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“Is Addison up? I was gonna see if she wanted a trip into town with me later. Storm said that now we know all those cult leaders are in the village, it would be safe for her to leave the compound.”
“He did, huh?” I turn my head toward Storm who's too distracted by his daughter to notice the glare I’m giving him.
“Is it not?” Jasmine checks, looking a little unnerved.
“I guess it’s safe, but I wanna see that he’s there for myself first. I ain't takin’ no risks when it comes to them.”
“Skid, it’s grocery shopping.” Jaz giggles as she takes Faith back outta Storm’s arms and steps past me to let herself inside.
“She’s kinda got a point, Skid. You can’t keep the girl holed up here forever. She had a life before all this shit, her kid’s gonna need to get back to school.” Storm raises back onto his feet. “I can see where you’re coming from though, and I’d be the same. Let’s go get a head start, check the fucker we want is there so our girls can go shoppin’.” He shakes his head at me and grins at how ridiculous his words sound.
I’m getting more and more used to seeing Storm smile. It only started happening when Faith and Jasmine came into his life, but it suits him. I look at the wedding ring he wears on his finger, the one that used to be mine and can’t help smiling a little to myself when I remember the day Carly slipped it onto my finger. She looked so fuckin' beautiful on our wedding day. I felt like the luckiest guy in the whole world. After I lost her I never imagined I could ever feel that way again, but I’ve learned recently that life’s full of surprises, and not all of ‘em are ugly.
“Skid.” Storm knocks me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah,” I turn my attention back to him. “Let's go nail these bastards.”
* * *
“Don’t look at me like that.” I shake my head at Addison as I saddle my bike down at the clubhouse.
“Maybe you should wait just a few more days. Storm told Jasmine that if you went tomorrow or the day after, Grimm would be back from L.A., and Prez and Troj could be back too.”
“Storm says a lot.” I turn my head to him and scowl. He winks at me as he holds his daughter steady on his gas tank while she reaches for the bars, then he passes her over to Jasmine and kisses them both goodbye.
“Skid, I’m scared,” Addison tells me for the tenth time today.
“Well, you shouldn’t be. We’re gonna be just fine. I’ll call you when I get there, then you can distract yourself in town with Jasmine once I know for sure it’s safe.”
“Okay.” She nods her head, doing her best to be brave before she kisses me. Marilyn interrupts us when she starts shoving something into the bag I've got tied to the back of my bike.
“Just a little something for the journey.” She smiles at me when I twist my head around.
“Appreciated.” I nod back.
“And don’t think I forgot you.” She shuffles over toward Storm and places a foil package right into the palm of his hand.
“It’s a real shit idea you leavin’ us behind.” Squeal crosses his arms over his huge chest as he watches us prepare to leave.
“We need people here to protect the club,” I point out. “And I don’t think rockin’ up to a cult village with you and your sense of humor is gonna help get people on side.”
“Are you kiddin’ me? I’d show those folk a whole new way of livin’. Hell, with the shit I could teach ‘em I’d be their new messiah.”
I look across the yard and realize that the garage is still locked up. I haven't heard a thing from Rogue since yesterday which is starting to worry me.
“Hey, has anyone seen Rog—” The sound of engines drowns out my words and when I look down the track toward the compound gates and see Prez and Troj cruising through them, I feel a relief that I wasn’t expecting as they pull up beside us and cut their engines.
“Didn’t think we’d let you have all the fun without us, did ya?” Prez winks as he gets off his saddle.
“What the fuck happened to you?” Storm asks Troj when he sees the state of his face. He looks like he just stepped out of the ring.
“Don’t ask. I need a beer.” He storms through the clubhouse doors and out of sight.
“You boys mind holdin’ on an hour?” Prez asks. “Now I’m back we can spare Jessie, maybe Troj if he ain’t too tired.” I like how he makes it sound like a request rather than an order.
“Yeah, I can hang on an hour.” I nod back at my leader, eager to get on the road, but at the same time liking the idea of numbers. I can see from the look on Addison’s face that she likes it too.
“Job done?” Ruckus checks when I arrive back inside the Long Beach clubhouse. I nod my head and let my eyes roam around the galvanized walls. I hate it here. I hate being away from home, and more than anything I hate being away from Rogue.
