Page 11 of Lake
“He works hard and has respect for Chris and the old ladies,” Ky added with a sharp nod.
“What’s his story?” I asked because for the most part, the guy kept his yap shut. Which was good but it also meant that he didn’t spill much about his life.
“Sick mom. He took care of her until she died a few years back.”
There was more to the story but that was all Mason was going to say on the matter. I was sure that if there was anything he thought we needed to know, he’d say it.
“What about that one?” Ky asked tilting his head to the prospect in the corner that had some nearly naked woman grinding on him while he looked like he was grinding his jaw. I barked out a laugh because he didn’t look like he was enjoying it at all. But I could tell the fact that Sketch was there hooting and hollering in encouragement was the reason he hadn’t pushed her off of him.
I bet he thought he had to take that. Sketch was only trying to help him out.
“You talkin’ about Fire Beard?” I asked before I could think better of it. I may have had a bit of red in my hair but it was more of a dark mahogany tone that could only be seen in the daylight. But he was a full-on bright beacon of ginger.
“Fire Beard?” Mason asked, voice low but brow raised high.
“Yeah,” I said with a shrug. “It’s what I call him in my head.”
That made the two of them chuckle.
“Think we should make that one stick,” Charming said and I didn’t even realize he’d walked up and heard that part.
“It didn’t come from me,” I said with a warning as I held up my hands, then laughed. “Anyway. I like him enough. He doesn’t fuck around when he’s on patrol and he doesn’t try to set himself apart. He actually responds when talked to. And he can carry on a conversation.”
Maybe that last part wasn’t really something that was a requirement to be patched in but it said a few things to me. Like that he wasn’t one to hold shit in until the point that it bubbled over. It also gave me a sense that he wasn’t trying to be an outsider and that he would easily slide into being a brother because he was already on the verge of being a friend. And it told me he cared. He wasn’t in it for the patch, to try to get some cool points to make his life seem more meaningful than it was. He wasn’t there for the shiny perks of being in the MC like the tempting women that threw themselves at you or the intimidation that came with just wearing the cut. No, he was there for something more. The same thing that made up the heart of the club.
“What are we talking about?” Mouse said sliding up to the bar and setting his empty bottle down.
“Prospects,” Ky grunted out.
“Oh, my favorite subject.” Mouse said with laughter in his tone. “I don’t like that skinny one. He’s always giving me the eye and thinks I don’t notice.”
We all barked out a laugh.
“The one that keeps looking at Tripp’s ass?” I asked, pointedly looking across the room at the prospect in the corner who was slyly trying to check out Tripp as he bent over the pool table to take a shot.
“Oh,” Mouse said sounding like he’d just lost a bit of steam. “Wait, you think he’s checking me out too?”
“You’re such a dumbass,” Chris said with a shake of his head as he set down a fresh beer for Mouse.
I knew he’d only caught part of the conversation but enough to know what we were talking about.
“Iampretty sexy, I guess,” Mouse said puffing out his chest like a dumbass.
Ky playfully punched him in the shoulder and he stumbled a little more than he should have. I looked at him for a long moment. Mouse drank but he hardly ever got drunk. Which I could see by the way he picked up that fresh beer and sucked half of it down in one pull, was what he was trying to accomplish for the night.
“That one,” Mouse said pointing to a woman at a tall table near the door. She fluttered her eyes at him and gave a timid smile while her girlfriends chatted around her. “I’m gonna go talk to her.”
He shuffled off and the rest of us shook our heads.
“He’s gonna feel great in the morning,” Mason said sarcastically as he got to his feet.
We scattered then. Mason going to sit by Iron. Charming to find someone to fill his bed for the night. Ky stayed his ass at the bar, which wasn’t a surprise to me.
I headed off to the pool table to have a front-row seat to theSketch Show. It was always amusing to see him do the shit that he did. Oh, and the stories he had to tell. If it were anyone else, I would have said they were greatly embellished, but it was Sketch, and I’d seen first hand some of the shit he’d gotten himself into.
“Lake, my brother,” he said as I walked over. One arm was around some busty blond and the other was held out like he was waiting for me.
With a shake of my head and an eye roll, I gave in and let him get me around the neck. After one good squeeze, he released me.
“This is Miriam,” he said pointing at the blonde.
“Mary Ann,” she corrected him but she was still giving him a dazed happy look.
“Same thing,” he said with a shrug.
And I wouldn’t have expected anything different.
The tiredness seeped into my bones but I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. It wasn’t the drinking or the constant need to feel like I was still young and could party all night. No, it was the feeling that I got from being here. The fact that I’d helped to build not only the bar and the garage, but this chapter of the club. There was pride and loyalty in the nods to one another. There was a sense of love in the smiles that came from the significant others. There was just this overall scent that I knew I’d never be able to shake off or leave behind. Not that I would want to.
