AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then I guess I am.” I slide my hand around the back of Addison's head and draw her onto my mouth, pressing my lips hard into hers before I release her.
“You two have a good day now.” I nod before heading out the door and taking in a chest full of fresh fuckin’ air.
“Skid.” My nephew Tommy is waiting for me by my bike.
“What’s up?” I don’t see much of my nephew these days, he has a trailer down in Sluts Sanctuary and prefers to keep his head down. I had to beg the club to give him a home after what Chop did, the fact he went AWOL after didn’t help him. I guess he repays me by staying out of trouble.
“I was wonderin’ if you could speak to Prez for me?” There’s a flare that's replaced the sullen in his eyes and the tone of his voice is much more enthusiastic than usual.
“Look, if this is about the way Haven talks to you, there's not much else—”
“I want in,” he interrupts me.
“What?” I stare at him in shock.
“I wanna be considered as the club’s next prospect.” The fact he has a dead serious look on his face makes me chuckle.
“Kid, you ain’t gotta prayer.”
“Who says I ain’t gotta prayer? The club don’t have a prospect right now, and you're my uncle. You could be my sponsor.” I scrub my hand over my face and take a calming breath when I realize he’s actually serious about this.
“Why?” I stare at him, wondering what the hell’s changed all of a sudden.
“I dunno, it just kinda feels like the next step. Right now, I ain’t anyone. I’m just Tommy, who cleans shit up and sleeps down in the trailer park with the whores. I wanna be someone better than that. I wanna be like you,” he admits, scratching the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact as if he’s embarrassed.
“It’s hard work makin’ the cut. You gotta have no doubt in your mind that you would die for any man wearin’ it too. When ya think ya can do that, come and find me.” I kickstart my bike and leave him with something to think about as I pull off and make my way down to the clubhouse.
* * *
“When you left the club, did Addison have somethin’ to do with that?” Jessie asks as we let ourselves into her place.
He asked to ride out here with me so I’ve been waiting for his questions to start coming. He takes a chair from the kitchen table and swivels it so he can straddle it.
Figuring there ain’t no use me denying it, I take the chair beside him and nod my head.
“I met her at the church when I was helpin’ out, not long after Carly died. Thought I was doin’ the right thing by helping a girl in need, that's why I had you guys help fix up this place. I was strugglin’ real bad, doing something useful felt good, kinda like a drug. I became what she needed when I was with her. I was strong and reliable, everythin’ Carly thought I was. Then I’d leave and get back to the club and I’d fall apart. It got too much, I was gettin’ too close. When I was at the club everythin’ reminded me of Carly, coming here and being with Addison allowed me to focus on somethin’ else, but it felt like a betrayal. Nothing I did felt right. It’s why I flipped out in your basement that day we found Tommy, it’s why I had to leave for a while.”
“Figured.” He proves he doesn't miss a thing. His head drops between the arms he’s got resting over the back of the chair like he’s just stopped himself from saying something.
“You like her?” He raises it back up and looks me head-on.
“‘Course I fuckin’ like her, Jess. She’s beautiful, she’s got a heart of fuckin’ gold and for some reason only God knows the answer to, she’s forgiven me for what I did to her.”
“And what exactlydidyou do to her?” Jessie asks.
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” I stand up and turn away from him, focusing out the kitchen window and out onto the street. Even thinking about it makes me ashamed of myself.
“Well, whatever it is, if she’s willing to forgive ya, maybe you should start forgivin’ yourself.” He comes up from behind me and clasps my shoulder in his hand.
“I gotta go speak to Nora, you wanna grab the last few things off this list for me? Most of it’s in the kid’s room,” I tell him, taking the list from the inside of my cut and passing it to him.
“I’m on it.” Jessie sets straight to work, while I head out the door and cross the path through the perfectly mowed front lawn that belongs to Nora Taylor.
I knock on her door and when she opens it, she doesn’t look impressed or disappointed to see me.
“I was wondering when you’d show your face again.” She rolls her eyes and moves away from the door so I can step inside. I follow her as she hobbles her way through the hall toward her kitchen.
“Coffee?” she yells at me over the sound of the TV she has turned up full volume.
