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“There has been, and more is coming. I won’t be able to be with Becs as much as I think she’s gonna need now that Wyatt’s coming home.” His lips tipped in a grin, which was odd for Bear lately, and I wondered what he was up to. “Was gonna ask you to keep watching over her, but I don’t have to ask, do I?”
I glanced at Ritz, who was watching us closely but hadn’t said anything, although he was wearing a shitty grin. Shaking my head, I focused on Bear again and decided to be honest. “No need to ask.”
“How’d you get your road name?”
I chuckled when both Bear and Ritz laughed, and we all looked toward the prospect seated a few seats away from Bear. Dozer rolled his eyes toward us, trying to look angry, but he wasn’t pulling it off. He pointed at me. “Race gave it to me.”
The prospect, who couldn’t be more than twenty-one or twenty-two years old, leaned around Bear. “Why’d you pick Dozer?”
Smirking, I gave Dozer one final glance before answering. “We work construction together. One day, right after he started, he smashed a bulldozer into the side of a house we were working on. Knocked out a wall and a few supports. Whole damn thing needed to be rebuilt.”
The prospect’s eyes widened, and Ritz laughed. “Damn, I would’ve loved to see that.”
Dozer snorted before looking at me. “Tell them I’m better now.”
“Not gonna lie to them, brother.”
He chucked the towel hanging from his shoulder in my direction, but we were both laughing. Bear slapped his hand on the bar top and slid his empty bottle toward Dozer. “Alright, boys, I’m out.”
“Where’re you headed?” Ritz asked, but I recognized the teasing in his tone. We all knew he’d been spending time with Josie even though she acted like she couldn’t stand him. I think the challenge of her was part of the appeal. I could understand that better than anyone. There was just something about a woman who made you work for it and demanded more of you than you even demanded of yourself.
“Have Tank lock up tonight, will ya?”
He didn’t wait for either of us to respond. He didn’t have to. He was our president, and we respected him enough to do what he asked.
He turned the corner toward the hallway, and Ritz picked up his bottle, lifted it toward his mouth, but spoke before taking a drink. “Have a feeling the shit between them is gonna get worse before it gets better.”
I tapped the bottom of my bottle against the bar top, both of us facing the back wall, and considered what he was saying. “Doubt you’re wrong about that.”
He swallowed after a long drink. “Have a feeling the same is true for you and his sister.” When I didn’t answer right away, he glanced my way. “What took you so long to go there with her?”
“Not sure I could and not go back to who I was.”
“Who were you?”
I hadn’t been honest with many people about who I’d been before I moved here, but I’d been thinking a lot more lately that maybe it was time to be. Being honest with Ritz might be a good first step. “I was a thief until I got caught and got a new name.”
“What was that?”
Lifting the bottle, I took a long drink before finally replying, “Felon.”
“You did time,” he said as a declaration, not a question.
“Three years out of the five handed down.”
“You’re not the only member of this club who’s done time, brother.”
I glanced his way and saw only sincerity in his expression, not judgment. “Have you?”
He snorted. “No fucking way. Look at this face, man. I’d have been someone’s bitch before they even closed the fucking gates.”
Laughing, I shook my head and tapped the edge of the bottle on the bar. “Walked out of there and swore I was never going back.”
“That when you met Tank?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t go back to my old city. There was nothing but trouble waiting for me there, so I packed all the shit I had in my truck and started driving. Met Tank in a bar about fifty miles from here. He was heading back after a rally. Told me about the club and offered to make an introduction if I wanted it.” I shrugged. “I had nowhere else to go and needed a fresh start. New Hope sounded boring enough to keep me out of trouble.”
Ritz chuckled. “Is it?”
