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“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, everyone has an idea of what the President, VP, Treasurer, even SAA—jobs entail, but Road Captain’s kind of mysterious. People outside of an MC don’t understand how vital it is to the club.”
His lips quirk. “True.”
“Obviously, I’m not privy to all the inner workings of the club.” I pause for him to acknowledge this, but he remains stone-faced. “But I think you’ll be a great VP.”
He hooks his thumbs into my belt loops and pulls me forward. “I already have the best ol’ lady by my side.”
I poke him in the chest. “Yes, you do.”
The moment shifts, and I’m curious. “Will you miss being Road Captain?”
“It’s the only patch I ever wanted.”
“Nothing can stay the same forever.”
His mouth twists in disagreement. “My love for you never changes. It only grows.”
My heart melts, and I wiggle to get closer to him. “That’s change of a sort.”
“Smart ass.”
My gaze is drawn to one of the bonfires—more than one has been lit since the races stopped.
There’s enough light to recognize Griff and Remy, but none of the other guys they’re with.
The girls from earlier—at the club, they’d be called muffler bunnies, heck maybe they call them that here at the track, too—have moved on from playful flirting. They’re now busy gyrating to music in the most obscene ways possible to get the guys’ attention.
“Guess that goes on here, too?”
Murphy follows my line of sight and shrugs. “Are you surprised?”
“It’s sort of sad and desperate. They don’t even look like they’re having fun.” One of the girls pulls her friend’s top down, baring her breasts for the entire party. The guys predictably hoot and shout for more. The others are quick to try out even raunchier moves. “Anything for a guy’s attention.”
“You want to go over and give ‘em a lecture on self-respect?” Murphy’s voice hovers between teasing and serious.
“Not my job.” A few feet away from the guys, I spot Remy’s little sister sitting by herself in front of the bonfire. “You know she has it bad for Griff, right?”
He flicks his gaze to Molly. “I think everyone knows that.”
“I feel for her.” I sigh because I didn’t mean to bring any of this up and I’m not sure what forces me to say it now. “It fucking sucks.”
He’s quiet for a minute, watching me carefully. “You want to go talk to her?”
“What am I going to say? Give up? Don’t do something dumb because you’re hurting?”
He swallows deeply, staring down at me without saying a word for a few seconds. “If you think it would help.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be a downer.” I consider the offer. Until Hope, I didn’t have any real female role models in my life to talk to. Would it have made a difference? Or would I have been too stubborn to listen? Who am I kidding. Even when Hope gave me advice, I went ahead and did the wrong thing.
“I love you more than anything.” He cups my face with one hand and looks into my eyes. “And I always want to hear what’s on your mind.”
I drop my gaze because I can think of a few things I haven’t shared lately.
“She’s the sister of a guy you’re hoping to patch as a support club member. Will it help you if I go talk to her?” I ask.
“Maybe. We already know she has poor judgment. Remember her boyfriend trying to bring her to a clubhouse party?”
I chuckle because Blake had scared the piss out of that poor kid. “Yup.”
“I’d like to know if she’s someone who could cause trouble for the club.”
The way I stare at him seems to make Murphy reconsider his words. “Don’t read more into that. No one’s ever questioned if you were trouble for the club. Wasn’t even a question when everyone voted on your property patch.” He shifts his gaze Molly’s way. “This is different.”
“All right.” I slide off the car and brush off my jeans.
“Go ahead.” He pulls out his phone. “I need to make a call.”
“Tell Marcel I love him.”
He chuckles at my guess.
The wet grass dampens the hem of my jeans as I make my way over to Molly. She picks up her head and smiles when she sees me.
“Hi, Heidi.”
“Hey, Molly. What are you doing here all by yourself?”
“Well, for one thing, I’m freezing.” She holds her hands closer to the fire and rubs them together.
Now I feel bad I don’t have anything to offer. The car’s so new I don’t even have my usual stash of extra blankets in the back.
“Plus,” she tosses a look over her shoulder at Griff and her brother. “I’m feeling sick to my stomach.”
“Yup. Been there.” A familiar ache takes up space in my chest. I wish I had better words to offer. I’ve been there, but it doesn’t mean I know which path will lead her out of misery. “Sorry, honey.”
She pulls her knees up to her chest and rests her chin on top. “Whatever. I’m used to it.”
“You live with Remy, right?”
She brightens up a little. “Yup. Our grandparents left us their house.” She jerks her thumb over her shoulder. “When they’re not busy doing this or beating the crap out of people, they work on fixing it up.”
“That’s nice.” Shit, I don’t know what else to say. I’m guessing Blake would prefer I don’t start with, “Your brother and his best friend might be forming a support club for my man’s MC. Promise when your heart gets broken, you won’t do anything to fuck it up?”
“Still seeing that guy…Kirk?” I ask instead.
The glow from the fire is enough to see her cheeks turn pink. Murphy had given the kid a verbal smackdown for trying to sneak himself and Molly into one of the clubhouse’s parties. The whole thing had embarrassed Molly. And I think Murphy compounded the humiliation by telling Remy what his little sister had been up to.
“No,” she answers in a sullen tone I
remember using many times myself. “Remy scared him off a while ago.”
Oops. Bad topic. “Starting your senior year, right?”
“Ugh, yes.”
“Does Ms. Fisher still teach English?”
“Yeah, I had her this year. She was a lot of fun.”
Footsteps swish through the grass and someone calls out, “You want me to drop you off at home, Muffin?”
We both turn and stare up at Griff who reaches down to rub his hand over the top of Molly’s head, messing up her hair.
“Ugh, stop.” She slaps his hand away. “I don’t want to go home. I’m freezing though.” She glares up at him. “I’d go sit in Remy’s car, but I’m sure he’ll be using it tonight.”
I hide my laughter under a cough, but Griff still catches it and winks at me.
“Here.” He pulls off his hoodie and drops it in her lap.
Oh boy. The crush’s sweatshirt. Doesn’t Griff understand that’s crack to a teen girl?
After she slips it over her head, he holds out his hand. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”
“Fine.” Instead of taking his hand, she reaches over and hugs me.
Startled, I awkwardly return the embrace.
“Hopefully, I’ll see you again soon, Heidi.”
“Yeah, I think we’ll be seeing each other.”
Twenty-One
Murphy
“Y’all have fun playing Dukes of Hazard last night?” Jigsaw asks as he slaps my open palm.
“Don’t be jealous. You were invited, fucker.” I yank him closer and slap his back.
Actually, I could’ve used more sleep. Heidi and I got back late last night.
But Rock and Z ordered church early this morning. Sleeping in wasn’t an option. The downstate charter rode up to join us. Some of them came last night—like Rooster. Some are just arriving. Next time, I assume we’ll meet at their clubhouse.
Z takes his usual seat on Rock’s left, which is fine by me. I’m almost hoping they forget Z nominated me to take his place.
“We’ll start with Murphy,” Rock says.
