The Stay

THE STAY A BLACK COYOTES MC SERIES RUBY BLOOM Note: This book contains adult scenes and language that some readers may consider offensive or triggering. This book is for adults only, please store this book accordingly, to prevent it being accessed by under-age readers. Copyright © 2023 by Ruby Bloom. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted electronically, hard copy, photocopying or recording or any other form without permission from the author, except for brief quotations for book reviews. This is a work of fiction, characters, names, places and incidents that resemble anything in real life is purely coincidental. CONTENTS Author’s Note Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Acknowledgments For my daughter, who first introduced me to a different kind of love. For my son, who continuously teaches me new things about love every day. For my husband, who puts up with all the less than “normal” ways I love him. AUTHOR’S NOTE If you’ve read the rest of my series, you’ll be thinking…why are we going back in time? This book starts before The Taste, but ends at the same point, right before Book 4, The Deal. Ash and Nix’s story was going to be a few flashback chapters. Turns out Nix and Ash needed more space. They needed their own story. So here it is. Ash sat in the interview room and had never felt more panicked in his life. He wasn’t used to feeling panicked. He was normally the one that never worried about the consequences. Never backed down. And yet here he was, a nervous wreck. He didn’t like it. "What do you mean, my parents hung up?" he frowned. The lady police officer looked at him with pure pity. "I mean exactly that, kiddo. I explained we had you here in custody for grand theft auto, conditions of bail-" "And they're coming to pick me up, right?" Ash gushed. He felt in his heart he knew. They were coming. They were his parents. They had to come pick him up, right? "They said ‘our son is dead to us, as far as we're concerned, we don't have a son called Ashton,’ then they hung up." Ash blinked. "But..." The police officer shrugged. "Guess it's time to wake up and smell the coffee." That riled Ash. Patronizing bitch. No need to assume he had a silver spoon in his mouth. He didn't. "Look, I know you think you've captured a felon here and got one more bad guy off the streets..." She raised her eyebrows. "...but this has all been a misunderstanding. I had to borrow my uncle’s car-" "Did you actually ask him? Did he say yes?" Ash pursed his lips. "Well, he was asleep, it was the middle of the night-" "Right-" "But he's let me in the past, it was for a friend-" The police officer openly and wistfully chuckled. He knew he sounded like a naive kid. Fuck, maybe he was. He had kind of assumed he was untouchable. One step ahead of the game. Able to outsmart his family. Always with a witty comeback or a quick quip. Always a smile on his face. But he wasn't smiling now. He knew he was in trouble. "You've got one phone call to make, I suggest you call a lawyer," she said, flipping his file closed and standing up. “My bet is you’re going to Susanville.” "I... but..." He mentally scrolled through his phone book. He needed help. He needed a friend. An ally. Goddammit. He thought of his school friends. Half of them hated him since he'd fucked their girlfriends or fucked them. His family was obviously a no go... he considered his kid sister for a second but realized she would probably get upset... and fuck, she was so young. He needed to think... Who could fix this? Who could he trust with this? The cold, harsh reality of having nothing and no one sent him gasping for breath. He was suspended above a big black hole that just plunged down and down into the abyss. He was hyperventilating. It was like that moment when you think you've lost your keys or your cell. But then you find them and relief surges into you and you smile... yeah, that relief never came. Ash just gasped and gasped his way through his first panic attack. One person came to mind. Ash only knew him under a name he was sure was fake. He had only known him a few weeks, but Ash knew he’d help. Ash felt it in his core, deep, that guy could be relied on in a jam like this. At least he prayed he could. Ash bit his lip with his heart pounding in his chest and his palms cold and clammy. He grabbed the phone. It rang. He felt like he'd run a marathon. He felt exhausted. His chest hurt. Then, the ringing stopped. The line cracked a bit. "Yeah?" A deep, clear voice came down the line. Into Ash's ear. Into Ash's soul. A life raft in a cold, rolling ocean. Ash clung to it, he pulled it to his chest and clung on with his fingernails, for his life. He took a breath. “Mr. Black?" he said, hearing the hesitation in his shaking, exhausted voice. The answer came back, swift and sure. "Ash?" Oh thank fuck, thank fuck. Ash began to garble "I… didn't know who else to call, I..." "Name’s Colt," came the gruff response on the other side of the phone. Ash puffed out a breath. "I didn’t think anyone else would answer. I've pissed everyone off, Colt." It felt good saying the guy’s name. Warm and fuzzy. How he imagined saying the word 'home' should feel.