying out the silverware and table decorations, positioning everything until it’s just right.
It’s Myles and Allie’s engagement party later tonight and instead of working my shift at the bar today, Jett enrolled me in helping decorate the clubhouse ready for the party. Everyone is in on it except for Allie, apparently after being suspended from her job, Myles wanted to do something to lift her spirits and I was all too happy to help seeing as how my father was one of the ones involved.
This is the first time I’ve seen the inside of the clubhouse and it is nothing like I expected. It has warmth, and character. The renovations that have been going on for a few weeks are finally finished, the smell of fresh paint still permeating in the air.
It’s undeniably masculine, the black leather upholstery with chrome accents, the rustic wood and bare brick interior. Along the far wall, there’s a fully stocked liquor bar, a dart board and a pool table opposite. I have no idea what it looked like before, but I love it.
The party will be the first time I’ve seen Killian since our midnight phone-sex nearly a week ago.
“Fuck me.Do my eyes deceive me? Has Mateo Cruz finally decided to grace us with his presence?” Jett hollers as the door swings open and Cruiser walks in.
“It’s called being fashionably late, asshole.” Cruiser flips Jett the finger before turning to me. “Hey, darlin’. Anything you need me to do?”
“This backdrop is a little unstable so I was wondering if it’d be best to secure it to the wall.”
Cruiser picks up the drill from the table behind me. “On it.”
“Surprised you know what one of those things are seeing as how you spend most of your time glued to your computer screen,” Jett says.
Cruiser puffs out his chest with a smirk. “I’m a jack of all trades. Not much Ican’tdo.”
“Except please a woman?” Jett teases with a grin.
“Oh no, brother. I leave that to you.” Cruiser slaps him on the shoulder. “You know how many have come crawling to me ‘cause you can’t give ‘em what they need?Somany, bro. I’mdrowningin pussy.”
“Bullshit! Notonechick has ever left my bed walking normally.”
“Yeah, because they’re usually running,” Cruiser quips.
My eyes ping-pong back and forth between them as they tease each other. The more time I spend with these men, thisclub, the more I realise they’re just one big dysfunctional family that tease as if they were siblings and I suppose in some ways they are. Despite them not being blood relatives, they share a bond I’ve never experienced with my parents.
Cruiser leans in close to me. “Word of warning, Kaia. I wouldn’t waste your time with this one. Nobody likes a micro-dick.”
“Really? You seemed perfectly satisfied the other night,” Jett says, his teasing grin widening, knowing damn well he took that too far but doesn’t care one bit.
A laugh falls from my lips.
Before Cruiser can come back with another witty remark, his face drops, his eyes falling over Jett’s shoulder. “Thefuck?”
Jett and I turn to follow Cruiser’s gaze to see Sheriff Collins and two other officers in tow step inside the clubhouse.
The sheriff’s eyes immediately fall on me, a flash of surprise crossing his face. “Kaia? I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Likewise.”
“Does your father know you hang around with known criminals? He’d be mightily disappointed.”
I shrug. “What’s one more thing to add to the list of reasons why I’m already a disappointment?”
I don’t know why, but a bad feeling settles in the pit of my stomach. Collins being here isn’t a good sign, especially after the conversation I overheard at Thanksgiving.
