Page 13 of Peer & Coco

Chapter 5

Music blared insideof the Slag Motorcycle Club clubhouse. Joel held a drink out to Coco. She shook her head, leaned closer, and loudly said, "No, thanks. I'm going to take off."

Monica leaned against Joel's other side and said, "Already?"

Coco nodded, looking around the room. Peer told her he'd only be a few minutes and then they could go home. But, he'd gone in the back with Tyr, and she hadn't seen him since.

A hand landed on her arm. She turned, expecting Peer to be behind her and Dinah pulled her close and said, "Peer's outside. He went out once the music started."

"Oh, okay." She smiled. "Thanks for letting me know."

"I'll see you Tuesday night, if not sooner." Dinah's gaze went up. "I meant to tell you; I love your hair."

She cupped the back of her head. Her hairstylist took out the purple color and gave her blonde streaks, trying to match her more natural color. She'd done it on a whim. Used to more extreme styles and colors, she found herself acting calmer without the pop in her appearance.

"Thanks. I'm still getting used to it," she said.

Dinah stuck up her thumb, voting for the change, and stepped away.

She told Monica and Joel goodnight and then worked her way through the crowd. There was a time she would've stayed at the clubhouse and partied with the bikers. She'd even hooked up with a couple of them. Great guys, but none of them were looking for a relationship, and she knew that going off with them was for companionship only.

Walking out of the clubhouse, she stopped in the alley until the door shut and the music mellowed to background noise. She searched the area for Peer and found him standing against the back wall of the bar.

Halfway to him, she veered over to her car when she spotted Elling and his girlfriend, Jackie, talking with Peer. She'd only met Jackie once before when Elling brought her to The Fire Ring for dinner. She seemed nice enough, though she made no effort to have a conversation with her past the introductions.

She slid into the car. Her body sighed, molding to the seat. She was too young to feel the amount of exhaustion beating down on her. It was almost three o'clock in the morning, and she'd slept until eleven o'clock that morning, thanks to Peer getting up and entertaining Tyr quietly in his room.

The back door opened. She turned in the seat. Tyr was already asleep.

Disappointment filled her. She'd looked forward to a snuggle with him before she went to bed.

Peer's hand landed on her shoulder. "Are you okay to drive?"

"Yeah." She hadn't drunk anything at the party, knowing she had to bring Tyr home. "I'll follow you."

Away from the clubhouse, she concentrated on the roads and arrived back at the house without having her usual conversation with Tyr, seeing as he slept the whole way. She spotted Peer already walking toward the vehicle when she shut off the engine.

Knowing he would pack Tyr inside the house, she went and unlocked the front door. It was one of those nights where all she wanted to do was eat some ice cream and veg out in front of her phone watching something on Netflix until her eyes closed and she could sleep.

It still cracked her up that Peer had never owned a television. He'd shrugged the oddity off to growing up in Norway where people were outside more than they were inside the house.

She walked down the hallway, threw her purse on the bed, and returned to the kitchen to see Peer quietly closing the door, lugging Tyr on his shoulder. Being quiet, she opened the cupboard and removed a bowl.

Efficiently scooping the ice cream, she added two heaping spoons' worth of strawberry jam to her indulgence and carried the concoction to her room, using her foot to close the door. She undressed, showered, and settled on the bed, sitting cross-legged with her phone on her knee and the bowl of half-melted ice cream in her hands.

As an episode of Breaking Bad came on the phone, she stirred the jam into the ice cream, wishing Lizzy was here to watch the show with her and help her predict if Walter White would ever get caught.

When she'd lived with Lizzy, she might not have had a busy social life outside of working, but she always had a friend to share her day with when she came home. Her interests never gained Peer's curiosity.

Halfway through her ice cream, a knock interrupted the show. She tapped the pause button and untangled her legs. Carrying the bowl, she crossed the room and opened the door.

Peer glanced down. "You're eating."

It was a statement, not a question. Had he not noticed she always kept ice cream in the freezer? She lifted the spoon and took a bite, licking her upper lip. "There's more if you want some."

"No." He shoved his fingers in his hair. "I'm not hungry."

Not that she was watching him, but she'd noticed he had never ordered anything from Peach in the kitchen at The Fire Ring during work tonight—that was something he usually did during his lunch break.