Page 22 of Warrior

“Seems kind of empty, doesn’t it?” Zane mutters to me, and I tilt my head in agreement. Judging by all the bikes out front, I expected this place to be packed, wall to wall with bodies.

“Most are still sleeping off their hangovers,” a silky voice joins our conversation. Zane’s mouth drops open and I glanceback. A gorgeous blonde hands us two beers. I take in her black ripped T-shirt with the club’s logo on the front, her jean shorts, and sleeve of colorful tattoos on her arm.

“Are you a member?” Zane asks, his eyes looking her up and down suggestively.

The girl eyes him back, a small smile on her painted red lips. “They couldn’t handle me. Name’s Ari, and my father is the Prez.”

Zane’s smile is hesitant now. “Nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

Ari’s head tilts back and she laughs. “Boy, I’ve never seen someone turn their tune so fast.”

“No disrespect, but I’d rather not be shot for flirting. I’m too young to die and too many ladies I still have to meet,” Zane quips, and Ari laughs again before shrugging.

“No harm, no foul. What about you?” she asks me. My eyes find hers and I give her a small smile.

“I prefer my balls where they’re at.”

Zane scoffs. “His balls have been missing for eight years. They already belong in the clutches of another woman.”

“Mmm, she couldn’t handle the military lifestyle?” Ari asks, her brow arches in question.

For some reason her words scrape at my insides. I’ve gone years trying not to think about Lyric and suddenly, within a few days, all I do is remember every single thing about her.

“She would have,” I answer, feeling the need to defend the woman who still holds my heart.

Ari’s eyes bore into mine and I take a drink of my beer. I hope she knows I’m not an option, and it has nothing to do with worrying about disrespect to her father, unlike Zane. It's because I haven’t allowed anyone to get to know me past face value for eight years. I don’t want the connection with anyone else that I had with Lyric. It kills me that I’ve been with other women, cold, emotionless, sexual releases. None of it meant more thana physical need, and I’m ashamed to admit that I purposefully chose women who looked nothing like Lyric, and I hated myself more afterward. Thinking about her with someone else and how I would feel if she was doing the same ate at me constantly, but I knew it was likely. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Men would have to be blind not to try and get to know her. And once they did, they would have discovered what I had. Lyric’s heart, her personality, the way she cares about others is just as perfect.

Ari walks away and Zane whistles under his breath. “You never listen.” He shakes his head before tossing back his beer. “You went to the tree, didn’t you?”

I shrug. “I didn’t believe it. I had to see it with my own eyes.”

“Yeah, and how did that go?”

“Felt like shit,” I answer, bringing my own glass to my lips. “I wanted to get out of there so bad, I felt like I was doing her a favor. I didn’t realize how much I actually hurt her.”

“Colt,” Zane says, his eyes narrowing. “Are you serious right now? You two were inseparable. That girl loved you. I honestly thought you were going to get married after graduation, go to college, then have that Southern charm home with a few dogs and kids. I saw the way you looked at each other, we all did.”

His eyes fall to the table and I sense the change in his mood. “You never reached out to her?” I ask. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did after all of these years.

“What was I supposed to say? I hurt her too.” He shrugs, lips tightening into a straight line.

“It’s my fault,” I tell him, his eyes jump to mine. “I messed up.”

He blows out a breath. “Guess all we can hope for is that she is happy, healthy, and living her best life out there.”

“Yeah,” I agree, before throwing back the rest of my beer. Lyric does deserve her happily ever after. That thought makesmy chest squeeze in pain even as I think it. I wanted more than anything to give that to her. It should have been our life by now, but I fucked up.

“I see Ari took care of you.” Austin is in front of us again, motioning us with his fingers. “Follow me.”

We move from the bar and follow the man toward a narrow hallway. From there, it turns into another room that almost looks like the common place in an apartment complex. Doors line one wall and there is a set of stairs that goes up to another floor. On the other side of the building, I find a set of heavier looking doors. The club’s patch symbol hangs above it, a board held in the skull’s mouth reads CHURCH. Austin leads us over and I glance back at Zane who shrugs.

“Are we allowed in there, sir?” I ask, not wanting to commit a faux pas and disrespect the club.

Austin glances at me. “I’m wearing a patch that says President, right?”

Zane and I both nod our heads agreeing with him. Austin pushes open the door with one hand. “Go on in then.”

I step in the room and hesitate when I see the man at the table, sitting alone. He glances up at us and everything inside me hurts. The man has Tric’s eyes, the same serious expression, and even the same black hair. Tric looked so much like his father that it physically hurts to see this older version of the man Tric should have been.

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