Doin' a Dime

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  I was more than used to my best friend’s sense of humor. Or, honestly, lack thereof. Sometimes she said things that I was fairly sure she hadn’t meant to say. But where most people would care, she did not.

  “Then there’s Bruno.” She pointed to the man that’d been her friend in high school and had ‘left her hanging’ according to Six. “We don’t talk to him still. Remember?”

  For Bruno, I spared him a dangerous glare.

  Six was my best friend. I would always protect her in any way I could, even if she was a bit eccentric. But Bruno had gone out of his way to ignore her when she’d needed him the most, and for that I just couldn’t excuse him.

  “That’s Laric, you know him,” Six continued.

  I’d met these people before, of course. It’d been for a very short amount of time, in a highly volatile situation, but still, I’d met them. She was acting like I was meeting them for the first time, though.

  Then again, I’d just leave her to do what she would. She’d do what she wanted anyway, and I’d learned not to waste my breath.

  “That man there is Absinthe.” She paused. “Sin for short. But I try not to call him that, because then it gets me to thinking about sinning, and I’m not all that good with the Lord at this moment being with the man I’m with. A man that does illegal things. Speaking of being with men, why is your hair wet, when were you going to tell me that you’re married to a felon, and did you just have sex? Because you’re walking really funny.”

  I was wondering when she would get to that.

  I felt my eyelid twitch.

  “Six.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Why must you embarrass me?”

  “Your husband’s not a felon,” Hunt said as he started to do something on his computer. “But he’s done some things that would get him the death sentence in all fifty states.”

  Six burst out laughing. “How do you know?”

  “I know because I have access to everything that I want. Including all of his personal files.” Hunt paused. “But I’ve heard about him in prison. Way before y’all even met. His reputation is very… colorful.”

  Lynn grunted out a laugh and then walked to the kitchen where he opened the fridge door.

  “Wyett, would you like a drink?” he asked.

  “I’ll have some of Six’s grape Kool-Aid,” I answered as I walked to my man and sat down next to him.

  “You still haven’t told me why your hair is wet. You never leave the house with your hair wet. Is something wrong? Are you dying?” Six asked as she took the seat on Hunt’s other side.

  Leaving Lynn to take the recliner after he handed me my drink.

  “Thank you,” I replied softly.

  Six leaned into Hunt, stole my glass, and took a large gulp before handing it back.

  This being the norm for us, I took a sip before telling her what happened at Hunt’s parents’ house.

  “Wow,” Beckham shook her head. “That’s one of my biggest fears. We got a pool when we were younger. About nine or ten. Dad made everyone who was under the age of five wear a life jacket. And if you couldn’t swim, you wore one, no matter what your age or if you could touch. It was really, really embarrassing when a sixteen-year-old would come over that couldn’t swim and he’d make them wear one. But my dad didn’t want anyone drowning on his watch. You just can’t be too careful.”

  I liked this Beckham. She seemed sweet.

  Her son was absolutely adorable, too.

  “True.” I nodded. “And if I was going to go back over there to his parents’ house ever again, I might bring it up with them. But Hunt left things pretty final there. Apparently, I wasn’t quite what they envisioned when it came to suitable daughter-in-laws. I was, in fact, quite chunky to their tastes.”

  “I prefer my salsa chunky,” Six said. “And my best friends.”

  I rolled my eyes at Hunt’s snort of laughter.

  “You were supposed to say I’m not chunky, husband,” I drawled.

  His eyes took me in then, studying my face. “I prefer my salsa chunky, too. And my wife.”

  I shook my head but stopped when he leaned over and whispered in my ear. “It gave me plenty to hold on to when we were…”

  He trailed off when Six stuck her face practically beside his to listen.

  “Keep going. What were you doing?” Six asked, practically leaned over Hunt.

  I pushed her back with my cup.

  “Back away, Sixmo.”

  “Sixmo?” Hunt asked when she’d returned to her seat.

  “Six plus emo.” Six rolled her eyes. “Do you want to know my nickname for Wyett when we’d first met? We weren’t really nice to each other at first. We both had our issues.”

  I wanted Hunt to remain blissfully unaware of my nickname that Six had dubbed me with in school, but I’d used hers, so it was only fair that she used mine.

  “I’d love to,” Hunt said, genuinely looking like he wanted to know.

  Six grinned at me, stole my cup again, then took another drink.

  “This is really fascinating,” Sin said from the couch beside the one I was sitting in. “It’s like watching a live-action film.”

  “Believe me,” Lynn murmured as they waited to hear my name. “They’re quite entertaining.”

  “I’m still waiting on the name,” Laric mumbled softly as he petted his cat that was always, for some reason, with him.

  I’d have to make a mental note to ask Six about that later.

  “Her name was Wyknot.” Six beamed as she leaned into Hunt. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m looking into Wyknot’s aunt,” Hunt muttered distractedly.

  But obviously he wasn’t too distracted, or he wouldn’t have heard my nickname.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “That’s cute,” Beckham said. “It could be worse, though. Everyone tried to call me Becky in high school. Um, no. Not even a little bit.”

