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“But it’s not a one-off thing, is it?” He chuckled, leaning against the rail and studying my face. “You really got it for this one, huh?”
“I haven’t been in a relationship since, well, you know.”
“Since your pops and Garrett, I know. But son, you gotta get yourself out there again. You can’t stay lonely forever. They wouldn’t want that for ya.”
“Yeah, but there’s no place for a woman in this life.”
“Ginger would disagree with that.”
I shook my head at him. “Hannah’s not like Ginger or Sarah, though. She’s not like the women who associate with us.”
“No, but she’s Vinny’s niece, and I can guarantee that makes her pretty fucking gritty. She walked right into Rosie’s and didn’t show an ounce of fear when Nitro got up in her face. I’d say she’s not so bad off.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I grunted, staring down at the phone on the rail. “She’s with some guy at the café.”
“What guy?”
“Some ex-boyfriend, maybe an actual boyfriend. We fucked this afternoon and now she’s out seeing some other guy—that’s not the kind of woman I’m into.”
“Well, first of all, I’d give her the benefit of the doubt, Ron, and second, are the two of youtogether,or are you just bumping uglies and expecting her to know all the fucking rules around the club when it comes to you?”
“I don’t know,” was all I managed to say. He’d already made his point in just the question, and the truth stung worse than I wanted it to—there was no reason for me to go running down to the café. It’d just make me look an even bigger asshole than the one she was with.
“You’ll figure it out, kid.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I know you’ve had a lot of shit to figure out in the last few years, but there’s no reason that you can’t find love just like everyone else. It wasn’t your fault what happened, and I know that I sound like a broken record, but it’s the truth.”
“I should’ve been there.”
“They rode into a trap, Viper. You couldn’t have known that was going to happen. You need to be happy. Your mom would want you happy, too.”
I nodded. My late mom had passed many years before my dad and brother ever did. “Yeah, she’d probably have better advice than you, too.”
“Nowthat’ssomething that I can’t argue with.”
My phone buzzed on the rail, and I picked it up, seeing the text from Gunner. I opened the message, my heart sinking.
Seems like it’s going fine.
I texted back a quick, ‘ok’ before setting the phone back down on the rail. I didn’twantit to be okay. I wanted to beneededdown there, beating up some asshole and being Hannah’s hero. Sure, I barely knew her, but there was clearly something between us, and I already felt the need to protect her.
And kick any guy’s ass who looked at her.
“You want one?” Bear offered me a cigarette just as Tippy slipped out the door.
“Yeah.” I took one out of his pack, putting it to my lips and using his lighter to light the thing. I wasn’t one for smoking, but I also wasn’t one to be all riled up over some woman, either.
“What’s going on out here?” Tippy demanded, reaching over and plucking out another cigarette without asking. I handed him the lighter, puffing out a cloud of smoke, while Bear gave me a nod, slipping away and back inside the clubhouse.
“Just trying to come up with how I want to go about the missing shipment,” I said, not wanting to discuss Hannah with the president. I loved the guy—and he was my brother, but his choices in women were mediocre at best.
“I don’t think we should go poking around,” Tippy said before taking a big draw off the cigarette. “You know how Charlie Hughes is. He’s the kind of guy that offs you the moment you say something wrong around him. We were fucking lucky to get the deal, the last thing we need to do is go getting in a war with him.”
“Okay, but wepaidfor it,” I argued. “And we can’t make the money back if we don’t have the product to sell.”
“And we can’t do any of that if we’re dead, Viper,” Tippy chuckled, running his tatted hands along the rail on the porch. “We need to have Gunner repaint these shitty wood rails.” He paused, picking at some of the chipped paint.
“Yeah, we probably should.”
“WhereisGunner this evening, Viper?” Tip raised an eyebrow at me, his voice growing with curiosity. “Because it’s odd that he’s not around here.”
