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I never asked how they know each other.
“What am I looking at?” Rooster asks.
I pass her phone to him. “She gets these creeps leaving disgusting comments. Any way to track them down?”
“Hoo-boy,” Shelby mutters. “You get dick pics too?” she asks Serena.
“What?” I thunder loud enough to rattle the windows.
“A few, unfortunately,” Serena mutters.
“What a way to ruin a day,” Shelby laments. “Shrimpy ol’ dick pics. Just, why? Why is that a thing?”
Serena chuckles but doesn’t comment.
“You have one of these too, Shelby?” I ask.
She sort of ducks her head and looks at Rooster. “Yeah, I kind of have to. Pretty much everyone our age does.”
“She’s a singer,” Rooster explains.
Shelby passes her phone to me, and Serena peers over my shoulder.
I glance at Rooster, then Shelby. “You have three million people following you?”
“Oh!” Serena exclaims. “You’re Shelby Morgan. I knew you looked familiar.” She slides her gaze toward Rooster. “How in the heck did you two meet?”
“It’s the most adorable story,” Jigsaw says in a high-pitched girls-who-gossip voice.
Shelby swats him. “Don’t you be making fun of our story.”
“Oh, I’m not, songbird. It makes my shriveled up, black heart pulse with joy every time I tell it.”
“Good grief.” Shelby rolls her eyes and aims a grin at Serena, who laughs.
Our girls are going to be trouble together.
Rooster’s quiet, not paying attention to their chatter. He seems to be examining Serena’s account closely. “You’ve got a lot of creeps following you, Serena,” he mutters.
“I block and delete the ones I can.”
“We can keep an eye on this, brother,” Rooster says to me.
“What are you going to do? Watch my ‘which blush is right for your skin tone’ videos?” Serena asks.
Rooster chuckles. “Beats the shit I’m monitoring for others.”
“Hey,” Shelby says.
“Not you.” Rooster hooks his arm around her shoulders and draws her closer, kissing her temple. She leans in and whispers something in his ear, then stands and holds out a hand to Serena. “Come on. Do you do yoga? You look like a yoga girl. They have a great lil’ studio here. Let’s check it out.”
Serena hesitates before accepting the invitation.
Rooster watches them leave. Once they’ve cleared the room, he explains, “One of her fans was stalking her. The fucker kidnapped her after one of her shows. I’ve never felt more helpless or been more terrified.”
My worst fucking nightmare. “Jesus Christ, you kidding me? Was she…is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s good now. But I’d rather not talk about it in front of her—that’s all.”
“Where’s the guy?”
“Very dead,” Jigsaw answers. “And missing a pinky.” He wiggles his own pinky fingers at me.
“Good,” I grumble. Sounds like club justice was served.
“Club handled it. But I wish I’d gotten to do it myself,” Rooster says.
“Long as he’s not around to bother Shelby again—that’s all that really matters,” I say.
“Amen.” He pulls out his phone. “Anyway, I keep a close eye on all of Shelby’s social media now. I track a few of the girls who work for our film company too.”
“Film? Lost Kings runnin’ a Hollywood studio now?”
He smirks. “Porn, brother. It’s porn.”
“Ah, right.” That explains all the porn stars who showed up for my welcome home bash.
“Grade A.” Jigsaw kisses his fingertips.
“I expect nothing less.”
Rooster continues swiping and clicking on his phone. “And now, I’m following Serena.” He studies the screen. “Smart move not using her real name or location. Doesn’t matter, though. Hopefully she’s got a P.O. Box. Some of these fuckers can track you by the smallest details.”
“I got no fuckin’ idea about any of this shit.” I cough and look away. “Making me feel old as fuck.”
“Eh, don’t sweat it. I only got dragged into social media out of necessity. Plenty of people opt out of this bullshit.” Rooster shakes his phone from side to side. Not sure if it’s for technical reasons or to emphasize a point. “It’s cool because it connects people together in lots of ways. But it’s also making people crazier and more miserable than ever. Double-edged sword or whatever.”
I appreciate his effort to make me feel like less of a relic.
“World’s changed a lot,” Jigsaw says.
“No kidding. I hadn’t noticed,” I growl. “You have one of these things too, Jiggy? Post pretty pictures of yourself?” I reach over and pat his cheek a few times.
“Fuck no.” He laughs and swipes my hand away. “Not for personal stuff. Only to help Rooster do some work.”
Rooster scratches his head. “You help me work? Since when?”
“Fucker,” Jigsaw laughs.
Ravage strolls up behind Rooster and peers over his shoulder. “Woo, she’s hot. Shelby know you’re creepin’ on other chicks’ Instas?”
“Shut the fuck up.” Rooster waves at me. “I’m helping Grinder with something.”
“Right.” Ravage perches on the edge of the couch. “Rooster hooking you up?”
“I don’t understand all that shit.”
Ravage squeezes his eyes shut. “You are missing out on one of modern life’s greatest miracles, Grandpa.”
