I killed the engine and hopped out.
“Do you own anything besides black t-shirts and dark jeans?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood and avoid any heavy conversation he might feel like having.
“This coming from the guy who doesn’t own a fucking shirt.”
“That’s what’s been bugging me.” I said, pulling the black tank top over my head and tossing it back into the truck. “Much fucking better.”
King rolled his eyes but I could see the hint of a smile. Not on his lips but in his everything. He was a hard man to read but I’d figured his ass out. Just took me almost fifteen years.
“Garage looks better than last time I saw it,” I said, following King to the back. The actual main garage area was twice as big as it was before Eli crumbled it to the ground. “You get in a fight with a vampire?” I asked, pointing to the gauze on his neck.
“New tat,” he said, opening a door that was in the same place my former crash pad used to be.
“Who did it?” I asked. King had done all of mine and they ranged from chicken scratch looking bullshit from when he first started, to my right sleeve which was not a picture, but a portrait of the causeway during sunset, a bike on the top of the bridge.
“Ray,” he said and that time he did smile.
“Holy shit you let your bitch tat you?” I asked reaching for the gauze.
“Fuck off. You call her a bitch again I’m drowning you in the fucking bay.”
We entered an apartment but it didn’t look like the makeshift area I’d used before as my apartment. This was a legit living space. The Beach Bastards decor I had pinned to the walls were gone and those walls were now bare. The smell of fresh paint lingered in the air.
A newer looking couch and TV made up the living room area. A small kitchenette sat to my left. And unlike the studio I had before, this area had an additional door which I realized probably lead to an actual bedroom when it opened and Doe came out.
A small smile crept onto her face. “Bear,” she said, her eyes sparkling, her white blonde hair a lot longer than I remembered.
“Doe,” I said, unsure of how to greet her anymore. It felt awkward. She was the only girl who I ever thought I could make mine. It wasn’t that I was in love with her, it was that she was the only girl I’d even considered spending more time with than the time it took to come. For me? That was a lot.
Doe looked like Doe but also different. Where King’s change was something I couldn’t put my finger on, Doe’s was much easier to spot. She wore bright colored shorts and a black tank and flip flops, her signature style, but this top was looser around the middle than what I was used to seeing her wear and flowed as she walked toward me. When she wrapped around my neck to bring me in for a hug I couldn’t help but look down at her ample cleavage. Cleavage that certainly wasn’t there before.
“She goes by Ray,” King said. I was such a fucking idiot. I’d heard King say Ray but it hadn’t registered.
“Ray,” I corrected. I wasn’t as perceptive as King when he caught me staring at her.
“Stop staring at her fucking tits,” King growled. Ray let out a small laugh.
I held her for a beat longer after she tried to pull away and she swatted my shoulder playfully and laughed again before I finally let her go. I missed her voice. Her laugh. It was even nice to have King growling next to me again.
It was all so… normal.
“You get your tits done, beautiful?” I asked mostly to piss off King, I knew they weren’t fake because of how they felt smashed up against my chest when she’d hugged me. “Cause I’ll tell ya they were always pretty fucking fantastic.”
“Bear,” King warned and I wondered how far I could push it until he drew his gun.
“Oh come on, Bear, you seriously don’t know why?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
King tugged on her arm, pulling her against his chest.
My chest tightened.
I looked Ray over again, and she was right, they were soft and yet looked like they were about to explode out the top of her shirt. The rest of her was curvier too, her thighs a bit thicker. Even her face had filled out. And yes, her ass had gotten bigger but hot damn was that a good thing.
Fifteen or so pounds didn’t look good on her. It looked great on her.
“You seriously don’t remember?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest which made them pop out of her top even more. King reached out and uncrossed them, and that’s when I noticed it through the fabric of her shirt. A slightly rounded belly. Like she’d recently… “Fuck, I’m a dumb shit,” I admitted, finally realizing what I’d forgotten. “Congrats, guys, I mean it,” I said, pulling Ray in for another hug that was rewarded with yet another growl from King.
Now my chest hurt for an entirely new reason. My friends, closer to me than any family, had a baby while I was away and I hadn’t even remembered Ray was pregnant.