Steel Crew : Books 1-3 (Steel World Box Set Book 7)

by Mj Fields

  “I inquired about you after winter auditions,” he continues.

  I cross my arms over my chest and roll my eyes. “Is that so?”

  “You could have more than handled the lead.”

  “She’s amazing,” Brisa says with nervous pride.

  Harrison nods, still looking at me. “Heard you lost confidence when you … developed.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, and he steps back, not because he’s intimidated, but to give us space to leave.

  “You need to find it again, Miss Steel, and trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”

  “I’m aware of who you are,” I say as I take Brisa’s hand and hurry past him and the others. At the door, I look back, smirk tightly, and give him some Truth. “Planned on making something out of us.”

  He grins big and chuckles as he reaches his arms out wide. “I’m right here, Miss Steel; do your best.”

  “The minute you hit on my cousin, trying to piss off your girlfriend, was the minute I knew I couldn’t make you something you already are.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend, and please, before we bid adieu, enlighten me.” He smiles.

  After opening the door and pushing Brisa out, I answer, “A little bitch.”

  “Is that so?” he asks, his words more clipped now.

  “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?” I shut the door behind me and look at Brisa, who’s almost laughing. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  Standing beside my vehicle, Brisa starts to panic as she pats herself down. “I think I lost the keys. Oh my God, and your phone is still in his room.”

  “Shit …” I sigh.

  When I see headlights, I turn to see a vehicle rolling up behind us. Brisa is none the wiser.

  When three, long-haired men get out of the still running car, with the driver still inside, Brisa turns around and gasps slightly. “Oh, God, this is how it ends.”

  When I see one familiar face, albeit an intimidating one, I feel a tiny bit relieved. “Like hell it is.”

  I step toward the men. “Hey, Frank.”

  He leans in and looks closer at me, then looks down. “Laces, is that you?”

  I toss a laugh, the kind you’d use with an old friend. Side note: he’s not my friend, but he is kind of sexy scary … in an old man kind of way.

  “What the hell are you doing out here? Let me guess, looking for trouble?” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a pack of smokes.

  As he lights one up, I answer, “Just leaving a party down by the beach. Left my phone and keys there.”

  He takes a drag off his cigarette and nods. Exhaling, he says, “That’s a problem.”

  “Not as bad as it’s going to be getting them back.” I laugh, even though it’s not really funny at all. I have to keep it light.

  “That so?”

  I nod. “Kind of pissed off a couple people on the way out.”

  “Pissed-off people are my favorite kind.” One of the other two men chuckles. “How about we back you ladies up?”

  I look at him. He’s younger than Frank, but not as young as us. And he’s wearing what I think is called a cut with patches on it.

  “You a good biker or a bad biker?” I ask, sounding more like Dorothy Gale than intended.

  “Jesus, Truth,” Brisa whispers so only I can hear.

  He laughs, and so do the others.

  “Depends on what you consider bad. I’ve been known to help little old ladies cross the street and don’t even steal their purses. But I’ve also been known to crack a few skulls, you know.”

  I nod, even though I really don’t know.

  He continues, “How many are we up against at this party?”

  “Four,” Brisa answers, finally stepping to my side and out from the shadows.

  “Bitches or boys?” He smiles at her.

  “Boys who Truth called bitches.”

  He laughs. He’s got a good laugh, too. “Is that so?”

  “Technically, I told him I’d planned to make him my bitch but decided he already was one.”

  “Laces …” Frank chuckles. “You amused the hell out of me from day one, but you gotta remember to put your shit in check when you’re out-sized and outmanned.”

  “We have a crew,” Brisa tells the guy with the man bun.

  “Well, where the hell are they?” He laughs.

  “Sometimes we gotta have girl time, you know?” She crinkles her nose at him … blatantly flirting. Then she looks between me and Frank. “Wait—How do you know Truth?” Brisa asks as we start walking down the middle of the street.

  “He owns the shop where Kiki bought Brand’s rings,” I answer for him.

