Page 7 of Nave
“What’s up?” he greeted, leaning past me to grab a beer. “I’m Spike.”
“Spike,” Dezi repeated. “Road name?”
“Guess it might be now. But it’s a nickname from when I was a kid.”
“Gonna elaborate, or are we supposed to play twenty questions?” Dezi asked.
To that, Spike shrugged. “Stuck a pencil through my stepdad’s eye when I was eleven. They gave me the name at juvie. It stuck.”
“Did he have it coming, or were you just a violent fuck?” Dezi, with no judgment whatsoever, asked.
“My little sister said he was coming into her room at night, pulling up her nightgown, then jerking off as he looked at her. I’d say he had it coming. Lucky the fucker left the state before I got out, or I’d’ve tracked him down and finished the job.”
“There’s still time,” Dezi, always up for a little maiming and murder, said.
“So, who’s the other guy?” Sully asked, looking over at where the blond was talking to Perish and Rune.
“Oh, Cain? Don’t know shit about him. We just turned into the lot at the same time. Never seen him before.”
“So, you’re pretty,” a female voice said, making me turn to find my cousin Layna leering at Spike.
“Layna, don’t,” I warned.
“They never let me have any fun with the new puppies,” she said, shooting Spike a pout.
“Club girl?” Spike asked, looking at me.
“Princess.”
“In that case, you’ve got a killer rack. And I can never look at it again,” Spike said.
Layna let out an exaggerated sigh. “You’re a real boner-killer, Nave.”
“Hey, I’m not stopping you from getting your rocks off anywhere you want. Just not in this club. Edison would have me nailed to a cross if he knew I let you fuck around with a prospect. Where are the other girls?”
“The other girls? Meaning the traitors who went and fell in love and don’t come and party with me anymore? Those girls?”
“They’re not all shacked up. Willa is—”
“You know what Willa is,” she cut me off. “And Ria and Kit are busting ass at their damn homestead. I mean, I like a good sheep snuggle as much as the next girl, but you gotta pull the straw out of your hair and have some fun sometime, right?”
“What about Gracie?”
“She’s on her way. Thank God. Because, no offense, but your club girls aren’t much for conversation.”
“Probably because we didn’t really invite them to talk,” I reminded her.
“Gross,” she said, face scrunching up. “Anyway.” She turned back to Spike. “If you decide you don’t want to prospect, I think you and I should link up.”
With nothing else, she moved away, heading over to challenge Rune at the beer pong table.
“Is it just me or does the Cain guy have a military walk?” Dezi asked. “No offense,” he said to Sully. “But that posture is beaten into you fucks or something. See?” he asked as Cain made his way over toward us.
“Talking about me?” he asked, nodding his chin at Spike, who moved off to go and mingle some more.
“I was saying you carry yourself like someone in the military,” Dezi explained.
“Close, but not quite. Worked SWAT for a few years.”
