Page 105 of A Wrench in the Plan
“What?” was my dumb reply.
Prez respectfully placed two patches on the bar. One saidMember. The other saidPayback.
Grass added the back bottom rocker to the pile with a genuine grin on his face.
“Payback’s a bitch,” Chry said with a wink. Oh, and his smile was the biggest I think I’d ever seen. There was so much happiness and pride there.
My face went red as everyone laughed.
Yeah, I was never going to live the wholepaybackthing down.
I stared down at the new patches. Was this real?
“Drink up!” Prez called out as someone got the jukebox going. Loud rock music blared as I stood there frozen in place. “You deserve it.”
I blinked at him. Then I smiled. It was so wide I was sure I looked stupid, but I didn’t care. My knee hit the top of the cooler half tucked under the bartop, and then I was leaning over to hug LT. He patted me hard on the back before I pulled away.
“Thank you,” I told him.
“Cat will put those on for you later,” Chry said as he came behind the bar and pulled me in for a kiss.
“Does she know?” I asked.
“Not yet. Figured you could tell her.”
“You couldn’t fight for a better road name?” I joked.
His smirk was both sexy and evil.
“I think it’s perfect.”
I laughed, then took a long, victorious pull of my beer.
“Dade would have been proud,” Charming said with a smile that was a little happy and a little sad.
I felt a little choked up as I gave him a grateful nod.
I never imagined I’d be a legacy, but I was. That felt almost better than getting my patch. I hoped I made Dade proud, even if I never got to know him.
We partied. All worry over getting the bar perfect for opening the next day was forgotten. I got plenty of back pats and congratulations. I wanted this. I so did. But I had been very cautious when it came to letting myself think that I’d ever actually earn my patch. The disappointment if I didn’t make the cut would have crushed me if I had let myself believe it could have been mine.
Now I didn’t have to worry about it. I was worthy. I’d proven myself to them.
And that felt so damn good.
“I didn’t vote,” Chry told me. “I know how you feel about favoritism, so I took myself out of it.”
I smiled and hugged him tightly, burying my face in his neck. I loved him so much.
“But I would have voted you in, just so you know,” he whispered in my ear.
I laughed as I said, “I know.”
Wrench
“This is day three of her feeling sick,” I said to Ev as I paced the kitchen. Why was the damn kettle taking so long to boil? I wanted to make Cat some tea to help soothe her stomach, but I didn’t like being away from her when she felt bad. “Should we take her to the doctor?”
“Um, babe,” Ev said, stepping in front of me, effectively stopping my movements. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close. “I think our girl is pregnant.”