  “She’s a tough negotiator, this one.” He picks fun at me.

  “Glad you were there. I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with Shades.”

  Frank flicks his smoke into a nearby puddle, making me want to go pick it up and find the nearest trash can. Littering? Gross. Old man crush? Extinguished.

  He clearly doesn’t care and tells me, “Kid’s got a piss-poor attitude, but he’s gotta hustle to get by.”

  “Sure, but he could do it with some manners.”

  Manbun laughs. “Says the girl who wanted to make a boy her bitch.”

  “You’ll understand why when you meet his entitled ass.”

  Frank chuckles. “Says the rich girl with a wad of hundies at my store.”

  “I work in the summer,” I defend myself.

  “I bet you do, Laces, I bet you do.” Frank smirks.

  I look behind me and see the other long hairs. Both skinny and older, and unlike Manbun, they look like they’ve missed more than one meal, while my ex-old-man-crush is somewhere in the middle.

  “You sure you wanna do this?” I ask Frank.

  “We’re heading in the same direction, Laces. And the boy already offered our services, free of charge.”

  “Wait—you are like paid security, too?”

  “Only for assholes,” Manbun calls from over his shoulder. “Little old ladies and wannabe badass chicks who get themselves into shit bigger than they are, we do quid pro quo.”

  I’m hoping he means pro bono but, whatever.

  “Thanks. Just two houses up.”

  Frank chuckles. “Yeah?”

  “Don’t let the place fool you. They’re silver spoon fed assholes. The biggest one being the owner.”

  In the background, I hear a bunch of engines blatting like Billy goats, just like Dad’s Harley that sits literally on a pedestal in the garage, and look over my shoulder then up at Frank. “You expecting company?”

  He nods lazily. “We’ll get you girls squared away; no worries.”

  “Thought it was your dad, too?” Brisa giggles.

  “He wouldn’t drive his in the rain, or the cold.”

  “Smart man,” Hotty McManbun tells me.

  “This is the place.” I step in front of them. “Just hang back. I don’t wanna start a fight if I don’t have to.”

  “A girl who doesn’t like fights obviously hasn’t seen enough of them,” Manbun jokes.

  I knock on the door, hard, too. I want them to know I’m not fucking around. When they don’t answer, I bang on it some more. “Those assholes.”

  “You try the door handle?”

  “That would be rude.”

  He smirks in response, and I nod.

  “Gotcha.”

  I open the unlocked door and look around. They’re all gone, but “Remember The Name” by Fort Minor is playing in the background and is pretty loud.

  I turn around and whisper, “Brisa, you find the keys. I’ll go grab my phone off the charger. You guys, just wait here.”

  “You’re a bossy little shit.” Frank crosses his arms and leans against the doorjamb.

  “But I’m cute,” I tell him then hurry toward the bedroom door.

  I hold up my hand to knock, but Brisa stops me. “Really? Now you’re going to worry about knocking? Just get in there before they come back.”

&
nbsp; “Oh my God, fine. Get the keys,” I whisper, turning the knob and walking in.

  The music is louder in the pitch black room, and I can’t see a damn thing, except light coming out from under a door.

  “Fuck yes, right there, Tobias. Harder, dammit.”

  “You like me wrecking your pussy, don’t you, Dee?”

  Oh my freaking God! I cringe inwardly.

  “Yes, yes! Oh, God, yes!”

  Oh, God, no, I think as I feel around for my phone.

  The music stops, the door opens, and I drop to the floor like a freaking rag doll.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” he roars, stalking over to me, towel in one hand, covering his dick. He grabs my arm and pulls me up.

  “She’s a little late for a threesome.”

  “The fuck do you not get about leave?” He starts pulling me toward the door.

  I yank away from him. “My phone!”

  “Let her get her phone Tobias and find me a damn towel so I can grab my clothes.” Dee, the naked blonde peeking around the door, says.

  I look around and spot my phone. I yank it off the charger and turn around.

