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Unsure what words might be sufficient in reply to a powerful sentiment like that, Lyra could think only to say, “He’s a wonderful man. I love him so much.”
Rad pulled her close and gave her a hard squeeze. “That’s good. That’s real good.”
“Alright, let’s ride!” Eight called from across the lot. Zach and Willa embraced, and Rad let Lyra go.
“We’ll see you at Christmas, I hear.”
“Yep. I’m looking forward to it.”
Rad only grinned and slipped his sunglasses on.
Zach and Willa came over, and Rad grabbed his son and yanked him into a hug. Willa smiled at that and turned to Lyra.
“One last hug before we go?” Willa opened her arms.
“Yes, please,” Lyra said and slipped into her hold.
“Thank you for taking care of him,” Zach’s mother whispered at Lyra’s ear. There were tears in her voice.
“Thank you for raising him up so well. He’s amazing. And he takes care of me, too.”
There were more hugs, and more tears, and a lot of chatter and some yelling, but finally all those people climbed onto motorcycles or into trucks and a very loud convoy pulled out of the restaurant lot while the Nevada Bulls stood in place and waved them away. Zach had his arm around Lyra, and she could feel the tension in him as he watched his family, and the only club he’d known his whole life, ride away from him. When the last truck was out of sight, and Cooper, Pop, and the other Nevada Bulls started to head to their own rides, Zach still stood in place, holding her to him, and watched the road.
She hooked her other arm across his belly so she could fully hug him. “We’ll see them again in just a few weeks. I can’t wait to see what Christmas in Tulsa is like.”
Though he looked really sad, he gazed down at her and managed a smile. “Cold and loud.”
“Will there be snow?”
“Maybe.”
“That would be really cool.”
He let out a breath heavy with melancholy and held her even more tightly. “I love you, Lyra. I’m glad I stayed, even if I’m feeling down right now.”
“I know. I understand.”
“Z!” Cooper called. “You comin’?”
Zach looked over. “We got something going on?”
“We’re headin’ to the Nugget,” Geno answered.
Zach sighed again, clearly unimpressed.
One of the first things Lyra learned about Zach was that his feelings about gambling aligned with hers—not nearly enough fun to blow money on. Those feelings had only deepened after the Cadence shooting. Also, none of those guys had just said goodbye to his blood family the way Zach had.
So she rose up onto her tiptoes and whispered at his ear, “I have a better idea.”
“Yeah?” His smile settled more comfortably on his face this time.
“Yeah.”
He turned back to Cooper. “You go on. We’ve got other plans.”
“Boom-chikka-wa-wa,” Geno said with an earthy thrust of his hips—then he saw Pop eyeing him and straightened up.
Zach flipped him off.
