Page 52 of My Casanova

Smoke

Pirate held up the empty bag of cheese and inhaled deeply. “It smells good,” he insisted.

“You’re sick,” I muttered and shook my head.

“Were you dropped as a baby?” Fade asked him and eyed the offending cheese bag with pure disgust.

“Maybe punched in the nose fifty times, which affected your sense of smell?” Compass suggested and leaned away as if the stench was still lingering.

Pirate shook his head with a grin. “Nope. Just good taste.”

“Why does it smell like feet in here?” Sloane walked into the common room and wrinkled her nose. She sniffed the air cautiously. “Gross.”

Without hesitation, Fade and Compass pointed at Pirate. “Him,” they said in unison.

I sat at the bar with Yarder and Poppy. The rest of the girls, minus Sloane, were curled up on the couches watching a movie. The TV crew had cleared out a couple of hours ago, but the cameras around the clubhouse still captured what Mac called “background footage.”

“It was nice seeing Dani today,” Poppy said casually and took a sip of her drink.

Yarder groaned and dropped his head into his hands. “My god. Why are you doing this?”

Poppy shrugged, and an innocent smile spread on her lips. “I guess I’m just doing the lord’s work today.” She turned to me, her eyes full of something I couldn’t quite place. “You should call Dani. She thinks you don’t like her.”

“She did not say that,” Yarder cut in before I could even react.

“Fine, she didn’t say it, but she seemed sad that you won’t let her come to the clubhouse.” Poppy tipped her head and studied me. “You shouldn’t make your ol’ lady sad. Rule number one.”

“There are rules for ol’ ladies?” I raised an eyebrow.

Poppy nodded firmly. “Rule one: keep her happy as a clam.”

“Do I know these rules?” Yarder asked and turned toward her.

She patted his arm with an exaggerated look of patience. “You’re pretty good at following the rules. It’s when you get grumpy that you stray a bit, but you’re normally good.”

Yarder glanced at me with a smirk. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.”

I chuckled and took a swig of my beer. “Seems to be typical when the ol’ ladies are around.”

“Amen to that,” Yarder agreed and clinked his bottle against mine.

Poppy rolled her eyes. “You guys are ridiculous.” She pointed at me. “I’m just going to say one thing.”

I braced myself. “Let’s hear it.”

“Call her.” She slid off her stool and strutted toward the TV area like she hadn’t just delivered a direct order. She flopped onto the floor beside the girls and blended in like nothing had happened.

I sighed and stared down at my beer. “You should.”

Yarder’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked over at him. “What, are you both therapists now?”

Yarder chuckled, finished his beer, and set the empty bottle down. “Nah, man. I just know what it’s like to keep an ol’ lady happy.” He nodded toward Poppy, who laughed at something on the screen. “And since that ol’ lady just told you what to do, then I think you should do it.”

He stood up and stretched before walking over to Poppy. Without hesitation, he dropped down onto the floor beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And just like that, I was alone.

I stared at the beer bottle in my hand and rolled it between my palms. The thing was, I wanted to talk to Dani. But somehow, the longer I put it off, the harder it became to pick up the phone. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her here. Hell, I did. I just didn’t know how to explain it to her.

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