  Standing in front of me is a butt-ass naked Tobias Easton and a wrapped-up walking Barbie.

  “Jesus Christ.” I shake my head.

  “Impressive, right?” Dee asks.

  I look at her and wave my hand in his general direction, which happens to be the entire path to my exit. “That … It’s a lowercase D, at best.”

  I don’t wait for him to respond, or even for him to move. I jump up on his bed, run across the mattress, hop down and out the door.

  “Come on, Brisa.”

  “I can’t find the keys!”

  I look back at her and see she’s crying.

  “Little bit, don’t cry,” Manbun says from outside.

  “What the hell is going on in my fucking house?” Tobias booms from behind me.

  “Trust me; we don’t want to be here, but we need our shit, and then we’ll be out of your hair, button.”

  “Button?” Frank asks.

  “The fuck are you doing here, man?” Tobias asks him.

  “The girls needed an escort to get their belongings,” he tells him.

  “I can’t find the keys.” Brisa sniffs.

  “Don’t cry over lost keys, Brisa. I’m sure Dad has a spare set.”

  “You can’t call him! He’ll flip!”

  “Steel, your cousins are at my place; lost their keys.”

  I look back at Tobias, who’s now wearing basketball shorts and glares at me as he continues with his phone conversation.

  “Come get them, or I’m calling the cops.”

  Still glaring at me, he listens to who I assume is Patrick.

  He sighs. “I’ve got shit to do tonight, and you know it.”

  “We can get the girls home,” Manbun says from outside.

  Tobias looks over at the door. “You bring Ranger to my house before a fight?”

  Frank answers, “Girls said they were having—”

  “You bring him to my fucking door, Frank!”

  “I found them!” Brisa yells as she holds up the keys.

  I grab her hand and pull her toward the door.

  As we run past Manbun and the other two long hairs and toward the street, he calls out to us, “Only gonna take ten minutes, ladies. Stick around.”

  Almost to the vehicle, I hold out my hand. “Keys.”

  “Um, fuck no, you’ve been drinking,” Brisa says, hurrying toward the driver’s side of my Rover.

  “I’m pretty damn sober now.”

  “Tell that to a breathalyzer,” she says, sliding into the driver’s seat.

  I hop in the passenger side as she hits the start button.

  “Call Patrick and warn him not—”

  “Right.” I hit my favorites list and read the screen. “Why the hell do I need WIFI to make a call?”

  “Oh, shit, it’s on airplane mode.”

  “Lord God in heaven, please let my father not be freaking the fuck out.” I scroll and turn airplane mode off.

  My phone blows up with messages from Dad and notifications from the stupid app.

  When my phone rings in my hand, Brisa answers on the hands-free, “Hey, Patrick, we found the keys. No need to come get us.”

  “Good fucking thing. I’m fucked up, and Savannah here doesn’t wanna drive my Jeep.”

  “Text us your address, and we’ll come get you.”

  “Sweet,” Patrick says before asking someone, “What’s the address here?” while hanging up.

  “Brisa, are you insane? What if we get pulled over?”

  She stops at the stop sign and looks at me. “Then I’m Katherine Steel.”

  I laugh. “That will never work.”

  She hits the gas. “It has before.”

  “You’re so bad,” I sigh as I sit back.

  My phone rings again, and Brisa answers it again.

  “Hey, Uncle Cyrus,” she sighs exaggeratedly as she winks at me.

  “Brisa, where’s my daughter?”

  “Right here, driving.” She grins and wags her eyebrows at me. “Which is why she hasn’t answered the phone.”

  “You know I love you, Brisa, but I call bullshit. Her phone was on airplane mode.”

  “Dad, it was dying. We put it on airplane mode because it charges faster and forgot.”

  “You good, Truth? For real?” he asks.

  “Of course, Dad. I—”

  “You picking Patrick up?”

  Shocked, I ask, “How the heck do you know that?”

  “He shot me a text to let me know.”

  “Dad, how many times did you call him tonight?” I groan.

