Pulling up to the clubhouse felt oddly like coming home. Granted, the place didn’t feel right without Hyde’s brightly-colored bike parked out in front of it. But life had to go on. As much as I looked up to Hyde and as much as I loved my best friend, Gage, I needed to start looking toward the future now that I was out of prison.
And being accepting of whatever the club had done in my absence.
“He’s here! Guys! Look!”
A voice I didn’t recognize came emanated from the porch before a lean-looking man-child stepped outside. He had dark brown hair and baby blue eyes, the kind of eyes that any girl might swoon over. I already didn’t like him, mostly because I had no idea who the fuck he was.
Especially since he was heralding my welcome home.
“Oh, dude. I’ve been waiting to meet you,” the stranger said as he stepped off the porch. “Chops told me not to bother you while you were away because it might be too much, but it’s an honor to meet you now.”
I propped my bike up and threw my leg over before he shook my hand fervently.
“And you are?” I asked.
Porter’s voice sounded behind me. “That’s Finn, our newest prospect. Took him on about a year ago.”
I nodded slowly. “Ah.”
Finn smiled, and his teeth practically gleamed in the sunlight. “It’s great to meet you, Brooks. I’ve heard so many stories.”
I pulled my hand away and wiped off the sweat. God damn, how sweaty could a boy’s hand get?
“Thanks. I think,” I said.
Porter slapped my back. “Give him a chance. I know you used to be in control of new prospects and who to let in, but he comes highly recommended by yours truly.”
Finn smiled brightly. “Yep! Porter directed me here and I’ve been willfully stuck ever since.”
My eyes fell down his body. “I suppose that means you’ve got some balls, then. Porter doesn’t associate with wimps.”
Finn snorted. “Oh, the stories I could tell you. Like the time I killed my stepdad! Well, I mean, not killed. Not technically.”
I leaned back and whispered, “Is this kid a psychopath?”
Porter whispered back, “Abusive dad that used to beat up on him and mom.”
I licked my lips and leaned forward. “Well, good to have you.”
Tanner hopped down the steps. “All right, Finn, let’s not crowd the man now that he’s just gotten back home. I’m sure he’ll want a mug of my coffee right off the bat anyway. Oh, and don’t think I didn’t hear you taking credit for me, Porter. You know good and well you would’ve never met Finn had it not been for me.”
I chuckled as I packed my helmet away. “Get over here, you damned barista.”
I hugged Tanner and clapped him on the back before the rest of the guys filed out. One by one, they came out to greet me with smiles, hugs, and little tidbits of information I needed to know. Cole, our resident veteran of the military and combat medic extraordinaire, made a beeline for me as I walked up the steps to the front door. I picked him up and swung him around, causing him to growl as I set him back on his feet.
“You know I hate that shit,” he murmured.
I cupped his cheek. “Cheer up, sweetheart. Daddy’s home and everything’s going to be okay.”
Then, the hardened voice of the man that was now our president sounded. And I didn’t like what he had to say one bit.
“You gonna get in here or are you gonna keep drawing attention to yourself outside?” Chops asked.
I gave Archer, our treasurer, a quick pat on the back with a promise behind my eyes to talk later. Archer and I had always worked hand in hand closely on extracurriculars for the club, and I wanted to pick his brain about a few things. But with the way Chops eyed me, I needed to keep my attention on him for now.
So, I walked up to him and shook his hand.
Chops smirked. “Welcome home, Brooks.”
I nodded. “Good to be home. And nice to see that our V.P. stepped up to the plate when necessary.”
He snickered. “Wouldn’t have had it any other way. This club is my life and when Hyde passed away, I knew he would’ve wanted me stepping up to lead everyone through our trying times.”
“Right, right. So, uh, what do I need to be filled in on?”
Chops dropped my hand and shrugged. “We’re actually about to hold an informal church meeting. Figured you’d wanna join.”
I blinked. “Informal church meeting? The fuck’s that?”
Chops grinned. “It’s a new thing I’m doing. Every week we have a formal and an informal, meeting. The formal is for business, the informal is for pleasure, so to speak.”
“So, you guys get together, sling back beers, and bitch about your problems like women?”
Chops snickered. “More like, we get together, throw back a few beers, then go create more women problems at the clubs.”
Archer walked up beside me. “Yeah. Chops has started taking us out on the club’s dime for a night of fun every week.”
