Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
CHAPTER NINE
Coast
“What the fuck was that about?” Caymen asked, passing me a wadded-up pile of napkins he’d snatched off the bar before I’d gotten us kicked out.
“What was what about?” I asked, pressing the napkins to my gushing nose.
“You started that fight outta nowhere.”
“Did I? Felt like he instigated it to me,” I said, shrugging.
“Bullshit,” Caymen said, shaking his head. “You wanna lie to yourself, that’s fine. But you can’t bullshit me, man. You were looking for a fight all night. Congrats. You found one. Feel good about it?”
When I first met them, I thought Dixon would be more my speed. But Caymen was really growing on me. He was a straight shooter. I appreciated that.
“Feeling alright,” I lied. My nose hurt like a mother.
“Should have saved some of those napkins for your eye. That’s looking rough. You need to get it checked.”
“Nah. It’ll be fine.”
“As someone who is known for gluing his own wounds instead of going to a doctor, trust me, you need to get it looked at.”
“Fine,” I agreed. “Ama’s clinic is over this way somewhere,” I added.
“You start walking. I’ll catch up after I tell my brother where we’re heading.”
“Nah, hit the town with all them. Have fun. I got this.”
“I don’t—” he started.
“Trust me. You don’t wanna miss a trip to Teddy’s fucking mansion. Have fun. Don’t need a babysitter.”
“Starting to think that’s not true,” Caymen said, but I was already walking away.
To be fair, he was right. I’d been itching for a fight for days. I’d been restless and moody for reasons I couldn’t pin down.
Normally, I lived for nights when we headed out of our little nowhere town and into the city. Where we could find lots of clubs, lots of women. Sometimes we even lucked out to run into crazy-ass Zayn, who took us on wild adventures.
But the second the guys said they were planning it, I hadn’t felt anything more than a mild annoyance that I would have to go and pretend to be interested. Or else face even more looks from the guys and questions from Velle.
So I hopped on my bike and drove in with them. I had a few rounds. Then I looked for an excuse to start some shit.
Mature way to handle my issues?
No.
But it was what it was.
The walk to the clinic was long enough that my mind started to clear and the walls I’d put up started to fall.
Leaving the truth.
I’d been in a bad mood since Zoe drove away from the clubhouse.
It’d been almost instantaneous.
My mood had been great that whole morning. Ordering food while Jade fussed over Lainey. Then taking Lainey to see the tortoise and the trucks. Putting her into her car seat.
But as she drove off, my mood plummeted.
The last bit of dopamine I’d gotten was adding a fat tip to the order from the night before. It’d been all downhill from there.
“‘Sup?” I said to the security guard at the clinic. “Is Ama still here?” I knew she’d had a shift since Seeley was hanging back at Che’s place.
“Coast?” Ama called, sounding like she was sighing. “What’d you get int—oh, ouch,” she said, walking out toward the lobby. “Alright. Come on. Let me check you out.”
“I’m only here because Caymen said my eye looked fucked. He doesn’t seem like the alarmist type.”
“He wasn’t wrong,” Ama said. “You’ve got a wicked subconjunctival hemorrhage. See?” she said, handing me a mirror when we got to a room.
All the whites of my eye were red. And the black eye was starting to set in.
“I just want to make sure you didn’t break your eye socket. Or tear your cornea. How’s the pain?”
“It’s an expected amount.”
“That’s not helpful. Can you move your eye side to side for me? Good. Up and down? Alright. Does it hurt to move the eye?”
“No. It’s just a consistent ache. Like you’d expect when you get socked in the eye.”
“Alright. Any double or blurred vision?”
“No.”
“A foreign body sensation? Like when you would swear something is in your eye?”
“Nope.”
“Your pupil looks normal. What about this,” she said, producing a pen flashlight. “Does this cause any pain?”
“Nah.”
“Okay. I’m just gonna poke around a little,” she said, putting on gloves and pressing around my eye. Then my nose.
“You got lucky. Again,” she said, pulling off her gloves. “You won’t always get lucky, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“You want some acetaminophen for the pain?”
“Nah.”
“Of course not. The whole point of this was the pain, wasn’t it?” she asked, shaking her head. “Well, mission accomplished.”
“Medical care with a side of judgment,” I said, shooting her a smile.
“I’m allowed to judge you. You’re family. And you’re being stupid.”
“Hey, that’s my brand,” I said, making my way to the exam room door. “Thanks for checking me out, Ama.”
I was only a few feet into the hallway when I saw a flash of blonde hair that had my stomach twisting.