“Hey, ass**le, what’s up?”
She stepped out of the way as the two men shook hands and laughed.
“Goddamn. What did you do, fall into a black hole or somethin’?” the guy asked.
He was big—all over—a giant of a man. Even his hair had as wild a look as his face, tumbling in wild curls halfway down his back.
“Something like that. Great to see you, Joey.”
Ah. So this must be the guy who owned the house.
“Joey, this is my friend Ava.”
Joey turned to her, eyed her from head to foot, then picked her up and planted a big kiss on her cheek. “How ya doin’, sweetheart?”
When he set her down, she exhaled. “Fine. Thank you. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for having us over.”
Joey paused, then laughed and turned to Rick. “Polite little thing, ain’t she?”
Rick’s lips lifted. “Yeah.”
“So, you still in the life?”
Rick shrugged. “More or less. What about you?”
“Hellraiser ’til I die. Bo’s done a fine job growing the gang. He keeps us busy runnin’—”
Joey seemed to notice Ava standing there. “He keeps us busy running around.”
“I can see that. I remember when there were just ten or fifteen of us.”
“Now there are over a hundred in this area. He’s done good. And I know he’ll be happy to have you back.”
“Yeah, I figured it was time to come home.”
Joey smacked Rick on the back. “About damn time, too.”
Joey moved off to see some other people and Rick and Ava finished their beers. Rick reached into the nearest tub for another, opened it, and handed it to her while they wandered around.
“You seem to know a lot of people,” she said.
“A few. Some I don’t recognize. A lot of these people are new.”
“Joey said you’d been gone awhile?”
“Yeah. Traveling.”
“That must have been exciting.”
He laughed. “It can be.”
She suddenly wanted to know more about him. He must lead such an interesting life. “Who do you ride with when you travel? Groups like this one, or smaller?”
“No one. I ride alone.”
She couldn’t even imagine that. “Really. Don’t you get lonely?”
He slanted a glance toward her. “No.”
“So you like being alone.”
“I guess so. I never really thought about it. I just do what I do.”
“I wouldn’t enjoy that.”
“What? Riding or being alone?”
“The alone part.”
“It’s not bad. Gives me a lot of time to think.”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “I have too much time to think. I wouldn’t want all that time alone. I’d drive myself crazy.”
He leaned in, slid his finger on the tip of her nose. “It’s good to get to know yourself, learn to be comfortable in your own skin.”
Rick had a point, and he definitely looked at ease with himself. Still, she wondered how much time he’d actually spent riding alone. What made a person crave that kind of solitude? Most people liked being with other people, not isolating themselves.
He was certainly an interesting person. And she’d always liked to be around interesting people.
Speaking of people . . . where the hell had Lacey gone off to? Ava hadn’t seen her since they’d arrived here. Ava searched her out, but the crowd had thickened and she couldn’t find her.
“Looking for your friend?” Rick asked.
“Yes.”
“I saw Bo take her upstairs. Let’s go find them.”
Once again, he took her hand and led her up the stairs, though they had to wind their way through a crowd of people using the stairs as a seating area. They didn’t seem to mind though, in fact, made room for Rick and Ava to find their footing until they made their way to the second floor.
Ava studied the hallway that branched out in two directions and led to lots of doors—closed doors.
“Uh, maybe we shouldn’t be up here.”
Rick cocked his head to the side. “Why not?”
“I think people came up here to find some privacy.”
He grinned. “I’m sure they did. But you wanted to find your friend, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes, but if she and Bo want to be alone . . .”
He shrugged. “It’s just sex. They won’t mind being disturbed. Let’s go.”
Just sex? He was joking, right?
Apparently not. He started down a hallway. Ava ran after him and grabbed his arm before he turned a knob. “Are you serious? Stop that.”
“What?”
“You can’t just barge in on people having sex.”
“Why not?”
“First. It’s rude. And second . . . oh my God. Do I have to spell it out?”
He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Sure. Go ahead.”
“Do you really want to watch people . . . you know.”
“Fucking?”
God. The way he said it. She flushed with heat all over. He made it sound dirty. And exciting. And compelling.
“Yes.”
“I guess if people don’t want to be bothered they’ll lock the door. Unless they forget. Most don’t really care. Watch.”
She took a giant step back as he turned the knob and opened a door that was, as he said, unlocked.
“Anyone in here having sex?”
“Get the f**k out of here!” came a sharp retort from the darkened room.
Rick laughed and closed the door.
“See? They didn’t want guests.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
He ignored her, took a few steps down the hall, and opened the next door. “What’s going on in here?”
There was heavy breathing. Then giggling, followed by a male voice that said, “Fucking. Why, do you wanna watch?”
“Maybe. I’ll get back to you.”
He closed the door and turned to her. Ava put her hand over her mouth to smother her laugh. “You’re something.”
He waggled his brows. “You have no idea, honey.”
“You don’t mean to go into every room and do this.”