Brick tipped his head back and looked up at the funeral home. “Yeah, I would say you’re going to need help. You might even need to get your head checked for thinking that this is a good idea.”
“See!” Core grunted. “Brick has only been here for two days, and even he thinks this isn’t a good idea.”
Brick shook his head. “I didn’t say it wasn’t a good idea. I’m just saying that this seems like a big project, and everyone is going to need to be all-hands-on-deck for this to work.”
Core wrinkled his nose. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that and assume you’re on my side of thinking this isn’t a good idea.” He folded his arms over his chest and glared at Brick.
Sledge hit Core’s shoulder. “You think you can suck it up and not be a bitch about us making the funeral home into the club?”
Core side-eyed Sledge. “The first sign of that place being haunted, and I am out. I don’t fucking care if I look like a pussy bitch or not. I can handle anything except for dead zombie shit.”
Sledge shrugged. “Whatever, brother. I guess you’re gonna have to deal with that dead zombie shit seeing as this place in the future home of Skinz.”
We all moved into the funeral home and surveyed the large wall that separated the front parlor from the main living area.
“Fucking hell, this place is huge.” Brick’s eyes moved all around the room. “You gonna put a stage in?”
Dyno nodded. “Yup. We’ll have a stage with about a ten-foot runaway at the end that will extend into the seating. It’ll feel like the girls are really close to the customers, without feeling like they aren’t safe. We’ll have guys stationed at all points of the stage.” Dyno nodded to the opposite side of the room. “We’re going to put the bar there, and then right where we are standing will be the check-in, coat check, and security area.”
“What’s upstairs?” Brick asked.
Dyno turned to the stairs and pointed up and to the right. “Dressing room for the girls.” He pointed up and to the left. “And also private rooms.”
Brick nodded. “Sounds like a solid plan.”
Core rubbed his hands together. “The thing I want to be a part of is the hiring.”
“Pull your weight with renovating, and maybe that will happen,” Dyno laughed.
“As if any of you guys want to interview girls.” Core elbowed Brick. “Their ol’ ladies won’t let them.”
Brick shrugged. “You do have a point there, Core. We wouldn’t want you guys to piss off your women. I mean, it’s the least we could do.”
Dyno pulled out a tape measure and tossed it to Core. “Measure this fucking wall and stop acting like a pussy about renovating this place, and the interviews are all yours.”
Core smiled wide. “Fuck yeah.”
“I better be in on those interviews, too,” I added. “Last I checked, I don’t have an ol’ lady.”
Core pulled out the end of the tape measure and handed the other end to Brick. “You sure about that? I heard Kimber talking to Quinn this morning about the pretty shrink.”
I folded my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall. “And?”
“And, Kimber said she saw you and the shrink take off on your bike pretty early yesterday morning.”
“And?” I drawled again. I wasn’t giving Core a crumb of information about Lynn and me. Wasn’t any of his business.
“And…I don’t fucking know anymore. That’s all I know,” Core huffed. He reached the end of the wall and looked at the tape measure. “Seventeen and a half feet,” he replied.
Dyno pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and scribbled on it. “Now measure the wall on this side. I think over there will work, but I want to know this one, too.”
I didn’t have a clue what Dyno was talking about. I could swing a hammer and do whatever he told me to, but all this planning and shit was not my thing.
“I know I’m new around here, but what I think Core is trying to say is that you and the shrink are bumping uglies.” Brick leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest.
“Playing hide the salami,” Sledge laughed.
I rolled my eyes.
Brick snapped his fingers. “Creaming the twinkie.”
Core smiled even wider. “Launching the meat missile.”
“Taking the bald gnome for a stroll in the forest,” Dyno suggested.
Core opened his mouth and instantly closed it.
Brick scratched his head and squinted. “Uh, that’s pretty detailed.”
Core closed one eye and pursed his lips. “So you’re saying your dick is the gnome and the shrink’s…”
“Yes,” Dyno grunted. “Christ's sake. You guys have the worst imagination. Shit isn’t funny when it has to be explained.” He shook his head and pointed to the wall he wanted Core to measure.
“So just tell us if you’re hitting it with the shrink,” Sledge laughed. “You do that, and these idiots will stop thinking of weird ways to say having sex.”
“Nobody’s fucking business.” I shrugged. “Nothing to report.”
Core moved to the second wall, and Brick took the other end of it. “This wall is twenty-one feet.” He let go of the tape measure, and it slung back to Brick. “And I don’t know if you’re telling the truth or not, Zephyr. You say it’s none of our business, but then you say there isn’t anything to report.”
Sledge tapped his finger on his chin. “Would you actually report to us if there was something to tell, or is there something to tell but you’re not going to tell us because it isn’t any of our business?”
I pushed off the wall and grabbed the tape measure from Brick. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?” Core barked. “What the hell are you yessing?”
Dyno and Sledge laughed.
“I think he’s telling you he ain’t gonna tell you shit about the shrink.” Dyno tucked the piece of paper into his pocket.
Core pointed at me. “So, there is something to tell.”
Sledge slapped Core on the back. “Give it up, brother. He’s not going to tell you shit, just like Dyno and I wouldn’t tell you shit about our ol’ ladies.”
“She’s your ol’ lady?” Core gasped.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. This was getting ridiculous. “Nothing happened with the shrink, Core. She passed out, I let her sleep in my bed, and then I took her home in the morning when she woke up and freaked out. End of story.”
Core eyed me warily. “Part of me doesn’t believe you.”
I shrugged. That wasn’t my problem. I mean, yeah, I lied through my fucking teeth about Lynn and me, but I wasn’t going to tell him the truth. “So, are we knocking down a wall or what?” I asked Core.
Core shook his head. “Not today. I need to go over the plans again. I’m thinking we’ll be building more than tearing down shit.”
That was surprising. I thought for sure we would be knocking the funeral home down to the studs. “I can swing a hammer. Just tell me where.”
“Now that is the kind of enthusiasm I expect from you peckerheads.” Dyno smirked. “Though I bet I know where your eagerness about this is coming from.”