Page 19 of Chelsea’s Knight

“Yeah, that sums it up for me too,” I confess, allowing my emotions to be displayed on my face. Unwilling to hide how she makes me feel and the happiness she provides for me. “How about I clean up and reshape what Gia tried to do so you feel better about going out in public with it. Get rid of those sporadic fuzzy patches.”

“You can do that?” Her bubbly excitement and joyful enthusiasm has me nodding my head with an over-exaggerated amount of gusto.

After all, she and I are supposed to be a matching set, so why not correlate her animated responses with ones of my own?

“Who do you think does mine?” I ask, pointing at my covered scalp, before shrugging off my cut and hanging it over the back of a chair that’s pushed underneath the small, round table that’s set amid a U-shaped alcove near the apartment-sized kitchenette. “Let’s head into the bathroom so the cleanup is easier to sweep into a dustpan and toss.”

CHAPTERFIVE

Canyon

“I think it was a little too damn much, and you fuckers went overboard playing that motherfucking song over the loudspeaker,” Trident grouses as we sit, drinking a beer, while our two newest patched-in members, Glacier and Shark, enjoy the constant rounds of shots being handed to them.

We went full-blown party mode to welcome the two men into the fold of our club. Their lives are going to change from this point moving forward in more ways than they can count on two hands. They had an idea of how close we are, but until you have that bottom rocker sewed onto your cut, you have no clue how deep the bond of our brotherhood runs.

“Brother, it was funny as fuck and you damn well know it,” I snort as I lift my beer bottle to my lips and swallow a large gulp. “Besides, did you see his face? He’s a brother whose past ain’t like any of ours, and I think us teasing him like that in addition with the road name we branded him with, this most likely is the first time he’s ever felt like he was a part of something meaningful.”

“This is very true. Did you see Orion tonight?” he asks.

Now, I feel like we’re gossiping like a bunch of nattering old hens but dutifully, like a good brother should, I nod my head. “Yeah, he’s definitely got it bad for Roane.”

What I don’t say is I’ve noticed whenever Roane’s name is brought up and Orion’s within the vicinity, he gets almost hyper-focused. He’s done a shit ton of little things to make her life easier, but when she catches him in the act and asks him about it, he always claims ‘the club’ is behind it which is a load of absolute bullshit.

Like any guy not wanting a woman to know he’s stepped into her independence and has taken charge of helping her out of sticky situations, whether it’s financial or something else, he denies, denies, denies.

You can’t judge or prosecute someone without unquestionable evidence to prove otherwise. Regardless, he’s a helluva brother from everything I’ve observed and I’m hoping it works out for them.

“She’s a helluva hard worker from what I understand,” Trident admits. “Always willing to take on extra shifts at the bakery and Atlas swears she’s increased the profit margin at the auto shop by a minimum of fifty percent. Especially since she found something Nate… er,Sharkis good at doing.”

“Yeah, he isn’t mechanically inclined at all, but she figured out he has one of those photographic memories where he knows by sight exactly what they have in reserve and what they need to order so they can restock the shelves. Now that she’s recalculated the inventory, Atlas has charged him with the task of overseeing the ordering and what-not. Plus, he’s keeping the storage area organized and tallied, so there’s far less waste and overstock needing to be tossed,” I reply. “I know I’m not usually at the shop, though, so just telling ya what I’ve heard.”

I don’t have time to volunteer my time at the mechanic shop, that’s for sure, because the tattoo parlor has exploded with pre-scheduled work, especially with Loki limiting his hours now that CeeCee’s approaching her due date and is close to giving birth.

But, like most of the rest of the guys, I know my way around the basic mechanical shit so if they ever needed me, I’d go in on my down time and turn a wrench, do a few oil changes, patch a tire, change it for a new one, or balance and rotate them.

Anything for the brotherhood.

“If anyone pisses her off, they’ll answer to Koba,” Atlas growls out, having overheard what Trident was saying about Roane when he walked up with fresh beers for all of us. “Not me, the dog. Why, you ask? Because even though he’smy dog, when she’s working at the shop, he follows her around like she has steak strips tucked inside of her front pockets, sets up a protective perimeter around her if a customer comes in he’s unsure of, and in short, ignores me until she leaves. Strangest fucking dog I’ve ever seen and every time he does something like this, and I reach out to Nick to ask why, he says it’s beyond anything he’s familiar with.”

“He’s a good dog, one who instinctively knows when someone needs to feel safe in their surroundings, Atlas,” I state. “And I’m glad Shark now has found his rightful place at one of the club-owned businesses, and also that we’ve been able to help Roane get her life turned around.” Saying all of that in quick succession has me winded, but there are times when I have so much to say it all comes spilling out that way.

“Yeah, she’s had it tough, but one of the things I love about what we’ve done since starting the club is the fact that we’ve built a network of trustworthy people within the community. Because the women we’ve all found for old ladies have hearts of gold who open their lives up and dig into their resources to help those they come across who are in desperate need of a hand. Take Mary and Shamus as an example.” He pauses and inhales a deep breath before wrapping up his thoughts. “They became part of our extended family when Brooks found Hayley. They gave Roane a job and also put her in the apartment over the bakerywithout asking for a dime in rent.When she questioned them about that, Shamus gave her a bullshit song and dance about it helping them with regard to security, plus she would be able to get the bread and other baked stuff started before Mary and he arrived each morning." Atlas grins, something he didn’t do too much of before Patsy came along and he received his service dog.

Which brings me back full circle to Chelsea and how much a service dog would potentially enhance her life while helping her exert her much-wanted independence.

“Can’t wait till we head out to The Sanctuary,” I admit.

“They’re so fucking awesome out there, brother,” Atlas mentions. “Plus, you’ll be alone with your old lady, which will be good for both of y’all.”

I raise my brow at him as if to say, “And?” causing him to start laughing. Another rarity which has several others glancing in our direction wearing their own grins.

“Well, she’s not going to know anyone else but you,” he elaborates, “so, the two of you will build a different level of intimacy that’s outside of the bedroom.”

“Gotcha,” I reciprocate. I neither confirm nor deny anything when it comes to our bedroom activities simply because it’s nobody’s damn business but ours what goes on between our sheets.

However, I can understand the presumption since typically, when she’s ready to head off to bed, I follow along behind her and then, I don’t come back down the hall to visit or toss a beer back with them.

Chelsea

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