Outcasts MC (Complete Series), page 57
I had giggled and given him a light shove.
David had been shocked when I first told him about Logan and me, and I could tell there was disappointment there. Disapproval too. But as Hazel had assured me, in the end, David had just been glad I had approached him about things before they had become an issue. It was easy enough for him to swap my meetings around. And even though I was initially jealous at the thought of someone else trying to get Logan to crack and share his history with them, I couldn’t help but feel proud of him for continuing his therapy sessions beyond what the sheriff had mandated.
I could already see a marked difference in him. He was no longer the quiet, brooding man that I had first met. And not just around me, either; we had gone to a couple dinners with some of the guys from his MC, and he’d been chatty with them too. Xander pulled me aside after one of them and said in an undertone, “I don’t know if it’s the sex or the near-death experience, but this is the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”
I’d felt a warm flush at the words. It wasn’t all up to me, of course; it all came back to Logan in the end. But still, if there was anything getting me through the months of training, anything that had me believing that maybe I really could do this and help people, it was Logan.
Now that my training was over, though, now that I was getting ready to walk out on that stage, I was nervous. This was a big day for me. The culmination of everything that I’d always been working for. All those years of schooling, all those hours in the clinic training. Despite my trepidation at the start of my time at the clinic, I really did feel that this was what I was meant to be doing with my life.
Not that much would be changing at this point. I had been happy with my position at the clinic, and David had been happy with the work I was doing. He had offered me a permanent role, so earning the degree didn’t affect all that much. Still, I was proud of this milestone. It was all the sweeter knowing how close I had come to quitting all of it.
After the ceremony, Hazel and the girls gave me a huge hug. I knew the girls probably didn’t understand what they’d just seen, but Hazel certainly did. I leaned into the hug.
“You want to come over for dinner tonight?” Hazel suggested as we broke apart.
I gave her a grin and looked pointedly past her toward Logan. “I’d love to, but someone’s already made plans for today,” I said apologetically. “But you’re off on Thursday, right?” She was still busy as ever with work, and I was getting pretty busy too with all the patients David had me working with. Not to mention the time that I was spending with Logan. But all that had done to our friendship was ensure that we were even more careful about sharing our schedules and making sure that we figured out times to see one another in advance.
Hazel didn’t frown about it at all. Instead, she gave me a suggestive smile. “Have fun today,” she told me with a wink. “And Thursday’s perfect; I’ll see you then.” She gave me another quick hug. “Seriously, congratulations. You’re amazing.”
“Only because I have the most amazing friend in the world,” I joked, grinning at her.
She and the girls slipped away, and I flung myself toward Logan. He caught me and spun me around. He was still favoring one arm over the one that had been shot, but he was getting better and better every day. It helped that he was working as a coach at the local boxing gym now. He was still involved in the MC, but most of his fights these days happened at the gym. We were both happy with that, I think.
“So, what’s the plan for the day?” I asked him, even though I knew he wasn’t going to give me the answer I wanted. He’d been maddeningly secretive about all of it, but I knew it was all the better to tease me. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out how much I liked being teased, and he used that to his advantage whenever he could.
Sure enough, without telling me where we were going, Logan tugged me toward his bike in the parking lot. I laughingly got on the bike behind him, my graduation gown billowing out behind me as he started the bike. I threw my cap in the air as we sped off, laughing with the sheer enjoyment of it all. Wherever we went, the day was already perfect. Getting to share it all with him was just the best part.
We stopped at a familiar scenic pull-off, the one that we had come to before when he had told me about his job and about Jeremy. It was just a couple months ago, but already that felt like it could have been a lifetime ago. We were pretty much living together already and had been for weeks, even though we still hadn’t really talked about the future or what we were to each other.
Whatever we were, we were comfortable and happy, and that was all that I could ask for.
And safe, I added to that mental list as Logan had me sit in front of him on the bike, partly straddling his lap as I leaned back against the handlebars. “What?” I asked, giggling as he ran a hand up my thigh, leaving goosebumps in the wake of his tender touch.
Logan’s face was nothing but serious, but I could see the hint of a smile at the corners of his lips. “I’m proud of you,” he said in a quiet voice, tugging me into a gentle kiss. He tangled his hand in the back of my hair, keeping me close to him as he smiled at me. “And I love you.”
It was the first time he had ever given voice to the words, and I felt an answering smile spread across my own face, even though they were words that I had suspected already. “I love you too,” I told him.
There was plenty more to discuss in our future together. How would things progress between us? Would he keep working for the MC? Would we have kids? Would we raise them on bikes as well?
Plenty of things to discuss, but right now, we didn’t need to sort any of that out. It was enough to know that we loved each other, to know that we had a future together. We made out messily on the bike for a while, urgency building in each of our touches until it was no surprise for Logan to pull a large blanket from the bike’s panniers. He spread it off in a secluded, shady place where we still had an amazing view out over the mountains. And there in the warm sunshine, with me still wearing my graduation gown, he showed me just how much he loved me.
Xander
1
Xander
I had barely finished getting dressed on Sunday morning when the doorbell rang. I frowned, wondering who that could be. Granted, I hadn’t gotten up particularly early, and by the time I’d had a quick breakfast and showered, it was edging on toward eleven. Still, it was Sunday morning.
I hoped it was just one of the guys from my motorcycle club wanting to know if I wanted to go for a ride that day. But usually, they would have just texted me to ask that. For someone to show up on my doorstep like this, if it was someone from the club, it probably meant that something was wrong.
