Page 29 of The Kings of Kearny

Kyle swore and stalked away.

Nina watched him go. “Kid’s got a lot to learn about the world still.”

I nodded. “Unlike us grizzled old hags.”

She threw a bar towel at me. “Speak for yourself.”

An hour later, she and I sat in her car in the parking lot. Tonight had been crazy busy, and even though I’d spent half of it pissed off, I couldn’t deny that the energy in the place had been infectious. I was still riding high off of it, like the true extrovert I was, and while I knew a crash was coming, I wasn’t ready to go home just yet.

“What happened with you and Jakob?” Nina asked.

“He made this cryptic comment about Magnolia during our shift yesterday that totally freaked me out,” I told her. “Afterward, he pulled up next to me at a stoplight and had me follow him home. The Kings think someone on staff there is selling drugs in town.”

Her brows shot up. “Only an idiot or a madman would sell drugs in Kearny.”

“Agreed,” I said. “When we got to Jakob’s place, Daniel King was sitting on his couch, and the door was busted like he broke in.”

She leaned back in her seat. “What the hell?”

I filled her in on their strange interaction and then told her about Jakob ordering me to stay the night.

She frowned when I was done. “Think there’s bad blood between the two of them?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “That’s what I thought at first, but then they were all buddy-buddy in the bar tonight.”

“Maybe it’s a private squabble and they’re keeping it from the rest of the club.”

I huffed out a laugh. “They’re doing a good job then. Those bikers are the worst gossips in town. I doubt they’ll be able to keep their rift a secret for long.”

“So what do you think is going on?” she asked. “Who was watching Jakob’s place if not someone loyal to Daniel?”

“No clue. I just know that something is off there, and it’s going to bother me until I find out what it is.”

She put a hand on my forearm. “Be careful. People who go poking around in Kings business usually come to regret it.”

“Don’t worry,” I told her. “I’m not dumb enough to go poking around. At this point, I’ve resigned myself to being bothered about it indefinitely.”

She lifted her hand from my arm. “So, Daniel left last night and then what?”

“Then Jakob gave me the most intense orgasm of my entire life.”

She let out a shaky breath. “Details or it didn’t happen.”

I told her the details.

People always make a big deal about men and their locker-room talk, but in my experience, women are just as likely to engage in that kind of banter. We embellish details, wax vainglorious about dick size, and even exaggerate about silly things like the number of positions we attempted, all to make ourselves look like some sort of goddess in the bedroom, with our partners our devoted supplicants of course.

With Jakob, there was no need for embellishment, and as I talked, it was like I relived every glorious, sordid moment of last night. By the time I was done, I was thirsty as fuck and ready for round two even though I was still pissed at the guy.

Nina let out a low whistle. “Goddamn.”

“Yeah. But then he was a complete nightmare today at Gran’s nursing home, so it’ll never happen again.” I gave her a recap of our visit, including why we were there and how we’d convinced Dr. Perez to help us.

Nina’s expression softened. “I’m sorry he said that about your leg.”

“It’s not the fact that he said it but the way that he did.”

She nodded. “I know, but I’m still sorry.”

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