“Um, well I’m sure Troy will be good with the lots of sex, but if this is how you hold your liquor, honey, you might want to stick to wine coolers.” Meg leaned against the counter and looked at me.
I was still on my stool, but I was now hunched over and sprawled out on the counter. “Don’t judge, my body isss to heapy toooo stay up,” I slurred. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my foggy brain. Sweet Jesus, I needed to lie down.
“Coffees ready!” Meg chirped as she grabbed a cup down and filled it. “Drink this, hun. Lo and Troy could be back any second.”
She slid the cup towards me and the smell of rich coffee swirled around me. I pulled myself up and wrapped my hands around the cup. “Aren’t you going to have some?” I asked as I took a sip.
“No. I’m good, just got a lite buzz. Good thing Lo drove. That pot of coffee is all for you. So you need to drink your ass off.” I took three big gulps and it burned down my throat.
“Put a couple of ice cubes in it. It’s too fooking hot now.”
“Did you just say fooking?” Meg giggled as she walked over to the freezer and grabbed the ice cube tray out.
“I don’t know, it’s a fooking possibility,” I laughed, dropping an ice cube into my cup. Meg threw her head back laughing hysterically.
“Oh my God, you so have to come out with Cyn and I. It would be fooking hilarious,” Meg snorted.
My coffee sloshed over the side of the cup, spilling all over my hand as a fit of laughter bubbled out from me. Meg tossed the towel at me and grabbed the coffee cup.
“Don’t spill anymore. If I know Lo, he’s not going to be gone for much longer. Drink up,” Meg ordered, wiping up the counter.
I dropped another ice cube in my cup and chugged down half. I really did need to sober so Meg didn’t get into trouble with King. I think she was in enough trouble with shoving a plate of pizza rolls in his face. I burst out laughing, spewing coffee everywhere, remembering King’s head smeared with sauce and cheese.
“Oh...my… King...and the pizza...his face…” I wheezed out. I couldn’t stop laughing. King was always so put together and in control that seeing him with food all over his face just cracked me up.
“Ass deserved it,” Meg cackled, wiping up the coffee I had just spat out.
“The look on his-.” A loud knocking on the door made Meg and I jump. We both stared at the door, but neither of us moved.
“Meg! Open the door, I locked it on the way out,” Troy called.
“Shit!” Meg whispered.
“I’m drunk!” I whispered back.
Meg burst out laughing, smothering it with the back of her hand. “I know,” she whispers shouted, “Take this and go to the bathroom. I’ll try to hold them back.” She shoved the coffee pot at me and helped me off the stool.
I stumbled two steps to the bathroom and Meg steadied me. She quickly guided me to the toilet and shut the door behind me. I set the coffee pot on the floor and collapsed onto the closed toilet seat. I heard clanking of bottles and figured Meg was putting away the evidence.
“Meg!” I heard Troy shout again.
Shit, he did not sound happy. I grabbed the coffee pot, thinking I better get to chugging and realized I forgot my coffee cup. Shit on a brick! How the hell was I supposed to drink this?
I frantically looked around, praying a cup would magically appear but no such luck.
“Where’s Marley?” I heard mumbled through the door.
“Shitting,” Meg blurted out. I burst out laughing, sloshing the coffee over the top. Apparently Meg didn’t do well under pressure. “Ugh, I mean she’s in the bathroom,” I heard her mumble.
I slapped my hand over my mouth, hoping Troy didn’t hear me.
“So, she’s in the bathroom, shitting?” Troy asked. I felt a giggle building up and knew I had to keep it together. I closed my eyes and tried to picture my old English professor giving a lecture to try and calm me down. It worked until Meg opened her mouth again.
“Yes, totally in the bathroom shitting. The best place to shit.” I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing, throwing my head back and smashed it against the wall.
