"I, ah, yeah. The rent was really low. On account of the unsavory neighbors," I said, giving Remy a smirk.
"Gotta be smart with the money. Come on. Have a cold slice with me. Let the boys do their whoring."
"Thanks again," Remy said before moving off toward the front of his house, his dog following behind, her loving gaze on his back the whole way.
"Who in the world ordered veg?" Ayanna asked, flipping open a full box. "I mean, who ruins a perfectly good pile of carbs and fat with vegetables? Well, that's what we've got. Here," she said, handing me a slice. "So, who are you?"
"Harmon," I supplied, taking a bite of the pizza."
"What do you do, Harmon?"
"I, ah, I play video games and film it. Then I make money from it."
"Lots of pervs in that business, I imagine," she mused.
"You're not wrong," I agreed. "But there are a lot of girl gamers who are just happy to see another of our kind in the public eye, so they tune in."
"Make good money that way?"
"Yeah, actually. I know it won't last forever. Once the pretty starts to fade, so will the viewership."
"You got a while still. Lots of pretty left. Do you have a man?"
"Ah, no. You?"
"Yeah."
"Is he here?"
"Nah. He's working. He's always working," she said, and I would swear there was a hint of bitterness in her tone. "So while he works, I party," she said, shrugging.
"He doesn't mind?"
"I don't ask," Ayanna said. "He's my man, not my keeper," she added.
"I like that," I decided.
"Oh, shit. Ayanna, what are you filling her head with about us?" another of the bikers, the one with the locs and killer jaw, asked, walking up to pour himself a drink.
"I know this might be shocking to you, McCoy, but we little females don't spend all our time gabbing about your ass."
"Whatever she says about us is a bold-faced exaggeration," McCoy said, giving Ayanna a grin.
"He knows damn well I play down their dirty deeds out of love for them," Ayanna countered.
"You're Harmon," McCoy said, looking at me, gaze hard. Like he didn't like me. Or maybe he didn't trust me for some reason. But that made no sense. "Did Huck invite you?"
"Did Huck invite who?" a deep, familiar, far too sexy voice asked, coming in from the back. "Oh, hey," he said, coming to a stop as his gaze fell on me. "Everything alright?" he asked, brows drawing together. "Did you need something?"
"She was returning your dog, you ingrates," Ayanna declared, rolling her eyes. "The two of you are looking at her like she crashed your damn party."
I gave Ayanna a grateful smile before turning back to Huck. "Remy's dog paid me a visit. I just wanted to bring her back And then..." I said, waving out my slice of pizza. "I'm not going to stay," I added.
"No, it's fine," Huck insisted. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like McCoy shot Huck a disapproving look. I don't know what he had against me, but I didn't imagine it was a good thing that a biker next door didn't like you. "Stay. Have a couple drinks. Maybe enjoy the music instead of being annoyed by it," he said, smirking
"Thanks for the quiet, by the way. I've gotten a lot of work done."
"Oh, there has been a neighborly dispute, and I wasn't told about it?" Ayanna said, tssking her tongue. "Don't be afraid to stand up to these brutes," she added, waving at them. "They look all big and mean and surly—and don't get me wrong, they can be—but they aren't complete assholes."
"Not complete assholes," Huck repeated, smiling. "That might be the nicest thing you've ever said about us."
"I know it is," Ayanna agreed, moving toward the island to grab a couple red cups, tossing some vodka and a hint of fruit punch in them before holding out to me. "Drink this," she demanded, giving me a smile. "Then you can meet me at the pool, once you're done with the guys."
With that, she was gone.
"She's adopted you now, you know," McCoy told me, shaking his head.
"What? We shared just a couple sentences."
"She misses Gus."
"My sister," Huck explained.
"Right. Before she fell for a biker and moved to New Jersey. If I am getting that right."
"That pretty much sums it up," Huck agreed. "Stay awhile," he invited, waving at the house. "It's good to be friendly with the neighbors."
I could have sworn he and McCoy shared a look after he said it, but I didn't know either of them well enough to interpret it. It was enough to put me on edge, though, to make me decide to hang out with Ayanna for a few minutes by the pool, then take my ass right back to my own house where I didn't have to wonder why the criminal biker guys were looking at me sideways.