Page 50 of Hounds Ascend
“I’d love to sit here while you two discuss whose fault it is that neither one of you saw that grimy bastard for what he was, but the clock’s ticking and he’s probably out there somewhere, running for the fucking hills. And meanwhile, you have brothers out there fighting a waryoustarted. So, can we have this goddamned girl talk later?” Clayton’s voice booms through thebar, shutting us up and drawing attention from the few that were left in the bar.
“You’re right. I’ll put somebody on his trail and see what they can find. Me and Scott have somewhere to be anyway.”
I square my shoulders, getting back to business.
“Snapper!” I yell.
“Yeah?”
“Find Gater. Andfast.”
“On it, Prez.”
I look at Clayton. “Anyway, like I said, we have somewhere to be.”
“And where is that?” Clayton asks.
“To see about a ghost.”
Chapter Ten
Lilly
Mindy and I are on one side of the bed, Lucy and Carrie are on another and Raven and Ryan are on the other. We’d separated into teams to play Disney trivial pursuit and Mindy and I are kicking ass. I’m not one to go up against when it comes to Disney movies. I’ve seen every last one of them and can basically recite most of them word for word. After an hour of trivia, and losing to me, they finally all quit.
“I’m done,” Ryan put her hands up, surrendering.
“Us too,” Carrie agreed.
“Alright, alright. It was fun while it lasted.” My smug grin doesn’t go unnoticed.
“That’s ‘cause you kicked our ass. No one should know that much about kids’ movies!” Lucy throws her hands up, laughing.
Mindy grins and nudges me with her elbow. “My best friend had a lot of time on her hands before she met Cass.”
I roll my eyes, but can’t disagree. I didn’t have anything to occupy my time prior to him. A few guy friends here and there, but nothing serious. And I prefer to watch Disney over horror since I lived alone for so long.
“Yeah,yeah, yeah.” I dismiss Mindy’s statement but smile at her. Mindy knew how things were for me before Cass. It was crazy to think of a life before him. One that he didn’t exist in. It was such a foreign thought.
“I still can’t believe he bought you a fucking house!” Mindy squeals, admiring the large bedroom.
“Lucky bitch,” Carrie smiles.
“In all fairness, when he asked me to move in with him, I thought he meant move into a house that wasalreadyhis. I didn’t know he was buying one for us to make a home out of. It is pretty fucking cool, though, isn’t it?”
“It’s beyond that. It’s amazing. I’m so damn happy for you.” Mindy leans her head on my shoulder and I run my fingers lightly over Mindy’s head.
“Oooh, yeah. Keep doing that,” she leans more of her weight onto me, relaxing while I play in her hair.
I laugh at Mindy but can’t stop. Mindy has been through so much and if this one simple gesture is going to comfort her, then damn it, I’ll play with her hair for the next ten hours. As I’m playing in Mindy’s hair, Raven and Ryan are yapping back and forth about the beach trip she missed out on and Carrie and Lucy are talking about Leo and Shorty’s family.
I had learned that Leo and Shorty were actually half-brothers, which I think is cool since they are brothers in the club, too.
One of the prospects from Nashville come in, disrupting the vibe in the room and drawing our attention toward the door where he stood. He is in his mid-thirties, heavy set but stocky,with strawberry blond hair and a clean-shaven face.
“Cass is looking for Gater. Which one of you is his ol’ lady?” he asks, his voice soft.
“I am.” Ryan raises her hand like a schoolgirl while wearing a “why the fuck are you asking” look on her face.
