Page 291 of Devil’s Disciples

The two men clanked the necks of their bottles against mine and chimed the toast in unison.

“To love.”

107

Abby

Since becoming successful in my career, I’d not really had a girlfriend that I spent time with beyond the reach of social media. It sounded terrible to say, but I feared women who tried to befriend me were doing so in the hope of gaining an increased social media presence, or for financial gain.

I’d seen it happen too many times with other celebrities to question whether my fears were justified or not. Due to those reservations, George had become my closest friend. Nothing, however, could match the joy of having a female companion.

Andy picked up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks, dipped it into her soy sauce, and poked it into her mouth. “This place is awesome.”

“I love that word,” I said.

“Which one?” she asked.

“Awesome. It’s one of my all-time favorite words.” I chose a piece of sushi, paused, and looked at her.

She was beautiful, curvaceous, and had curly hair and perfect olive-colored skin. I had straight hair, sticks for legs, and was so pale-skinned that I should be the one with the nickname Ghost.

I wasn’t envious of her, I simply wanted there to be things we had in common with one another. A common thread that we shared between us beyond having bikers for boyfriends.

“Let’s say you’re at a buffet, and there’s all this food. Some of it is good, and some of it is so-so, and then there’s one that is just perfect. What word would you use to describe the perfect one?” I asked.

“I don’t eat at buffets,” she said. “They’re a breeding ground for bacteria, and you don’t know where they get their food. I like places like this that make food fresh and don’t use preservatives.”

“Okay. You’re at an all-you-can-eat sushi bar. And the itamae sets six different items in front of you. One stands out as being miles ahead of the rest in flavor. What one word do you use to later describe it to your friends. Good? great? Best? Fantastic? You know, something like that?”

“I’d say it was awesome, why?”

“I just love that word.”

She smiled. “I like it, too.”

At that moment, I decided Andy and I could be great friends. She was a property manager, which I found fascinating. She didn’t bother me about my job, ask a bunch of questions about my income, or even ask where I lived, for that matter.

She simply enjoyed shopping with me and getting a bite to eat.

“How’d you meet Ghost,” she asked.

Porter and I had talked about it and decided to tell everyone we met while he was getting his CAT scan for his head injury. It was as close to the truth as we could get without telling an out-and-out lie.

“I met him when he hurt himself at the gym,” I said.

“Oh,” she said. “At the gym?”

“No. At the hospital.”

She looked puzzled. “Oh.”

“How did you and Baker meet?” I asked.

The corners of her mouth curled up. “Well, he stays in Old Town, in a three-story building that attaches to every other three-story building on that block. So, it was on my first day as the property manager of the building that attaches to his, and he came up to see if we had any condos to rent, short-term. He said he needed it for a temporary home while his was being worked on. Personally, I think it was a ploy. A few minutes later we went up to look at a space I had for rent. He looked the space over, we hit it off, and that was pretty much it.”

I liked hearing how people got together. “How’d you guys start dating?”

She reached for a piece of sushi. “When he looked at the property.”