Page 24 of Hard Corps (Selected Sinners MC 7)

As I shifted my eyes toward the waitress, I tilted my head toward the whistler. “He wants to apologize.”

“Thank you,” she said with a grin.

As she walked away, I glanced at Teddy. “You were saying?”

Teddy lifted his mug of beer and spoke over the top of the glass. “Doc?”

“What the fuck is going on?” I asked, shifting my eyes back and forth between them.

“I’m going to cut right to it,” Erik said. “Your wife. She’s been spending a lot of time with that friend of yours, Steve.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “He’s a friend. Hell, he’s my best friend. I’m sure he was just comforting her while I was gone.”

Teddy lowered his mug, fixed his eyes on mine, and raised his eyebrows. I turned toward Erik. He shifted his eyes to the table, stared for a moment, and met my gaze.

“You need to have a talk with her,” he said.

As much as I didn’t want it to, my heart hurt. Regardless of what comfort she had found in Steve while I was away, I was sure we could get through it with a little conversation. What most men would perceive as inappropriate I would probably accept. I was away for a little more than a decade, and to think my wife wouldn’t seek comfort from someone would be foolish.

“I’ll do that,” I said as I reached for my wallet.

I opened the bill folder only to find the ticket had been paid. A cash receipt sat in the folder.

“I was going to pay for this,” I said.

Teddy nodded his head toward me. “Half a dozen bullet holes and a pound of steel in your ass? I think you already did.”

“I appreciate it,” I said with a nod.

“Appreciate what you done,” he said. “Just have that talk with your wife.”

I lifted my beer and held it between us. He lifted his half-empty mug and clanked the glass against mine.

“As soon as we’re done here,” I said.

I wanted their opinions to be wrong, but if the war taught me one thing, it taught me to expect the unexpected.

But in this particular circumstance, I wasn’t prepared for the unexpected.