Page 104 of A Wrench in the Plan
This might have not been my bar, but I looked after it as if it was my own. LT had given me a new position. I was now running the place. Well, the bar part of it. The kitchen was all Mad Bell’s, and I wasn’t going to complain about that one bit. We all knew the back was his domain and you didn’t fuck with it or you found out just how he got the first part of his name.
I was getting the last keg in place when the door opened.
Chry stepped in with a big-ass smile on his face that was so infectious that I couldn’t stop my lips from curling up at the corners. It might have something to do with seeing me, or it could have had something to do with that new patch on his chest.
He’d been the club’s new Enforcer for a few months now, but I didn’t think the pride of holding that position would ever ebb for him. I couldn’t lie, that kind of pride looked so damn hot on him. After what he’d been through and what I’d seen him do, I thought it was the perfect position for him. Though things had been quiet since the last of The Bloody Jokers had been wiped out, it didn’t mean that it would always stay that way… or that the brothers didn’t occasionally get rowdy enough to need an Enforcer to step in.
I was just about to make some kind of sexual crack when Sidekick, the new Sergeant at Arms, pulled open the door and walked in.
Then the rest of the table piled in, each of them holding a different expression.
Prez, then Grass, now VP. Bandit, who’d taken over the Road Cap chair. Honey, the new Treasurer, though I wasn’t sure about that one because the man spent money without even giving it a second thought. Rooster, the Secretary, and really proud of it. Chry said he sat there with his laptop, taking notes like he was preparing for an exam. Boom and Villain, the two tail gunners that traded off going on runs.
And that was the new table.
The main seats were full for now, though I’d heard that Rooster had asked to be a filler until LT and Grass found someone permanent that wanted the seat. I also knew that the club was big enough that some of the positions had more than one to fill the roles. Some also had helpers, if you wanted to call them that. I figured they’d eventually get filled.
Then in walked Mouse and B-ry. Followed by the elders, as the new table had taken to calling them since the table had been turned over.
I’d never call them that out loud, of course.
I didn’t know what the hell was going on. Maybe they’d decided to have a small club opening for the bar before the official one tomorrow.
Had to say, I was a little nervous having my practically-father-in-laws staring at me as if they were waiting for something. Might as well call them that since both Cat and Chry joked about it all the time. I found it cute and also terrifying, as B-ry scared the hell out of me. He didn’t treat me any differently, not really, but I could tell we were still in an adjustment period. Cat said it might take him a while to really wrap his head around the idea of us. Mouse had always treated me like family, so nothing had really changed there. I couldn’t have been more grateful.
“What’s going on?” I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.
“Thought we’d come party,” Chry said. There was a smirk on his face that he was trying to hide. Something was definitely up.
“Get us some drinks, Prospect,” B-ry said. His tone was stern and his face was blank.
I hopped to it, grabbing bottles of their favorite beer out of the cooler, thankful that I’d stocked that shit hours ago. As I popped tops and slid bottles across the new, glossy bartop, I felt all their eyes on me.
Once the last one was handed over to Bandit, but only because he was the one at the end of the bar, Prez held up his bottle.
“Get yourself one,” he said to me. I did as I was told, then held mine up in the air since everyone was too. “To the bar.”
“To the bar,” everyone shouted, including me.
“To the club for getting through tough times.”
Cheers to the club rose up, then came the whistles. Someone even shouted, “Here, here!”
“Oh, hold on,” Prez said as he set his beer down and pulled out his knife. I lowered mine to the bartop, noticing everyone else did the same. “I’m sorry to say, I’m gonna need that Prospect patch back.”
My heart broke as he slid the knife my way.
Feeling embarrassed and like I wasn’t good enough, I slid off my cut and picked up the knife. Each thread I cut off my Prospect patch felt like I was cutting off a piece of myself. I rid my cut of the rocker on the back too. My hands shook as I closed up the knife and set the patches down with it in front of LT.
He put his knife away and made a show of clearing his throat and picking up his beer again.
I just left mine sitting there, the condensation already starting to collect on the sides of the bottle. I didn’t want to seem rude, but I was kind of in shock. I didn’t feel like celebrating now.
“To the best barman, who we hope will stick around for a long time to come,” LT said, a twinkle in his eyes as he stared at me. “To the newest Member!”
“To Payback!” everyone but me yelled, my man being the loudest. Beers went up in the air in my direction.
It took a long fucking minute for it all to sink in.
