The cool night air rushed over my skin. I managed to shove my feet in the flip-flops I kept by the front door.
“What’s going on? Drew! You leave that girl alone! Drew!” Rae’s voice echoed behind us as he pulled me down the driveway toward his bike.
“Catch, please, we can’t leave your mom and Becca alone. Please!”
“They’ll be fine. Get the fuck on, and don’t fall off, baby.”
“I’m not even wearing real shoes!”
“Shut the fuck up, and get on the goddamn bike.”
“GIMME ANOTHER, MAN.”
Dawes handed me another bottle of brew. “You okay?”
Nothing a club party couldn’t fix, right?
Butler was officially being welcomed back into the fold. Over two months had gone by since he first arrived, and he’d been a very good boy. Jump had finally called a meeting, and we’d taken a vote and reinstated Butler as a fully patched-in member once again. He and Nina had rented a small place in town, and he’d been helping at the Tingle.
The club courtyard was jamming with loud music and brothers I hadn’t seen in a while up from Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, Iowa along with plenty of good food and plenty of sexy women.
Yet I couldn’t wipe the frown from my face or the glower in my soul.
I spotted Grace laughing with her friend Lenore, who owned a shop in town. Yeah, the lingerie shop Jill had been talking about.
Lingerie and Jill.
Jill in lingerie.
Jill out of lingerie.
Jill naked.
Ah, shit.
“Yo! Shut it! Speech!” rang out over the crowd from all corners of the yard.
Jump stood up on a table, his hands in the air. “As president of this club, I want to say a big welcome back to our brother Butler as a fully patched member here in Meager.” He held up Butler’s battered leather vest with his club patches, his colors, the South Dakota rocker back where it belonged. “Everyone, give it up for Butler and his old lady, Nina. Welcome home!”
Everyone hooted and clapped, whistles tearing through the courtyard. Nina and Butler stood together, a huge grin lighting up his face. He lifted his chin, a fist raised high. Nina’s smile was blinding. She soaked up her moment in the limelight.
I remembered the night Butler had gotten patched in the first time. It was the same night Dig had claimed Grace as his old lady. That night was pure amazing. The world had been ours. Nothing ahead but blue skies and endless road. I squeezed my eyes shut. Now, Dig was gone, and Grace was married to someone else. But she had a shot at more of that amazing, at another baby, thanks to Jill.
Jill, Jill, Jill.
The memory of her squirming on her kitchen counter, my fingers sliding inside her, made me suck in a breath.
Dawes handed me a fresh bottle of beer, and I gulped half of it down as I watched Butler shaking hands and hugging brothers from our Colorado chapter.
Once upon a time, he used to be a king. He had risen to president of our North Dakota chapter. He’d made good. Then, his own wife had gotten killed in a freak accident, and shit had gone downhill from there for him. Booze, women, drugs. And the ultimate twist on his road to hell—skimming off the top of his own club and helping out a rival MC. After Jump had forced Grace to spy on him, a shit-ton of crappy truth had come out in a whirlwind of blood and disappointments. Butler had resigned and taken off on his own.
I’d been in touch with him off and on, more often in the past few months. He was a bro from the old days, and I couldn’t turn my back on him. He’d needed a friend encouraging him to get clean, stay clean, and keep on keeping on. Yeah, he’d fucked up big, but he still had a good heart down inside. He’d just had to find it again.
It’d be swell if I could take my own advice.
“I’d also like to welcome two members of the Flames of Hell from Ohio, who came out here to party with us. Brothers!” Jump raised his beer bottle in the air.
More cheers and howls.
Nina planted a kiss on Butler’s mouth, clutching onto his upper arm. Butler and his younger woman. He had himself an old lady again after all these years. He was settling down, settling in.
What was I doing?
I was here, where I’d always been. Comfortable. No, I didn’t function by considering my level of comfort. I was free from hardship, unhurried. That was how I set my calibration. That was what I considered success.
Yeah, I was good.
I swiped at the beer on the edge of my mouth as I leaned back against the bar.
“Hey, sexy on a stick.”
That was a creative come-on since I was the thinnest of all my bros. A redhead stood in front of me, her tube top of a dress leaving nothing to the imagination. That was always convenient—you knew what you were getting, all of it easy, accessible.
“I’m Shelley Anne. Mindy told me all about you. Said I should introduce myself. So, I’m introducing myself.” She licked her overly-lined lips and held out her hand. “Hi.”
I stared at her.