“Babe, what the hell is going on?” I heard King’s low, gravelly voice.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
I picked up the coffee pot and pried the little cover doohickey off and tossed it on the floor. Just as I had the pot raised to my lips, the bathroom door swung open and Troy stood on the other side.
“What the fuck?” He asked. I sat there, the coffee pot still raised to my lips, motionless. I had no idea what to say.
“Um, Marley was in the bathroom and she told me she was thirsty and I, ugh, got her something to drink.” Meg chimed in, standing behind Troy.
“So you made her a pot of coffee, brought it to the bathroom, gave it to her without a cup and shut the door?”
“Yes, exactly,” Meg said, nodding her head.
“While she was shitting,” King laughed from the sofa.
“Shut it, Lo,” Meg hissed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What the hell is going on?” Troy demanded.
“They’re drunk, brother,” King laughed.
“How the hell did you know that?” Meg yelled and turned to look at King.
“You left the door open to the liquor cabinet, babe.”
Troy, Meg and I each looked into the kitchen and saw the door wide open. “Son of a bitch!” Meg cursed.
“What the hell were you doing drinking? And how the hell did you get drunk, we were only gone for half an hour,” Troy asked. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or amazed Meg and I had managed to get drunk so quickly.
“First off, I’m not drunk,” Meg said, resting her hands on her hips. “Second, I was just trying to help you out, Troy.”
King burst out laughing, throwing his arms in the air. “You were only helping. Lord help us if Meg’s way of helping is getting drunk,” King said, laughing his ass off.
Meg gave him the stink eye and flipped him off which only made him laugh even harder. “If you’ll ignore the laughing hyena on the couch, I’ll explain.”
“This ought to be good,” King mumbled under his breath.
Meg ignored King and continued on, “Marley had the deer in the headlights look when you left and I knew she was freaking out. I figured a shot would help relax her.”
“You got wasted off one shot?” Troy’s eye shot to me, shocked.
“No!” Meg yelled. “She’s a definite lightweight but not that bad. I kind of lost count, but I think we did five or so.”
“Of what?” Troy demanded.
“Sormn cmfegt,” Meg said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she talked.
“What?” Troy asked, confused.
“It’s Meg, brother. She gave her shots of Southern Comfort,” King called from the couch as he flipped the TV on.
“Hey, you say that like I’m predictable!” Meg sassed at King. He just shook his head and started flipping channels.
“I still don’t understand how Marley ended up in the bathroom with a pot of coffee,” Troy said, glancing at the pot I still had in my hands.
“Don’t be mad at Meg, please,” I pleaded, shuffling over to the island and set the coffee pot down. “This wasn’t any of her fault. I didn’t know how strong Southern Comfort was. She didn’t force me to take the shots.”
“I’m not mad, I just don’t understand what the hell happened in the thirty minutes I was gone.”
“OK, I’ll explain.” Troy stared at me, waiting. “So, I was ready to run, like get the hell out of dodge. Somehow Meg knew before I even said anything.”
“I know. I saw the look in your eyes before I left.”
“See, I freaking helped!” Meg yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. She stomped over to the couch and collapsed into King’s lap.
“Getting her drunk was your bright idea? I’m sure there was something
else you could have done. Maybe talk to her?!” Troy shouted at Meg.
“We’re fucked. Anything serious happens, Meg is going to get everyone drunk and Marley is going to get the fuck out of dodge.” King stood up, grabbing Meg and threw his empty beer can in the garbage.
“Hey, at least she didn’t run. Now she’s mellow and complacent, you should be thanking me.” Meg pulled out of Kings arms and grabbed the coffee pot, dumping what was left down the drain.
“Let’s go, babe, we got some talking to do about your coping skills. Opening a bottle is not always the right answer,” King laughed, pulling his sunglasses off the top of his head and pushed them onto his nose.
“It worked. Don’t go all caveman on me, Lo.” Meg wagged her finger at King and set the coffee pot back under the machine.
