Page 45 of Coast

“Alright. Well, we should get Lil’ Bit outta here and get some fluids in her while she’s up and happy.”

“Wait, I need—” she tried as I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her toward the door.

“Thanks for the help, Ama. For both of us. Get home to your man before he loads your spawn up with sugar.”

“Wait, Coast, I need to—”

“Get Lainey home. Yes, yes you do. Want me to drive?”

“What about your car? Or… bike?”

“I walked.”

“From the clubhouse?”

“From a bar in town. Ish. My bike is parked near the building of a friend. I can get back from your place.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, if you don’t mind driving. I don’t want to take my eyes off her.”

We climbed into her car, and I got general directions to follow.

“Wait, what are you doing?” she asked when I parked outside a twenty-four-hour pharmacy.

“I just want to make sure you have enough meds and such. I’ll be ten minutes.”

I rushed into the pharmacy, grabbing one of their mini carts and making my way up and down the aisles, dropping a ton of shit in: infant acetaminophen, formula, diapers. And then everything Zoe might need when she got sick: medicine, cough drops, tea, vitamin C, electrolytes, a thermometer, and those shower fizzy things to clear sinuses.

Then, just because, I grabbed a soft blanket for Zoe and a rattle plush for Lainey before making my way to the counter.

“Did you need stuff too?” Zoe asked when I climbed back into the cool car.

“Something like that,” I agreed. “Alright. Next set of directions.”

I guess I’d been expecting her to lead me toward one of the crummy apartment buildings like Seeley, Levee, and Cato grew up in.

But she had me pulling into the lot of a motel building. The kind where it was cheap for the week, so it catered to a lot of divorcees or guys kicked out for cheating. And, of course, anyone going through a rough patch.

Zoe’s words came back to me from before.

She’d said she’d asked for help from the womana few doors down. If it was an apartment building, she likely would have said something along the lines of ‘in the building’ or ‘a few apartments down.’

“You want me to grab her? Those things get heavy.” I gestured toward the pumpkin seat.

“No, I’ve got her.”

I didn’t give her a chance to insist she could handle the bags too, just grabbed them and followed her toward the steps.

“Oh, good,” a redhead said, rushing out of her room as Zoe fished for her room key. “You finally decided to step up, huh?” she asked, looking at me. “About time. She’s running herself ragged, you know. You should be ashamed of yourself. How’s the little angel?”

“This isn’t Lainey’s dad,” Zoe said. “He’s—”

“A friend,” I supplied. “Coast.”

“Brooke. Sorry for yelling at you.”

“Lainey is alright. She has some medicine in her, so she’s cooler. Just need to get some formula in her now.”

“Good. Good. A nice lukewarm bath might help too. I can’t stay. Got my three sleeping,” she said.

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