Page 95 of Bronco

“Appreciate it, brother.”

I head out, stopping by the kitchen to say hi to Manny. He’s been creating some new dishes, and the boys have only been too happy to be guinea pigs with anything he cooks.

“Somethin’ smells good.” I stick my head in the doorway.

Manny is kneading dough when he looks up from the bench and grins. “Chicken pot pie, apparently I’ve been overdoing the beef bourguignon.”

“Garbage, don’t listen to anyone who utters that shit outta their mouths.”

“So, how are things with you and Amber? Talk about a dark horse.”

“Good news travels fast.”

“Uh, we had to see it on the kiss-cam on the TV.” Manny rolls his eyes. “Kept that kinda on the quiet.”

“Things didn’t develop until that night.” It isn’t too far a stretch from the truth. “And we’ve been friends forever, so we didn’t wanna rush things.”

He gives me a narrowed side-eye. Manny is known for his almost psychic-like abilities. He’s very in tune with bullshit radars, too.

“Uh, huh.”

“You would know, you were friends with Lace and Bandit before you all got together.”

“I wouldn’t say I wasfriendswith Bandit. In fact, we started off hating each other.”

“But you knew, right?”

He puts the rolling pin down, then lays the pastry very carefully over the top of the huge casserole dish. “I fell before he did because he hadn’t quite come out yet, but me and Lace were pretty instant the first time we kissed. I think you should be friends before getting into any kind of relationship. The sex and lust is fun, but it wears off. If you don’t actually like the person without all that, it’ll never work.”

As usual, the man talks sense.

“Exactly. Amber’s so smart, funny, sexy, and we have fun together, and I’ve got the Pelicans to thank for it.”

“Another one bites the dust,” he sighs.

“We’re just takin’ things slow.” Also not a lie. “Not claimin’ her or anythin’.”

Manny can’t resist his next jab. “Hmm, so technically if she’s not claimed, she isn’t your ol’ lady.”

“Amber and I have an understandin’,” I say. “And she’s not one to be tied down like that. Blame her ex, he was an asshole.”

Manny puts the pie in the oven, then turns back to face me. “I’ll repeat it in case you missed it.” He cups his hands around his mouth. “If she’s not claimed, she isn’t your ol’ lady.”

“Yeah, I got that part.”

“Which means some other bozo could come along and sweep her off her feet, and you can’t do shit about it.”

“She wouldn’t do that.”

“Right, you know what I’ve discovered over the time I’ve been in this MC?”

“God help us,” I mutter under my breath.

“It’s that no matter how tough, independent, or mouthy our women are, they all still need one thing.”

I frown. “And what’s that?”

“Stability. Be the one true thing she can lean on, especially in hard times. The solid structure in her life that never waivers, no matter how big or small the mountains are that will arise. Women need dependability, no matter what they say.”

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