Page 27 of Coast

“Appreciate, brother.”

“Do you lose power out this way often?” I asked as I looked around. Lights could be seen through the windows of the homes. There were several strategically placed outdoor lights mounted. I noticed them the first time I’d come to the compound to visit Bailey, and it had been dark when I left. But it was still pretty dark all around.

“Not too often, but when it does go out, sometimes it takes them a while to get around to us since we’re outside of town. A generator pumps enough power to keep the fridge running and a light or two on,” Emery answered.

“I bet it’s spooky out here when there’re no lights at all.” There might be houses and the large clubhouse on the compound, but the majority of the land surrounding the area was woods.

“It can be,” Emery said, then I felt the vibrations of Emery’s body as he chuckled. “Club hasn’t always had the generators, though. Our dads talked about getting them, but they kept putting off buying them since we don’t lose power that often. Devil was the reason they finally equipped each house and the clubhouse with them.”

“Shit, what were we? Seven or eight.” Flirt grinned. “Damn, if I close my eyes and think about it, I can still feel the burn on my ass from the spanking my dad gave me.”

“Hell, brother, I not only got a spanking from my dad. That was the day I learned every curse word the Spanish language has.”

I looked between Emery and Flirt. “Are one of you going to tell me what Devil did, that evidently got you all in trouble.”

Emery smiled. “It was winter and the wind took out the power, leaving the whole compound pitch black. You couldn’t even see the moon and stars for the clouds. Shakes, Dare’s ol’ lady, was watching us at their house while the dads—Dare, Roscoe, Payton—and few of the other members and prospects, who lived on the compound at the time, started filling coolers with ice, making sure everyone’s cabin and the clubhouse had enough wood for the fireplaces after the power had been out for a couple of hours. Shakes had their fireplace going, and we were in the living room playing games on the floor by the light from the fire and candles. Shakes was curled up on the couch watching us, and she fell asleep.

“Devil thought it would be funny to scare her. We agreed, but we couldn’t think of anything until Devil mentioned the bearskin rug that we’d seen in the old storage shed behind the lodge. The old building was initially used to store extra furniture and stuff for the lodge and the cabins. We’d been told to stay away from the place because it had deteriorated over the years and the dads were afraid it would collapse. Of course, we hadn’t listened and one day Devil had gone in there, and the rest of us spread out as lookouts so he wouldn’t get caught. He found an old bearskin rug that was probably at one time in front of the fireplace in the main room. That night he mentioned getting it, so we snuck out of the house and went to the shed and picked up the rolled rug. We carried it back to Shakes and Dare’s house. Bungee cords kept the rug rolled, so we went to each end and unfastened them. Then we started unrolling the rug.

“Shakes shifted on the couch, so we knew we had to hurry if we were going to pull the prank off. We flipped the last fold of the rug and two raccoons jumped out—we screamed, Shakes sat straight up on the couch, then she screamed because from the floor the bear head was looking up at her. Our screams scared the raccoons and they took off in the house. Within two minutes, the front door swings open, banging off the wall as Dare and the dads barreled through the doorway with their guns drawn.” Emery laughed as he finished telling the story.

“Oh my God, you guys deserved getting spanked.” I chuckled.

“Then the dads and Dare spent two hours with flashlights trying to find where the raccoons had ran to,” Flirt added. “Christ, they were mad.”

I shivered, and Emery glanced down at me. “Let’s get you in the house and off your feet,cariño. I promised you dinner.”

Emery started leading us toward the backdoor of his house, and Flirt walked with us to cross the yard in the direction of his place.

“Enjoy your dinner, brother,” Flirt said and snorted as Emery turned us toward the door. “And Mackenzie?”

“Yes.” I looked over my shoulder.

“Told you,” he said and commenced walking toward his house as I frowned.

“Told me, what?” I questioned.

“He’d come looking for you.” I glared in Flirt’s direction only to lose sight of him.

“By the way, brother, me and you need to have a talk,” Emery said as he unlocked the door and pushed it open, not even turning his head in Flirt’s direction. I wasn’t sure Flirt was still close enough to have heard him anyway until I heard a chuckle.

“Sure, man. But can you wait and thank me later? I’m heading to Whispering Nights.”

“Weren’t you considering dropping your membership?” Emery asked as he pushed his key in the lock on the door.

“Yeah, but I came across a reason to postpone that decision for the time being.”

“Good for you. You never know, maybe this will be the one.” Emery pushed the door open.

“Not sure, but I’m enjoying finding out.”

“I bet you are. Be safe, brother.”

“Always,” Flirt replied, then I heard a door close.

Emery used a hand at my back to lead me into his home ahead of him. “What’s Whispering Nights?”

Emery closed the door. “A club.”

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