Page 100 of Has-Been
Ice sipped at his beer, glaring at the label.
“Maybe I need to start drinking the real stuff, man. Clean living is so fucking hard, and he’s been driving me fucking nuts! You know he never shuts up, like even for five minutes, and it’s like working with a child in the room. He keeps sticking music on, and watching stuff on his phone with the volume really high, and seriously, try concentrating with all that shit going on, because it’s fucking impossible.” I ignored that huffy sigh at the end of what he’d said, because I realised the important part of what he just said, as in the part he didn’t vocalise.
“You like him.”
“Get fucked. I just said he’s annoying as fuck.”
“Yeah, but you’re loving it, you know you were grinning as you were talking right?”
Ice rolled his eyes, shoving that shite non-beer aside and sitting back again, slumping low in the seat.
“I just want things the way they were, man. I came here for a drama free life, for the family I’d never had, and instead everything’s so fucking messed up.”
I finished my beer in several large gulps.
“You don’t mean that, man. You don’t mean you miss when you were doped up more than you weren’t, and when you didn’t have Lissa.”
He groaned, rubbing his face vigorously with both hands.
“It doesn’t get any fucking easier, man. It’s always there, that nagging urge, that fucking itch right within my soul. It’d take the edge off of all of this shit. It’d tide me over until-”
“Does Lissa know you’re thinking like this?”Okay, how to piss Ice off in seven simple words.
He lunged up out of his chair, knocking the table, and sending both of our bottles crashing onto the wooden floor with a loud smash.
“That’s none of your fucking business, got it?” I stood up too, because you don’t sit there and let a guy tower over you like that. I wouldn’t be anybody’s fucking victim ever again, in any situation.
“Watch who you’re talking to like that, dickhead. You don’t wanna start shit with me right now, trust me.”
Ice started laughing, but it was a low bitter sound.
“Yeah, don’t wanna upset fuckinggolden boy, do I? Might get me in trouble with the Pres.”
What the hell?I reached out and grabbed the front of his cut, almost lifting him off his feet, so I could get right in his face.
“Fucking say that again, and I’ll knock you out. I don’t care what kind of shit you’re going through right now. You never say that to me again.”
There was so much rage coursing through me, that even when my brothers started grabbing at me, I couldn’t let go of the fucker. How dare he? How dare he use that fucking term ‘golden boy’? On a rational level, I knew he didn’t know what a trigger it was for me, but I couldn’t fucking release him.
As more hands tried to separate us, I lunged forward, nutting Ice right in the forehead with mine, and probably causing myself more pain than I delivered with that shot.
“You stupid fuck!”
Despite others trying to get between us, Ice managed to get a fist right in my face, before he followed up with a blow to my stomach, and then I really lost it. I released him, and shoved the others away from me and as soon as they hesitated, I went for him again. I crashed into him, and we both went over the back of his chair, and started punching each other as we landed.
Honestly, it felt fucking amazing to just let go like this. To release all of that pent up anger and frustration I’d been carrying, after what had happened recently. To have a target for my rage and powerlessness. Someone to fuckingblame.
“STOP this shit right fucking now!” I heard Reacher roar over the noise in the room. Half of our brothers had been trying to encourage us to stop, but there had been just as many voices egging us both on, because that’s just what bikers are like. We like violence, and we resolve most of our shit with our fists.
Someone dragged me away from Ice, even as the bastard shot up with one last punch and caught me right on the ear.
Sixty-One
AssoonasHasleft us, Seth and I fell into an awkward silence for a moment, and finally I had to break it. We never used to struggle for things to talk about, but our relationship had been strained ever since Has and I got together.
“Has said I should be calling you Stitch, now that I’m staying here.”
My brother’s eyes widened at me, and he shoved his hand through his long blonde hair.
