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Except that night six and a half years ago when I’d nearly gotten Bank on his knees in the rear yard of the clubhouse. Closing my eyes as my cock started to harden, I mentally shook away the memories. Last thing I needed was everyone currently in my yard to see me hard as concrete. Rumors would surely fly over who had me worked up.
Opening my eyes, I lifted my beer and drained the bottle in a couple of gulps. The cold liquid sliding down my throat soothed some of my nerves and allowed me to focus on walking over to the grill. “Got it working?”
“Like a dream. Bank does solid work. Always has.” Scout had his son on his hip. Joey wasn’t quite one, and he clung to his dad as he watched the older kids running around my yard. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that our prez had kids. Fuck. We were the same age and now he had a six-year-old daughter and an infant son. While I was still alone. Fuck.
Marie, Scout’s old lady, was fussing around Bank, making him put on an apron before she handed him some tongs and a container full of sausages and burger patties. I hoped like hell there were some steaks in there too.
Bulldog, one of the older brothers, slapped me on the shoulder. He’d been the VP when I was home, but he’d recently retired from the role. Poor bastard had arthritis in his hips that made it difficult for him to ride, so he’d stepped aside for Mac, one of the younger guys, to move into the VP role.
“How you settling in so far, Bomber?”
Nodding, I turned my attention to my friend. “It’s going well. Working down at the shop with Scout. Bikes are a hell of a lot simpler than the shit I was working on overseas.”
Bulldog laughed. “I bet.” He grew serious. “Having a solid job you enjoy is a good thing, but what about outside of that?” He flicked his gaze over to Bank before returning it to me. “You two spoken much since you got back?”
Clenching my jaw, I took in Bulldog. “You saw what happened six years ago between us, didn’t you?”
He gave me a slow nod. “Yeah, you were both pretty wasted that night. Wasn’t sure either of you would even fucking remember, but then you were deployed and didn’t bother to come home again between your stints overseas. And he went and hooked up with that viper of his.”
Fuck, I needed another drink for this conversation.
“You want a beer?”
“Yeah, grab me one.”
I went over to the cooler that was now unmanned, since Taz was busy with his family. After grabbing a couple bottles, I walked back to Bulldog, who had moved further to the side of my yard, away from the others who were hanging around. After handing him one, I opened mine and took a long drink before I spoke.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to Bank yet. He’s a hard man to get alone, and I’m not sure what the point would be in trying so long as he’s with Karen.”
Bulldog shook his head. “That boy ain’t planning to settle down with her forever. He’d have put his patch on her back long before now if he was serious. Karen’s the only long-term girlfriend in the club who isn’t an old lady… which I’m fucking thankful for. No way do I ever want to have to protect that piece of trash. We’re all waiting for the day Bank finally shoves her to the curb and we don’t have to put up with her shit anymore.” He paused to take a drink. “I think he’s only staying with her in an attempt to fit in with the club.”
Before I could respond, my back door banged open and the woman in question came barreling out, bringing all the drama in the world with her. Turning my attention to Bank as she stormed over to him, I crossed my arms and waited for the fireworks. Bank had stilled, his eyes open wide like prey when a predator came at it, as she approached. Her voice was quiet enough I couldn’t make out the words, but the way Bank shrunk into himself and shook his head made it clear she wasn’t saying anything nice to the man. My free hand clenched into a fist when she lifted her hand and poked him hard in the chest, hard enough to rock him.
Bank had always been pretty submissive in nature, a people-pleaser who always put himself last. He’d struggle to break up with anyone, no matter how much he needed to, but I’d find a way to help him. Even if he never gave me the time of day again, I’d get him free from the harpy who was currently railing at him for not being home at her beck and call.
“I won’t let him avoid me for much longer.”
Bulldog nodded. “The sooner, the better. She’ll have him quitting the club before long, then he’ll have no protection from her.”
I turned back to look at Bulldog with a frown, “What do you mean protection? You think she’s doing more than what she’s doing now?”
Bulldog suddenly looked about ten years older. “He hides it well, but I’ve seen enough abuse victims to know what’s going on. I’d put money on you finding bruises if you get him without a shirt. But that’s something else he hasn’t done in years. Most of the younger guys end up wearing their cut with no shirt in the summer. Not Bank. It can be hot as hell and he’ll still be wearing at least a t-shirt, if not a long sleeve shirt.”
The thought of Bank being physically abused was enough to have me taking a step toward him but before I made it more than a few feet, chaos ran into my yard. Ariel and Ashlynn were both six years old, lived next door to each other and were nothing but trouble. The whole club even called them Double Trouble whenever they were together.
Ashlynn’s voice was loud enough to silence the yard and draw every eye to her, “Daddy! Look what we found!”
“Where the hell did you two find fucking skunks?”
Needles did not sound happy with his daughter and suddenly I wasn’t so upset at the fact I didn’t have kids yet.
