Page 47 of Little Did We Know
We’d bought said couch—and three others—at two yard sales, and they were currently positioned in the middle of our future club area.River and I had spent a few nights here already.But we had to get shit sorted before the fall.We opened our doors on Halloween, and though the second and third floors would be restricted, we believed the downstairs would be enough to get us started.Ivy was working the crowds all over DC, and Macklin was good at spreading the word too.
The most important thing was that our club area was finished.And the changing room and the hallway.The rest would come later—when we could fucking afford it.Man, was this house draining our bank account.
What were savings?
We needed members signing up.We needed the membership fees.
Our goal was for the whole house to be finished next year.
Lucian was first to trail into the club area, and I pointed at the pizza boxes on the old coffee table we’d bought too.He was bizarrely hot in holey jeans and a T-shirt.
“I can’t reach,” I grunted.
“If you remove your feet from the table and the laptop from your lap, you’ll reach the pizza, my friend.”
“Yeah, but you’re here now, and I’m hurt,” I explained.“Pity me, Leroux.”
“Oh, I do.I promise.”He chuckled and flipped open the top box, and he graciously extended a slice to me.
Awesome.
Macklin skidded in on his socks shortly after.“The floor is so freaking gorgeous and shiny here.”
Yeah, yeah, it was fabulous.
“Come read your profile, sweetheart,” I said, chewing.
Lucian was already behind the couch and reading over my shoulder.“Uh.Please change the part about my having to be convinced.I come off as a raging workaholic here.”
Oh, so we were removing facts.Got it.
I trapped the slice between my teeth and wrote the opposite.Lucian Leroux jumped right in without hesitation.
Macklin was pleased with his intro, probably because I hadn’t tinkered with his first draft much.I’d just fixed a typo.
Lucas and Colt joined us next, and they were happy with their profiles too.They gave me their green lights before joining Lucian and Macklin around the table and tearing into the pizza.
“Don’t forget we need to leave early tonight,” West said.
“I know, I know.”I chewed on another mouthful of pizza.“You need enough time to fuck twice before he returns to base.I’m not new here.”
“Why are you always so blunt?”he grated out.“Colt’s exactly the same.”
“And you love him, so that must mean you want me to continue,” I stated.
Penelope and Greer wandered in, sweaty and covered in paint.
“Before next summer, we need AC and the pool fixed,” Pen said.“I’m so over this heat.”
“Amen, girl,” I agreed.River was gonna pick up more fans tomorrow.
Greer hummed as he read his profile text.“Can you say we met up or somethin’ instead?I’d prefer to keep my service out of it.”
“No problem.”I crammed the last of my slice into my mouth, wiped the grease off my fingers somewhat, and tapped away on the keys, deleting the bit about my calling him on base.“We met up for a beer or two, I told you about my idea to start Mclean, and you were on board immediately.”
“And that part’s not untrue,” he said.“We’ll keep the nitty-gritty between just you and me.”
I grinned and looked up at him over my shoulder.“You mean the fact that you were actually on the shitter when I called you?”
