Page 46 of Light

The Rabid Hounds, rough and loud but loyal.

Old friends slap each other on the back, trading half-insults and full laughs.

Coolers are popped open.Piles of meat smoke over open flames.

The air is thick with the smell of grease, leather, and burning wood.

Someone tosses a beer my way.

I catch it without thinking and crack it open, foam spilling over my knuckles.

Hook already has two beers in his hands, shouting something crude at Brick, who just laughs and flips him off without looking.

It is good.It is home.

But even in the middle of all the noise, the brotherhood, the firelight, my mind drifts.

I reach for my phone once before I stop myself and shove it back in my pocket.

I reach again twenty minutes later when the thought sneaks in that maybe Tyler is not feeling good, maybe Melissa needed help with something.

I curse under my breath, forcing myself to grab another beer instead and smile like everything is fine.

She is fine.They are both fine.

I tell myself that over and over, like if I say it enough times it will drown out the quiet fear twisting inside me.

I am Light.

I do not get attached.

I do not get whipped.

I do not start giving a shit about women I have no right to even touch.

And yet, no matter how many miles I put between us tonight,

Melissa and Tyler still feel closer to me than anyone else in this place.

And that thought scares the hell out of me more than any fight or prison sentence ever could.

I'm already downing my third beer when Brick slowly walks over to where I'm sitting at one of the picnic style benches that line the area.

"You good, Brother?" He asks as he slides into the seat opposite me.

"Yeah, just taking it all in. Betting on Torch finding something humiliating for our prospect to do." I laugh and take another swig of the beer.

Brick just tilts his head. He doesn't join me in the false laughter.

"Boy, I know you too well for that bullshit to work on me. Something is up. Both you and Semi are on different worlds tonight."

My eyes drift over to where Semi is standing. He's got a beer in his hand, but he's alone, just how I was seconds ago. I guess he must still be thinking about Claire.

"It's nothing I can't handle." I look back to Brick.

"Bullshit. You don't need to handle shit on your own. That's what the club is for. We do it all together. We're family, Light. I don't want you to forget that."

"I haven't. It's just not anything...I got it." I end.

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