to be a fucking genius, didn't ya? Couldn't be a dumbass like Reece and I."
Speck scoffs and flicks a pea at her. "Speak for yourself! I’ve got more fucking brains than you and Rue put together.”
Rue picks up his knife a little threateningly and Keely starts scowling at them all. By some miracle, that settles them all down.
Hawk shuts their shit out and says to me, “What are you gonna do after college?”
I shrug. “Accounting and specializing in taxes. I enjoy a challenge."
Rue chuckles under his breath. "You mean like how you spent one night on The Boulevard's books and managed to fucking save our asses? That didn't seem like it challenged you. Tomi had been trying for fucking weeks and it took you, what, an hour?”
Hawk’s eyebrows draw together. "What happened?"
Keely gets up and starts handing out more beers, kissing cheeks as she passes them out and when she gets to me she does the same. Just throws me for a loop by including me in her little family.
“Mav was doing a shitty job with the books. Skimming from the top," Rue says, taking his beer from Keely and lifting his chin for the cheek kiss obediently. Even he accepts her fussing.
It's kind of adorable.
Hawk shoots me a look and I rush to clarify, "I'm not sure it was skimming on purpose or if he's just really bad at bookkeeping but yeah... if you got audited you'd have been in trouble. Tax evasion levels of trouble and my professors have all been talking about how cash industries are being targeted this year so it's only a matter of time. Very messy."
Hawk's eyes finally shift away from me and I take a breath. Jesus, his scrutiny is terrifying. "Guess we have a new accountant then."
Uh.
What?
"I'm not certified yet. I can't do it until I'm finished."
King shrugs. "That's only six months away, right? Perfect timing, ready for you to lodge our taxes. You can keep the books until then."
I swallow roughly, ready to try to talk my way out of it but Tomi jumps in for me. "She has classes, she's focusing on that. If she has time she can do them but class first."
That's not quite what I was hoping for in my rescue but I'll take it. Rue groans and says, "The garage needs the books looked at too. Diesel can barely fucking read, let alone sort taxes. We were using Vic but he's... not available anymore."
Everyone shares a look and I decide not to ask about him.
"Not available on account of a bullet in the brain," Trink whispers at me, and Tomi reaches behind me to smack the back of her head.
"Shut your fucking mouth, dumbass. Who's been telling you shit, anyway?"
Right.
She was just trying to scare me then. I get back to my plate and keep my mouth shut. I'm still feeling all sorts of... off. They're all treating me too well. I'm sitting here and waiting for there to be some change in them, something to happen and suddenly it's a bullet in my brain.
"Diego was yakking it up about the whole thing. Talking about how the club is losing credibility over killing our own members. I told him he was a fucking dumbass and then Law had to take a swing at him. I fucking hate the asshole."
Law.
Why aren't the twins here? Tomi nudges my beer at me and says, "Harbin's in town still. They're deciding if they're staying in Coldstone or going home to Mounts Bay."
Right. I keep my face blank. Like, super fucking blank because Rue starts eyeballing me like I'm the most fucking interesting thing on the planet. Joke’s on him though.
The Devil is terrifying and I'm certain he'd know if I gave anything away.
"Did you meet Poe's sister?" King asks, and I mentally cuss him out. Of course he'd ask.
"I did. She's nice."
He stares at me. "Nice? Thorn acts like she's a fucking nightmare waiting to swoop in and lay siege on my club."
I take a sip of my beer and try not to freak out. "She was very nice to me. She loves her sister, would do anything for her. Everyone was nice."
Tomi's arm turns to stone where it's draped over the back of my chair. "Who the fuck else did you meet?"
Fuck. "Her sister and the boyfriend."
Trink makes this little squealing noise. "Holy shit, you met Morrison too, didn’t you? Poe said her sister knows him too."