“You got me there, babe, it definitely worked,” Lo laughed, holding the door open for her.
“We’ll leave your bags by the front door. Let Lo know if you need anything more, Marley, and I’ll see about getting it to you.” Meg waved and walked out the door, slugging King in his gut as she walked by.
King grunted and grabbed her and swung her up into his arms. She squealed and cussed as the door shut behind them.
I looked at Troy who was staring at the shut door and wondered what the hell he was thinking. He didn’t seem terribly upset, although he could have been keeping his cool with Meg and King around.
“Um, I’m sorry about the whole drinking thing. Meg and I were just talking and it sort of happened,” I said, chewing on my lip.
“That seems to happen a lot when Meg is around. Hell, I’ve been involved in half of the things that just happen when she is around,” Troy laughed, running his fingers through his hair.
“Are you mad?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“Oh, Sunshine. You’ve got a lot to learn about me, just like I have a lot to learn about you. I’m not mad, at least not at you.”
“Don’t be mad at Meg, either.”
“I’m not mad at her. I’m fucking pissed at your fucking ex’s family. This shit is getting so fucking ridiculous. You didn’t ask for any of this but they are still acting like you stole their family fortune right from under their noses.” Troy walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.
“I’m sorry you have to deal with this. I can go if you want. I’m sure you don’t want to be held captive for god knows how long with me here,” I whispered.
“You’re not going anywhere, Marley. I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to tell you that, but I’m going to tell you every day until you get it through that pretty little head of yours. You can’t fix this on your own. Hell, I can’t even fix it all by myself. We both need King and the Knights to help. They have connections to things that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Just let us help.” He rubbed my back, making me relax into his arms.
“I’m scared, Troy. I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.
“For right now, you do nothing. Sit on the stool and I’ll make us dinner.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and pulled me over to the stool.
“What did King have to say while you guys were outside?”
Troy opened the freezer and pulled out a bag of french fries and some frozen hamburger patties. “He thinks once they get in touch with the Banachi’s that they will get everything squared away, but until then we need to lay low. He said this is the safest place for us. When I’m at work, you’ll be here with at least two guys from the club until I get home.”
“They’re going to be here even when you are, right? I think the more people we have here watching the better.”
“You think I can’t protect you, Sunshine?” Troy asked as he grabbed a contraption out of one of the cupboards and put it on the counter.
“Yes, I mean no, but yes.”
Troy threw his head back and laughed. “Make up your mind, Sunshine, you’re killing my ego right now.”
“No, no no,” I shook my head. “I didn’t mean you can’t take care of me. I just meant you can take care of me, but I don’t want you to.” Troy looked at me like I was absolutely insane. I guess I didn’t clear that up any better.
“Does that mean you want Crowbar and Demon to come in here and make you dinner?”
“No!” Hell no. I was totally botching explaining this. “I mean you stay here, with me, and they can be out there taking care of whatever. I don’t want you out there with whatever.” I don’t think that was a better explanation. I blame the Southern Comfort. My brain was apparently a bit foggy still.
“I think I got you, Sunshine, although you might want to try and explain that to me tomorrow when you’re not so blitzed.” Troy poured oil into the machine he had grabbed from the cabinet and dropped a metal basket into it.
“That’s a deep fryer,” I said, realizing what it was.
“Uh, yeah.” Troy grabbed a pan and held it up. “And this is a frying pan.”
“You’re an ass,” I laughed and tossed the wet towel off the counter at him. He grabbed it out of the air and tossed it over his shoulder.
“Cat like reflexes, baby.” he smirked.
“Still an ass.”
“Let’s not forget it’s an ass you like,” he winked at me.
Oh jeez, how could I forget that conversation? “I plead the fifth.”
“I’ll have you pleading anything but the fifth tonight, Sunshine.”
“Oh really? Is that a threat?”
“No, that’s a promise you can take to the bank, Sunshine. I never make a promise I don’t intend to keep.”