  “There was this one time,” Trouper said as he bounced his son on his lap. “That a really popular cheerleader called her that because she knew that she didn’t like it. Beckham punched her in the nose and nearly got suspended for a month. The only thing that kept her from actually being suspended was the fact that I was there, and I told the principal that Beckham didn’t punch her. The cheerleader fell and blamed it on her.”

  I snorted. “Six was like that when we were in high school, too. It was amazing how many fights and suspensions I had to pull her out of.”

  “I think we should go camping,” Six decreed. “Beckham, you should probably ask for a babysitter. Hunt, are you stealing someone’s money?”

  “I’m not stealing money,” Hunt replied distractedly. “I’m moving it back into Wyett’s account where it was supposed to be all this time. Though, it’s a hidden account, so it doesn’t actually look like she has it. I’ll have to get her a separate debit card.”

  “Does that say eight million?” Six leaned closer, practically on top of him now.

  I looked, too, and sure enough, it said eight million.

  “This was just what she skimmed off the top,” Hunt said. “And what I’ve found so far. This is in a foreign account, somewhere in the Cayman Islands. If she was smart, she would’ve never left this information up on her computer.”

  “What are you talking about?” Bruno asked curiously, speaking for the first time since we’d walked in the door.

  I went on to explain everything that was happening with my aunt, start to finish. Or, at least, up until this point. I had no doubt that this wasn’t finished yet. I knew that my aunt would flip her lid. She’d know that I had it, too.

  “The good thing about this is, even if she knows that you have it,” Hunt said, practically reading my mind as he turned to face me. “She can’t really say anything about you having it. Or her losing it. Otherwise she’s going to have to explain where the money came from in the first place, and why she was hiding it. Because, correct me if I’m wrong, all accounts are frozen that were opened before you
opened the case, correct?”

  “Correct,” I confirmed. “I had to scramble at first when my paychecks at work started to come in. I had to ask for paper checks for two weeks while I started a new account and got a debit card and all that fun stuff.”

  “Your aunt sounds like a twat,” Trick grumbled as he stood up and walked to the kitchen where he was obviously hunting for another beer. “And you’ve been incredibly nice about this. Why haven’t you gone and fucked her up?”

  He came back with a handful of beers in his big hands, handing all of the men fresh beers before retaking his seat next to the woman next to him. The woman who’d been very quiet as she listened.

  “Who’s your lawyer?” she wondered when she saw me.

  She leaned forward and stared.

  What was her name again?

  Six had introduced her, and I’d completely forgotten.

  “Swayze the Bulldog is on the scent,” Trick muttered before taking a sip of beer.

  I mentally snapped my fingers.

  Swayze.

  That was a really cute pairing. Patrick and Swayze.

  They’d have to for sure name their kid Demi Moore or something. That would round out everything perfectly.

  I loved the movie Ghost.

  Hunt nudged me, making me flush.

  “The lawyer is one that came recommended from a friend. He’s in Longview. Pratt & Oren?” I said. “I use Pratt.”

  The woman curled her lips. “That twit? Send me everything you have on Monday. I’ll get this show on the road. I can’t believe any self-respecting man that calls himself a lawyer is allowing this to drag on like it is. It’s very plain and simple from what I understand. All money reverted to you at the age of twenty-five. All estates. Everything. You were very generous in what you gave her, so she should be thankful that you did. I can’t believe this has dragged on for four years now.” She shook her head. “I almost think you might want to look into the lawyer, Hunt. That way we can figure out why, exactly, it’s taken him so long.”

  Hunt gave a short nod. “I’ll start on that search tonight. After I get everything done with Lynn.”

  Lynn nodded his head, as if he agreed that what he’d asked Hunt to do was definitely more important than what I had going on.

  And maybe it was.

  I didn’t know what all Hunt was doing for Lynn, and it was honestly quite possible that I didn’t want to know.

  I was going to remain blissfully ignorant for as long as I could.

  In the meantime…

  “Have you ever Googled ‘foal’s feet?’” Six asked Hunt.

  Hunt frowned. “Can’t say that I have.”

  “Do it.”

  Hunt did what he asked, and I covered my eyes.

  “Oh my God.” Hunt gagged. “What in the absolute fuck?”

  “What is it?” Zach stood up and walked around the couch to look, gagging himself seconds later. “That’s the grossest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  I didn’t want to know.

  I didn’t want to know.

  I didn’t want to know.

  “Please make it go away.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I have to deal with plenty of gross stuff on a daily basis. I don’t want to add to it.”

  “You’re such a pussy, Wyett,” Six said as she passed me the now-empty glass of Kool-Aid. “Y’all never said anything about my announcement earlier. I think we should go camping.”

  CHAPTER 12

  How can you tell if a rice cake is stale?

  -Text from Wyett to Hunt

  HUNT

  I honestly didn’t think she was serious.

  I’d thought, for sure, that she’d just been joking around.

  She hadn’t been.

  And now, a week later, we were all camping at the lake, in primitive cabins that didn’t have any air, and I was already sweating my balls off—reminding me of a place I’d rather not ever remember again—and I didn’t have any internet signal.

