“Busy with what?”
“I bet they’re done talking,” Lo said without answering me. “We should head back before he thinks I’m trying to steal ya.”
He laughed again.
“I wouldn’t want the Hunter hunting me! That motherfucker can be scary! Ha! Ha! Ha!”
We turned from the water and headed back up the sand dune to the house. Mo was still sitting outside, but Aiden wasn’t there.
“Just in time for scotch!” Mo announced. “Hunter’s digging up the private stock!”
“Sweet! Maybe the taste of Bakon vodka will finally be drowned out!”
Aiden appeared with a tall bottle and four glasses.
“You like scotch?” he asked me.
“I’ve only tried it once,” I said. “I didn’t care for it.”
“You probably never had the good stuff,” Aiden said with a wink. He poured out three glasses and handed one to me. “Try mine and see what you think.”
It burned my throat but went down a lot smoother than I remembered from years ago when Gabe had convinced me to try some, and it had made me want to gag. Not wanting to be rude, I nodded and smiled.
“It’s good.”
“See? You just needed to try a good one.” Aiden passed the two glasses to his friends and then poured one more for me. He traded glasses with me then stared into my eyes as he turned the first glass around and slowly drank from the same spot I had. He licked his bottom lip. “Extra good.”
My heart pounded as I dropped my eyes and sipped slowly, trying to get used to the taste and the feeling the drink left in my throat. It made me cringe a little every time I tasted it, but I just drank slowly and tried to keep a smile on my face.
“Got any new ink?” Mo asked Aiden.
“Of course,” Aiden replied. “I always hit up my tat man in Cincinnati.”
“What are you going to do when you run out of skin?” Lo asked with a laugh.
“I’ll figure something out.”
“What did you get?” Mo asked.
Aiden pulled off his shirt to show off a silhouetted bird in a cloud under his right arm.
“Didn’t that hurt?” I asked.
“Like a bitch,” Aiden said with a laugh. “Not as bad as behind the knee, though.”
I subtly tried to examine the myriad of pictures all over his torso. There were too many to even try to count. I could make out diamonds, stars, cartoon characters, skulls, numbers, and God knows what else. There were multiple phrases, but I couldn’t read them without being far too obvious, so I gave up.
The casual gathering continued as Aiden tossed a few pieces of firewood into a metal pit and lit it up. Mo and Lo pulled out cigars to smoke, and we chatted about nothing in particular until the hour was late, and the two men decided it was time to go.
“It was great meeting you, Chloe,” Mo said. “If this guy gives you any trouble, you just smack him over the head with that empty scotch bottle and give me a call.”
He and Lo both laughed again.
“I’ll do that,” I said with a smile.
Lo stepped forward and I squealed a bit as he lifted me into a big bear hug.
“Loved talkin’ with ya,” he said. He turned his face toward my ear and gave me a peck on the cheek before whispering to me. “Be careful with him. He’s more fragile than he looks.”