Things were about asgood as they could get, which should’ve been enough to warn me of the incomin’ storm. Life never stayed peaceful for long in my world. It was the price’a the kind joy we sought and rules we made. Someone was always gunnin’ for what was ours and we’d spend our lives tryna defend it. But itwas easy to be complacent when I spent my days workin’ my dream job at Hephaestus Auto with my brothers, visitin’ Blue at Lin’s to take her take-out curly fries and milkshakes for lunch from Stella’s Diner ’cause my girl was addicted, shootin’ the shit with brothers or locals at Eugene’s at night just to be in her orbit, steal a word or a kiss or two.
It was funny how simple heaven could be. The right girl, the right friends, laughter, and harmony. It was all I needed to feel like a fuckin’ king, like the world wanted me to gorge myself on the kinda happy I never imagined couldn’t last.
Even knowin’ my girl went home to the wrong house at night.
The only way I could stand it was knowin’ she was so busy workin’ two jobs and Rooster was so busy tryin’ to take overoursthat she rarely saw him or the club members for any length’a time long enough to do her harm. And I checked for bruises every time I could.
What I couldn’t check for were the cuts beneath the skin.
But I tried to temper those with all the love I had wellin’ up in my heart.
And by puttin’ my own plans in motion.
Just that afternoon, I’d driven Grouch Pederson and his wife and kid to Tsawwassen to catch the ferry to Victoria. They’d be spendin’ time with the local chapter there under a man named Bolt who swore he’d make it safe for them ’til we could get the Raiders taken care’a.
Grouch’d been hesitant with me at first, but after a couple’a hours in the SUV I’d borrowed from Cressida where I made his kid laugh and charmed his wife with stories about Blue, he’d warmed up.
Enough to wave his family on to the terminal when I dropped them off so he could offer me his hand.
“Won’t threaten you if you hurt her,” he said mildly. “Because I don’t have any doubt you could kill me in a few very creativeways. But I will say, she’s a great girl despite everything she’d been through, and she deserves the best.”
I’d tipped my head. “Respectfully, Grouch, she’s a great girl ’cause’a everythin’ she’s been through. Endurin’ Rooster and Hazard and Otto made her brave and independent and full’a love for the small things in life. It made her the woman I love.”
He blinked, a little shocked. “Well, that’s not a bad way to look at it. I’m just saying, please, don’t be one in the long line of men who’ve disappointed her.”
“Since the moment I met her, I’ve been workin’ to get her free’a the past. Does that seem like the kinda man who’d ever fail to be there for her?” I asked sincerely.
His lips twisted. “No, I guess not.”
I’d nodded, knockin’ my fist against the door ’fore I opened it and climbed in. The window was down so I could look at him as I started the engine and said, “Take care’a yourself. She’ll want you to walk her down the aisle one day.”
I’d left him gapin’ a little, my laughter trailin’ out the window behind me.
Now, sittin’ at Eugene’s watchin’ Blue shine her beamin’ light on every table she spoke to, I felt a contentment I’d never known. The only thing that coulda made it better was tyin’ us tighter with laws, with customs and ceremonies, with shared ink and shared memories, any’a the ways I could make her more my own and make myself more hers.
I wanted to own her blood and bones and be owned that way in return.
But she was fuckin’married,and the thought’a it burned.
The forbidden aspect’a our affair had long since grown stale. I wanted to take her home at the end’a the night. Out to dinner at La Gustosa. To parties at the clubhouse with my brothers and their families.
I wanted fuckin’ everythin’ with Blue.
“Never seen you smile like that,” Curtains said from my left, nudgin’ me with his shoulder so I turned to face him. “Not even when you get the occasional win against me inCall of Duty.”
I scoffed. “Occasional, my ass.”
“Leave your ass outta it,” he quipped with a grimace. “I see it way too fuckin’ much as it is livin’ with you.”
“Hey, you’ve got your section’a the buildin’. You don’t need to see me half-naked if you don’t wanna.”
“Not when you come intomykitchen every mornin’ to stealmyfood,” he argued, freckles fadin’ against his flushed cheeks as he got riled up.
I shrugged a shoulder as if I didn’t find it hilarious when he got worked up. “You always have the good cereal.”
“You could buy your own,” he suggested acidly, but I knew there was no real threat there.
Curtains and I bought an abandoned buildin’ on the edge’a Main Street a few years back and renovated it to turn it into somethin’ that would work for us. He lived on the right side, and I lived on the left, but we had a shared third story that was basically a giant man cave with games, a bar, a pool table, and anythin’ we had a hankerin’ to add to our collection’a fun and games.
