Page 24 of Sully

“Guns? Sure. Bombs… not so much.”

“The club is that dangerous?”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant. Not really. I was talking more about just… guns in general. I have one. We all do. And we have some girls’ nights where we go to the range. It’s owned by one of the club guys. Which you would think would get us a discount. Alas…”

“I’ve never even held a gun,” I admitted.

“Really? Wow. I can show you mine sometime. After all these tots are eaten, of course. We have a very limited window where we can eat them before they get soggy.”

And so we did.

We tore through the tots, Layna eating roughly sixty percent of them. Then we got to work on the baked ziti. I used the fork while Layna hilariously tried to make a plastic spork work for her. All the while, she kept up a nearly unrelenting commentary on all thingsGilmore Girlsand Stars Hollow.

It was nice.

It was—dare I even think it—almost like having a friend of my very own.

The door nudged open sometime later, bringing in Sully, who paused to rock back on his heels, his head nodding.

“Not gonna lie, two women in my bed is never a bad thing to walk in on.”

“Perv,” Layna teased, tossing the plastic knife at him. “Where have you been? I had to help Bonnie here eat half of her food.”

“Knowing you, it was two-thirds,” he said.

“Guilty,” Layna admitted, shooting me a repentant look.

“How was it?” Sully asked, looking at me.

“Really good,” she said. “Does this place offer online ordering, by any chance?” I asked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Layna shooting Sully a curious look. That he promptly ignored.

“Think they do. And if they don’t, I can tell them to start.”

“Are you friends with them?” I asked.

“Oh, was this from Lucky’s place?” she asked. Then, after she got her confirmation, to me, “Lucky Grassi. He’s in the mob. And the mob is an ally to the club. So… yeah, if Sully asked them to implement online ordering, they totally would. That said, knowing Lucky, he probably already has it. They’re good businessmen, those Grassi guys.”

“Get that dreamy look out of your eyes. They’re as off-limits to you as we are,” Sully said, good-naturedly teasing Layna.

I couldn’t help but wonder if the whole club was like this. Less like a business organization and more like a giant family. If it was the latter, how nice that must be for all of them.

No lonely Friday nights alone.

No holidays without any company, without gifts, without anyone to celebrate your highs and lows with.

“Okay, well. I’m going to go see if Gracie showed her ass up yet or not,” Layna said, climbing over me and off of the bed, pausing only to take the tray off of my lap, taking it with her out of the room.

“How’re you feeling?” Sully asked.

“The food helped.”

“But your head is still pounding,” he said, moving over to sit on the side of the bed.

“Yeah, a little.” It was a lot, but I didn’t want to complain.

“Got anything against some over-the-counter pain meds?” he asked.

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