  So not only was it reminiscent of a time in prison due to the heat, it was also reminding me how little choice I’d had while I was in there. And how much I’d missed having my computer and a wi-fi signal at my fingertips.

  The one and only bright light that seemed to brighten the dreary atmosphere was Wyett.

  Over the last week, we’d gone from being hesitant roommates to something a whole lot more.

  And that ‘whole lot more’ came in the form of sex.

  Lots and lots of hot, sweaty, do you up against the wall because I can’t wait for you to get to a bed, sex.

  Honestly, it was the greatest thing that I’d ever experienced in my life, and I was beginning to think that what I had with Wyett was much more than I could’ve ever imagined.

  The one and only negative was the day that I found out that she was on the birth control shot. Something that she needed to get in a week and a half because, and I quote, she was not having a baby before she had the chance to finish school.

  Which, of course, I couldn’t blame her for wanting.

  It just sucked because I knew that was the one sure-fire way that I was going to get her to stay no matter what.

  “What do you mean you don’t know how to ride? You’re in a motorcycle club,” Six said as she looked at the truck we’d rolled up in.

  “I mean,” I said, “I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle. That takes a skill set that I don’t possess yet.”

  She frowned. “Isn’t that just something men instinctively know how to do?”

  I shrugged. “I never even learned how to ride a bike.”

  Her mouth fell open.

  “You don’t know how to ride a bicycle?”

  I grinned at her. “I was much more interested in hacking into the FBI than I was in physical exercise. I only realized that I needed to be in shape when I got turned down for sex by a girl in high school. It was then I started to work out and take care of myself. But still, there were never any bikes involved.”

  Six shook her head in disbelief.

  “You can’t be part of a club and not ride a motorcycle.” Six looked at Wyett. “Fix this.”

  Wyett, who was lying full out on the bench seat of my truck, her head resting on my hard thigh, reading a paperback book, snorted. “If he doesn’t want to learn to ride, why should I force him?”

  I loved her. I seriously loved her.

  Speaking of love.

  “I bought you a Rice Krispies treat from the gas station. I forgot. It’s in that bag in the back with the drinks.” I hadn’t quite expected her to jump up and out of the truck so fast, otherwise I might’ve tried a little harder to slow to a complete stop first.

  By the time I did come to a stop, she was already climbing into the very back of the truck for the treat.

  “You know the way to her heart,” Six teased.

  At some point during our road trip, Six had gotten off the back of Lynn’s bike and somehow managed to get into my truck with us.

  “Through her stomach?” I joked, putting the truck into park and getting out.

  I was the only one there that’d driven my vehicle, which meant I’d somehow gotten stuck with everyone’s shit.

  Which brought up the point…

  “If I hadn’t brought my truck,” I pointed out, “then somebody would’ve had to bring theirs. Because there’s no way in hell all this shit would’ve fit on the back of y’all’s bikes. Especially when half of them have women on them.”

  Six snorted. “Whatever. That still doesn’t negate the fact that you need to learn how to ride a motorcycle. It’s a rule.”

  “A rule?” I asked. “Where is this rule? Is it a universal rule? Or just a rule for our motorcycle club?”

  “Six,” Lynn said as he wandered up from the woods. “Why must you pester everyone to death?”

  Six batted her eyes at her man. “Because I have questions. Lots and lots of questions. And I feel like they should always have answers.”

  “That doesn’t even make sense,” Wye
tt said as she stood up on the side of the truck and looked down at me. “Can you catch me?”

  I walked closer and held out my hands.

  I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I really thought that she would at least come down gently. Maybe sit down on the side of the truck bed before launching herself my way.

  She didn’t do either. She came down so hard and fast that I had to step back or risk her jumping on my head.

  I caught her with a whoosh of exhaled air from my lungs and took two steps back to keep my feet.

  She was lucky that I was used to taking hits—jail trained me for a few things at least—or I would’ve ended up on the ground with her.

  “Jesus Christ,” I groaned. “I thought you were going to come down nicely.”

  She laughed in my face, scrambled out of my arms, and then immediately started to open up her Rice Krispie.

  “You’ll find,” Lynn said as he came up to my truck and started to take out bags. His. Not anyone else’s. “That the two of them are really weird. Wyett may look like she’s normal because she dresses like she does, and works a normal job, but she’s just as weird as Six. She’s just better at hiding it.”

  I snorted.

  “Hey,” Wyett said around a mouthful of food. “I don’t think I’m weird.”

  “And that’s the problem,” Lynn countered as he walked away.

  I looked at my wife.

  “It’s okay,” I teased. “I kind of like that you’re weird. It doesn’t make my weird seem all that extreme.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re not weird. You’re intensely focused on all things computer.”

  “And you,” I countered.

  She stuck her tongue out before taking another bite.

  “Wasn’t it you that she tried to get to pay attention to her, and you were so focused on trying to find her aunt’s money that you didn’t notice that she was naked right next to you?” Six asked.

  I turned to my wife. “You told her that?”

  “We tell each other everything,” Six said with a shrug.

  “Ugh,” I grumbled. “Of course, you do.”

  Not that I cared.

  I mean, honestly, it was quite a good thing to have someone that you could share closeness like that with.