  “If you were better with your phone, maybe took your charging case, we wouldn’t have this issue.”

  “I will next time, Dad, I promise.”

  “Love you, kid. Don’t let him drag you all over Jersey.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” I huff.

  Dad sighs. “I trust you, Truth. It’s the rest of the world I don’t.”

  And there we go … the guilt trip. “I know, Dad. Love you, too. Tell Mom—”

  “She’s in bed, but she knows.”

  Brisa laughs. “No kids in the house, your wife’s in bed, and you’re on the phone? Uncle Cyrus, this should be adult play time.”

  “Christ, Brisa,” he groans.

  “Well, tell me I’m wrong.” She grins.

  “What I will tell you is I’m sorry your father got dropped on his head one too many times as a kid.”

  Chapter Four

  Idiom

  Curiosity killed the cat.

  Truth

  Cats have nine lives.

  “Holy shit,” I gasp, scrolling through my notifications when I see a different kind of alert, one from The Sound.

  “Stop with that nonsense. After tonight, do you really want to be in bed with any of those assholes?”

  “It’s the code! Well, a code and—”

  I feel the vehicle take a hard left and grab the dash, squealing, “Brisa, what part of don’t bring attention to your unlicensed ass don’t you get?”

  She throws the vehicle in park then turns toward me. “You’re no more licensed than I am when buzzed.” She holds out her hand. “Lemme see.”

  I lean over, and we both read the prompts together. “Click the link, enter your phone number, wait for the next text with your one-time authorization code and link for tonight’s event.”

  I tap in my cell number then hit send.

  We both hold our breath until the text comes.

  When it comes, we both recite it aloud, “Zero, three, eight, two, zero, seven, nine.” And then repeat it as I type it in, “Zero, three, eight, two, zero, seven, nine.”

  “Get your phone and take a picture of the screen so—”

  “I lost it on the beach, remember?” She scrunches up her nose. “Zero, three, eight, two, zero, seven, nine.”

&
nbsp; “Then we better both memorize this shit like it’s the periodic table.”

  “God, I hate chem.”

  “Focus, Brisa, focus.” Just then, Patrick calls. “Shit!”

  “I’ll answer on the Rover, you keep your eyes on—”

  “No! We’ll call him back.”

  She holds her hands up. “Fine.”

  My heart starts beating harder as I stare at my screen. Come on, come on, come on, I plead in my head, at the same time wishing that I didn’t give a damn.

  When I hear a different ringtone than mine, I look at Brisa, who jumps in surprise.

  She turns and leans over the console to pull her duffle bag from behind us. “Apparently, I didn’t lose it.” She unzips her bag, digs through it, and then pulls out her phone. She hits accept and then speaker. “Hey, Tricks.”

  “B, everything chill?” he asks.

  “Yeah, we’ll be there in a couple minutes. Truth just got an invite from The Sound.”

  “Tell her fuck them. I found a bunch of chill people to hang with.”

  “You’re on speaker.” Brisa laughs. “She heard you.”

  “Well, come on and get me. I called Uncle Cyrus and—”

  “We know,” I tell him.

  “Did I tell you when you come get me I’m gonna call him and ask if he minds us going to an early breakfast so we have a couple hours more?”

  Brisa and I look at each other, both knowing this could work in our favor. Then reality kicks me in the ass.

  “Sounds like fun, but Brisa is driving and—”

  “You drunken tonight, T?” He laughs.

  “Clearly you’re drunken more than me.” I laugh, eyes still glued on the screen.

  “We’ll be there in a few, mmmkay?” Brisa asks.

  “Cool. Savvy and I’ll chill.”

  I look at Brisa from out of the corner of my eye and mouth, “Who?”

  She shrugs as she tells Patrick, “Cool.”

  As soon as she hangs up, my messenger lights up. I hit it to open the message.

  For your QRT code, reply I’M IN to this message.

  I tap in I’M IN, hit send, and then another site link pops up.

  Brisa sighs. “This is a pain in the ass.”