Page 36 of Blue

“I know, and I’ll figure out something.”

He linked our fingers. “You can stay with me.”

“At the MC? I don’t think so.”

Lights came on in the kitchen window of the house. The door opened and Sully carried the garbage to the can. He noticed us sitting on the steps leading to Jazzy’s apartment.

“Coffee is brewing. Do you two want breakfast?”

Blue held my hand as he stood. “Come on. Sully makes the best fried eggs on toast.”

With one hand, my fingers linked with his, and in the other, I held my mug. Crinkles formed around those blue eyes as he smiled down at me. This was the first time I’d been off the steps and out of Jazzy’s apartment. A shiver of anticipation mixed with a tinge of nervousness.

Sully held the door for me, and Blue followed me inside. I sat down, and Blue filled a mug of the freshly brewed coffee.

Sully grabbed eggs out of the refrigerator. “Good to see you smile, peanut.”

A lump crawled into my throat, and tears welled in my eyes. My dad had called me peanut. I’d barely been a teenager when my friends stopped calling me Shae and started calling me Kiss. Some of the old timers like Sully never did because…probably because it sexualized a girl that never should’ve been flirting with her dad’s friends.

But there were Hellers I hoped I’d never have to see again. Razor was dead. Maybe I could get lucky, and Elvis and Slims could be dead, too.

“Morning.” Rogue rumbled into the kitchen, paused when he saw me, then grabbed a mug for coffee. “Where’s Jazzy?”

“Still asleep,” I said.

Sully pointed at Rogue with his spatula. “Go grab your old lady.” He turned back to the large cast iron pan. “I’ll make enough for everyone.”

Rogue headed for the door.

“It only takes three minutes for the eggs,” Sully said.

Rogue grumbled. “It takes more than three minutes to wake sleeping beauty.”

“Three minutes,” Sully repeated as the screen door slammed. “And then I’m sending one of these two up.”

I laughed, and Blue took another sip of coffee.

Sully kept one eye on the stove and the other on the window. He tapped the spatula against the side of the pan and sipped his coffee as the eggs sizzled. As soon as two pieces of toast popped, he dropped two more slices into the toaster. He mumbled under his breath.

I glanced to Blue, and he shrugged.

“Can I help?” I asked him.

Sully smiled over his shoulder. “Plates are in the cupboard.”

Blue stood and grabbed forks and knives from the drawer. A minute later, Rogue returned with Jazzy.

“Morning.” She kissed Sully’s cheek on her way to the coffeepot. She blinked sleep from her eyes, and she yawned. “A yawn is a silent scream for coffee.” She filled a cup. “What’s up with the impromptu family meeting?”

If it were a family meeting, why were Blue and I here?

Sully flipped the eggs onto a plate, Rogue grabbed the butter and Tabasco sauce, and Jazzy plopped down across from me and propped one foot on her chair.

“Got some stuff I want to talk to you about.” Sully sat at the head of the table. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

Rogue piled eggs and toast on his plate.

Jazzy set her foot on the ground and sat straighter. “This sounds serious.”

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