Chops nodded. “It helps boost morale, especially when we’re working stressful runs and all that.”
I narrowed my eyes. “On the club’s dime? Since when did the club start holding back money from its men?”
Chops’ grin faded from his face. “Since I took over as president and decided that things needed to be a little more even-keel around here.”
What else did you change, you son of a bitch? “Well, I can’t wait to figure out what else there is that I need to re-learn.”
Finn jumped into the fray. “We do more than just the chop shop now, too! We’ve opened up a mechanic shop down the road that I work in. That’s how we get some of our cars sometimes. It allows us to pull in money and clock people with the nicer—”
Tanner elbowed the big mouth in his ribcage and that didn’t sit well with me.
“A mechanic shop?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Chops chuckled, gripping my shoulder. “Come in and settle down. I can brief you on all of the changes that affect you once you feel a little more steady on your feet.”
“Or you can fill me in on everything that has changed since I’m still the Sergeant at Arms.”
Chops blinked. “Well…”
I shrugged his hand off. “I wasn’t informed that my position was being taken away from me, so as far as I’m concerned, I’m still the Enforcer around here. And if you don’t like it? We can take a vote right now on it.”
Porter chuckled as he patted me on the back. “What he means to say is—”
Chops held up his hand, silencing Porter. “I know what he’s saying.” I stared the man down as he cocked his head. “And Brooks is right.”
I blinked. “Damned right, I’m right.”
Chops smiled, and I knew it was forced because it sure as hell didn’t reach his eyes. “Let’s welcome our Enforcer back, shall we!?”
He started clapping and the rest of the guys started clapping around me, like some kind of weird-ass cult from another dimension. I felt like I had stepped into the Twilight Zone, and I didn’t like it one bit.
So, I backtracked toward the door.
“Hey! Where the hell you goin’!?” Cole called out.
“For a ride to clear my head!” I yelled back.
I leapt off the porch and made quick work of getting back onto my bike. I didn’t even bother with my helmet as I kicked the stand up and cranked up my engine. The guys gathered on the porch to watch me leave, and I saw the confusion in their faces.
Except for Chops.
He didn’t look confused one bit.
I let the wind guide me wherever the hell it wanted me, and when I found myself pulling into Raven’s townhome compound, I swallowed hard. I hadn’t been to this place in well over five years. I used to come visit her and Gage all the time back when they were still together… and Gage was still alive. The place hadn’t changed one bit, and I found that refreshing. Still the same old massive palm trees growing alongside dilapidated oak trees that couldn’t survive in this kind of humid, salty weather.
I parked my bike in the shadows and watched her front door as sweat dribbled down my back.
Just go knock. What can it hurt?
She might not want to see you. It might hurt her more to see you.
She misses you. You know deep down she always wanted you.
But she was with Gage. That makes her off limits.
The man’s dead!
The man still needs to be respected!
My own mind fought with itself, the devil and the angel at odds. I listened as they bickered in the back of my mind, quickly becoming overwhelmed with it all. I shook my head to silence them before a sound caught my ear. I looked around for the source of the creaking wood I heard off in the distance, but then it hit me.
A door was opening somewhere.
As my eyes gravitated back to Raven’s door, I watched her step out onto her front porch. Clad in a beautiful light blue summer’s dress with pale yellow flats on, she watered a bunch of rainbow-colored tulips she had growing in a small garden just outside of her porch railing. Her dirty blonde hair blew effortlessly in the soft summer breeze and even from a distance I saw the sun twinkling in her emerald green eyes. Her porcelain skin looked a bit burnt from the hot summer sun, and I wanted nothing more than to rub aloe lotion across her irritated skin and tell her that she hadn’t changed one bit.
She was still just as beautiful as the first day I laid eyes on her.
Why didn’t I make the first move?
She moved with a grace uncommon for this world. I heard her giggling softly at something and the sound alone was enough to seize my heart. She had me—body, mind, and soul—but the guilt that slowly ate away at my conscience was what forced me to look away.
By the time I had enough sense to look back up, she was heading back inside. Her long legs carried her across the threshold before she fluffed her wavy hair over her shoulders, then disappeared into the light of her home. A home she once shared with my late best friend. Bile crept up the back of my throat and I swallowed it down. I felt the walls caving in around me again and I knew I had to get the hell out of there.
One day, I’d seen Raven face to face again.
But now wasn’t the right time for any sort of reunion like that.
