Page 37 of Knight
Ghost cleared his throat. “I, uh, talked to him.”
Hollywood whipped his head toward Ghost. “He talked toyou?”
“What did he say?” I asked.
“I called to check in, like everyone else.” Ghost set his six-pack of beer on the fence railing. “He didn’t say much. He’s athis sister’s place. He thought it was best we let him be. He said he wasn’t in the right headspace to be talking to anyone.”
Hollywood blew out a frustrated breath. “So nothing new, then.”
Ghost pulled out a beer and twisted off the cap with a grunt.
“At least we know where he is,” I said. “We can go check on him.”
“Not sure that’s a good idea,” Ghost said. “The man wants to be left alone.”
“I know, but he’s?—”
“Ghost is right,” Hollywood said. “Leave him alone. It’s what he wants. He can run away and hide forever. Fuck it.”
He tipped up his beer and guzzled half the bottle. Ghost and I exchanged a concerned look.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Holly? I know you two were tight.”
He lowered the bottle and wiped his mouth. “Yeah, just bored with the Tex drama. Let’s move the fuck on.”
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “I guess we should order pizza. It’s looking like Joyride is a no-show again.”
“Not so fast,” Hollywood said, shifting forward. “There he is.”
A bright yellow Hummer came around the curve of the circle and cruised toward us, damn near as wide as the whole road.
He parked in front of the driveway, blocking me in and ensuring Aiden wouldn’t have access. Douchenozzle behavior, but what could I expect from a guy driving a fucking Hummer?
The door opened, and he hopped out with a grocery sack dangling from two fingers. “Niceplace you’ve got out in theboonies.”
Such a little shit.
“Well, he could just move into your Hummer,” Hollywood suggested. “It’s as big as a fucking house.”
“Probably cost as much too,” Ghost added.
Joyride grimaced. “Dad’s making me drive it. Says he doesn’t trust me to drive the BMW.”
“That’s rough,” I deadpanned. “What’s in the bag? I was expecting takeout.”
“Oh, sorry.” Joyride came up the stairs and handed it to me. “I didn’t know what you wanted.”
I opened the bag, expecting to see bags of chips or pretzels, but instead I got an eyeful of red meat. “Holy shit. You got steaks?”
“Is that okay?”
Hollywood’s eyes brightened. “Hell yes, that’s okay. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had steak.”
“Beef is too damn expensive,” Ghost agreed, reaching for the bag. “I’ll get these prepped. You got some seasoning?”
“Yeah, cupboard by the stove.”
He nodded and went through the door. I turned to the gas grill. Luckily, I’d given it a good cleaning, so it shouldn’t take much to fire it up.
