Page 15 of Eight Years Later

“I’m proposing that a few of us to head to Jacksonville and let this guy know in whatever way necessary that fucking with Kat and Dylan would be a really bad idea.”

“You think there will be any pushback on thatsuggestion?” Pac questioned from down the table.

I shrugged. “To be honest, I’m not really sure.”

“I asked around,” Kit cut in, strumming his fingers on the table. “Not a single person I talked to in that area knew who he was, which means he’s probably a little nobody trying to be a somebody.”

“So, does us doing this mean you’re taking Kat as your old lady?” Tie questioned with his eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

Is that what this was?

She’d shown up last night, but it was like no time had passed.

Seeing her at first had instantly brought back that pain in my chest I’d felt when I found out she’d left without an explanation or a goodbye. But the moment I knew she was in trouble, it’d all changed and become so damn clear that I cared about her right then, just as much as I had eight years earlier.

And I was still figuring out exactly what the hell that meant.

But I didn’t want to be left once again wondering why.

Or regretting not saying something before it was too late.

“At this point, I’m still trying to figure that shit out, brother,” I answered honestly. “I just know she was really fucking important to me a long time ago, and my gut is telling me not to make the same mistakes now as I did back then.”

“All right then. Any objections to the club stepping in on this?” Kit questioned, and the room stayed silent. “All in agreement?”

A resounding “aye” filled the room.

It felt good to know my brothers had my back on this.

Even though I never doubted that they would.

Just hearing the support made me sit a little taller.

“Tie, Wreck, Tally, and I will make the trip down to Jacksonville tomorrow. Get things sorted and come back the day after because my body is no longer fucking made for riding ten hours in a single day.” Kit and I were getting older, but I swear, since he’d had kids, he had aged about ten years more than me.I’m not sure if it was the constant worry, or just how Nya ran circles around him, but I’m sure he felt it was worth it.

“Weston?”

Weston leaned in. He was one of the older club members and one of Loose’s close friends. “Prez?”

“I’m leaving you in charge,” Kit announced. “Please don’t let my old lady put up any more Christmas decorations. With that and the forecast of snow, I’m starting to feel like I’m in the fucking north pole.”

The room filled with rolling laughter, and we dispersed.

I passed Kat, Harmony, Kaci, and another old lady, Del sitting around a table, cackling with laughter. It was good to see Kat slip back into the group so easily. Because Harmony used to live up in Huntsville, she and Kat had been close for a long time, and it didn’t just play on my mind when she left without a trace.

A lot of members and club girls up there were confused and sad to not have her bright smile around.

As much as I wanted to steal her away, I left them to it. The girls needed their time with Kat too. Instead, I headed down the hall to my room, intending to find a thicker damn hoodie to put on so I could go out to the garage and make sure my ride was good to go for the trip the next day.

I glanced into the room Kat and Dylan had slept in, pausing when I saw the kid sitting at the edge of the bed, staring at the wall.

“Hey, man,” I started, walking over and stepping inside. “You doing okay?”

He shrugged but didn’t look at me. “I guess.”

I took another step a little closer. “You wanna talk about it?” He watched me out of the corner of his eye for a brief second before looking away again. “You don’t know me, right? Why would you want to tell me all your problems.”

I eased myself onto the edge of the bed, making sure I still gave him plenty of space. He didn’t exactly welcome me, but he also didn’t tell me to fuck off. Though I could see that changing dramatically if I tried to come in too hard and fast.

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