Troy turned back to the fryer and finished dumping the oil in. I watched him as he cooked dinner, noticing how his shirt stretched taut across his shoulders when he reached up in a cupboard. How snug his ass was in his jeans and that each time he bent over I swear my heartbeat speed up and the room got ten degrees hotter.
By the time he had the burgers sizzling on the griddle and the fries were dropped into the oil, my mouth was watering and I was starving for more than food.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 21 Troy
Marley was laid out on the couch, one hand holding her stomach and wagging a finger at me. “I can’t believe you made me eat two burgers and all those fries. You’re such an ass.”
“I think you’re starting to give me a complex with how many times you call me an ass,” I laughed, grabbing her plate off the coffee table and headed into the kitchen.
“You don’t really think that I think that, do you?” she called as I rinsed off the plates and stuck them in the dishwasher.
I shook my head and laughed. Marley really did have a lot to learn about me. I tended to take everything as a joke and rarely got upset. I called her Sunshine, and I guess she called me Ass. “As much as I’d like to mess with you right now, seeing as you’re still a little tipsy, but no, baby, I don’t think you mean it.”
“Mmm, good,” she mumbled from the couch.
I finished cleaning up the kitchen, flipping off all the lights and headed back to the living room. Crow and Ham had shown up right as I was dropping the fries into the fryer and I had wound up making dinner for them also. They had taken their food and headed back to the garage though to keep an eye out. They had said they had brought a couple of cots and blankets and should be fine in the garage, even though it had been getting rather cold at night.
“I’m gonna grab a drink, Sunshine, you want one, have you had enough?”
“Uh, drink yes, shot, hell no,” she groaned from the couch.
“How about an Old Fashioned. For your first time trying Southern, Meg should have made you an Old Fashioned, not shots,” I said, shaking my head as I grabbed the substantially lighter bottle down. Meg and Marley really put a dent in the bottle I had just opened.
“It tasted good, it just knocked me on my ass,” she giggled from the couch.
“Well, I can promise I’m not trying to kn
ock you on your ass.”
“More like get into my ass.”
I threw my head back laughing and held onto the counter. “Jesus Christ, baby,… did you hear… what you just… said?” I wheezed out.
“You know what I meant,” Marley mumbled from the couch. “You’re just trying to get in my pants. Let me tell you, you’re a shoe in. No need to get me hammered.”
“Good to know,” I said, shaking my head as I grabbed two glasses down from the cabinet and set them next to the bottle of Southern. I pushed one glass aside, deciding to make just one drink we could share.
“How long do you think it’s going to take to get things back to normal?”
I grabbed a can of lemon lime soda out of the fridge and a couple of ice cubes. “Hopefully not too long. I think it’s just a matter of getting in touch with the Banachi’s and explaining things.”
“Hmm, I hope you’re right. I’m assuming I can’t go to work?”
“No, Sunshine,” I called, filling up the glass and headed into the living room.
“Damn, I should probably call Gwen. She’s going to freak when she finds out. She’s been looking for another stylist, but hasn’t found one yet.” Marley leaned off the couch, reaching for her cell phone that was on the coffee table.
I grabbed her phone and tossed it on the other end of the couch. “No phone calls right now.”
“Hey, why the hell not. She’s going to wonder where the hell I am when I don’t show up to work.” Marley pouted, laying back down.
“King said he was sending Gambler over there to let her know. Don’t worry about it. You can call her tomorrow if you really want to,” I said, sitting down by her feet.
She sat up and shot daggers at me with her pissed off stare. “Why the hell can’t I call her now?” She demanded.
“Because tonight all the bullshit with your ex and the Banachi’s doesn’t exist. It’s just you and me. You need a night to relax and not worry.”
“What if something happens? How the hell are we supposed to know?”
“I told King to call the house phone if he needed anything.”
Battling Troy: Devil's Knights Series Page 12
