Page 82 of Outlaw

“She’s young too. I didn’t know she was that young. Damn, man. Whew. Beauty and youth. What did Levi think about her being so young? Is he older than her?” I thought that might be Mal.

“She is older than Levi.” Linc sounded pissed. “She looks younger than she is.”

“Eh, let’s not forget that she was a little girl when you were already married and had a kid,” Luther piped up. “I might have only been a teenager back then, but I remember her. She followed you around, worshipping the ground you walked on.”

I hadn’t realized Luther had been in Ocala back then. He’dnever mentioned it. I tried to think back, but I didn’t remember him.

Whatever else was said after that, I could no longer hear them as I kept going. Stevie was basically pulling me in her attempt to run to her new playset. Linc had wanted to outdo the one that I had wanted to get for Hudson’s backyard. He’d succeeded far beyond any expectation. My jaw had dropped when we walked out here this morning.

There was a round teak sofa with cream cushions and a canopy that came over the top for shade, along with the playground that he called a swing set. Two tall, skinny teak tables stood on either side to hold drinks. I walked over to it and slipped off my sandals before climbing onto it and stretching my feet out in front of me. The furniture came apart into four pieces, making a curved sofa; two small, padded benches; and a round one in the middle to use as a seat or perhaps a table. But when pushed all together, it was large enough to stretch out on like a bed. I preferred it this way.

Maui began running toward someone about the time I heard footsteps, and I turned to see Jayda carrying a glass of lemonade and a child’s cup, which I assumed was filled with the same thing.

“I thought you might need drinks,” she said, placing them on the table to my left.

“Thank you,” I told her. “I meant to grab something from the refrigerator out here, but—” I stopped.

“But the guys were talking shit, and you wanted to escape,” she finished and gave me a knowing look. “I don’t blame you. Unfortunately, they will be here until late. More could also stop by. The younger guys most likely. The other two older men in the fam—uh, circle of friends won’t show up. Fender is more uptight, and he rarely comes here for game nights. He spends more time with Gannon, who has Parkinson’s, and it’s progressed to the end stages from what Linc says. They are close, and it’s beenharder on Fender; plus, he lost his youngest son two years ago in a shooting. He’s not been the same since.” She said all this as if I knew who in the heck she was talking about.

But I listened. This was Linc’s world, and I wanted to know about it. These would be people in Stevie’s life.

“Anyway, it’ll probably be Hale’s oldest, Ransom, and Mal’s oldest, Locke, who stop by, if any of them do. Jonas’s oldest is the bookie among them, and he will be working all night. The younger crowd…well, from what I’ve heard, there are topless women—mostly strippers from Glow—and light drug use involved. But I guess they won’t be doing that at Cash’s house anymore. Not with Bane married and the baby.” She shrugged. “I’m rambling. I’d better get back to the kitchen. I have cookies to put in the oven and Rice Krispies treats to make.”

“Thank you for the drinks. I’d help you if I didn’t have Stevie wanting to live on this, well, whatever it is,” I said, waving a hand at the massive structure.

She grinned. “It is something else. She’s loving it though.”

That she was.

Determined to go back outside and tell Linc good night before going up to bed, Stevie went out onto the patio, and I had to follow. When I had brought her inside for dinner and a bath, they had all been wrapped up in the game, and Linc hadn’t done anything but nod and wink at her. Facing them again seemed exhausting because I never knew how Linc was going to treat me.

Stevie opened the door and went running out to him, wearing her Bluey pajamas and slippers. Her blonde curls were stilldamp and hung longer in the back because of it. Linc had moved from beer to whiskey, and there was a cigar in his mouth. When he saw Stevie, he put his glass down and immediately put the cigar in an ashtray, then shoved it toward Mal to move it away from her.

She scrambled up into his lap. I stayed silent as I waited by the door.

“There is plenty of room here if you want to sit,” Luther told me, patting the space between him and Mal.

Mal repressed a grin and shook his head, as if Luther was crazy.

“I’m good, thanks,” I replied. “She just wanted to tell him good night.”

Luther waved at the table full of food. “Get something to eat. No rush.”

Linc appeared tense, as if he was afraid I’d take him up on it and invade the party.

Not something I want to do, bud. Chill.

“We ate in the kitchen with Jayda,” I replied.

Mal let out a small groan and closed his eyes for a minute.

Hale chuckled, and Luther grinned wickedly. I was missing something here.

“What the fuck is wrong with y’all?” Jonas asked, frowning at them.

“I’ll explain later when the little ears have left,” Luther told him, then glanced back at me with a glint in his eyes that made me nervous.

The door opened behind me, and I turned, expecting to see Jayda, but instead, two younger men walked outside.

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