Of course, we were on pretty good terms with the sheriff at the moment. It helped that one of the other members of the MC had saved the sheriff’s daughter not too long ago. But things with the local law enforcement were always subject to change. It wasn’t like any of our deals could be put down on paper and signed off on.
Beyond that, there was always the threat of other MCs trying to move in on our territory. Greenboro wasn’t a big city, and every bit of business mattered. We had managed to hold our region for a long time, but again, things were always subject to change.
And then there were our clients. Most of the business that the Outcasts MC did was protecting various clients from various threats. There were plenty of reasons that a person might not want to go to the police about a threat to their life, starting with corruption and ending with the possibility of having their crimes found out. For example, if a guy murdered someone and was afraid that the dead guy’s friends might come after him, he might ask us for help.
Not that many of our cases were that extreme. But we did a good turnover, made some decent money, and mostly stayed above the board as far as the local law enforcement was concerned.
I was one of the people that Otis, president of the MC, sent off to protect our clients, so there was a chance that if this was about club business, that was why.
I pulled open the door to find Dax standing there on the doorstep. He was one of my oldest friends and another member of the MC. I leaned against the doorframe, my worries confirmed. MC business, then. I sighed inwardly. I had been hoping to have a chill day, maybe go out for a long ride, but mainly just enjoy myself. My work schedule had been pretty crazy lately, and I just wanted to relax before Monday’s weekly meeting, when Otis would no doubt assign me more work for the coming week.
But I didn’t let on about that to Dax. Business was business. I had a job to do.
“What’s up?” I asked him.
Dax grinned at me. “Don’t worry,” he said quickly. “It’s not a work thing. I just wanted to chat with you about something. I thought that maybe we could go fishing today.”
I blinked. “Sounds great,” I said slowly. Even though Dax and I had always been close, practically brothers, I hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of time with him lately. Between my work schedule, his work schedule, and the time he spent with his girlfriend, it had been hard to find time where both of us could get together. So a day fishing with him, even if he prefaced it with the need to talk about something, sounded perfect.
I wondered what it was he needed to talk about. Maybe it wasn’t work business. But if not, what? Wedding plans? I almost snickered at the thought of that. Dax and I might be close, but there was no way I was the guy to talk to about wedding plans. And Dax knew that very well.
Hell, I planned to never get married. Just didn’t think I would ever find a woman that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and there were so many complications with the MC business. And if I did ever get married, well, I’d be just as happy to let everyone show up in jeans. I didn’t go for the frippery and nonsense. Just get the thing done with and move on.
“Let me get my fishing gear out of the garage,” I told Dax. “You got bait already?”
“Yep,” Dax said, nodding. “And a cooler of beers in the back of the truck.”
I laughed. “Perfect,” I said. “How’d you know I was going to agree?”
Dax snorted. “Come on; I know the way Otis has been pushing you lately. Figured you probably needed a day away from club business and a little relaxation.”
“You’re right about that,” I said, grinning. Of course, Dax would know exactly what I was up to today and not bother making plans with me ahead of time. He knew how I worked.
We drove out to one of our favorite fishing spots. It was deserted today despite the warm, sunny spring weather. I took a deep breath of the air when I got out of the truck. Dax cracked open a beer from the cooler and handed it to me, then cracked open one for himself as well. “Beautiful day, huh?” he said. “Just hope the fish are biting.”
“Sure they will be,” I said. “We’ve had good luck here before.”
“Sure,” Dax said easily. “Just haven’t been up here in a while. Could be all fished out by now.”
I snorted, “Doubtful,” and Dax laughed.
“Well, come on, let’s check it out, then,” he said, grabbing his tackle box and rods from the back.
We headed down to the water and strung the rods, working in companionable silence for a moment. “Do you remember that time Otis took us fishing in upstate New York?” Dax asked after a minute. He flashed a grin over at me. “I’m just thinking about when I caught that snapper.”
I snorted. “Oh, I remember that,” I said, nodding. “You let the thing pull you into the lake, and then you let go of the rod. I still can’t believe Dan was able to get it back.”
“I know,” Dax said, shaking his head, mirth crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I swore I was one day going to get my diving license when he did that. But I still haven’t.” He glanced over at the water and shrugged. “Honestly, there’s so much seaweed in this lake that I probably wouldn’t be able to see anything in here anyway.”
I laughed. “Yeah, or it would be like one of those horror movie scenes, and you’d, like, see a dead person’s hand floating out of the seaweed or something.”
Dax rolled his eyes. “We never dispose of bodies up here,” he said. “It’s not deep enough, even way out in the middle. They’d be too easy to find.”
“Just because you’re not stupid enough to do it doesn’t mean no one else ever has,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, because there’s just so much crime around Greenboro,” Dax joked.
I shrugged. “We seem to do a fair amount of business protecting people,” I reminded Dax.
“True,” he said. He paused. “Speaking of business—”
I groaned. “It’s my day off away from the business,” I said. “I don’t want to talk business today.”
“I know, I know,” Dax said, holding up a hand. He shook his head. “I still don’t get why you’re in the MC, to be honest.”
I gave him a surprised look. “What, you don’t think I do a good enough job?” I asked. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Has Otis said something to you?”
“No, of course not,” Dax said. “Jesus, quit worrying. I know you’re stressed because things have been busy lately, but you’ve really got to chill.”
“I know,” I sighed. “I just feel like I keep getting weird looks from Otis when I’m at the clubhouse. Like he’s, I don’t know, considering something. But you know Otis. It’s not like you can just ask what the hell he’s thinking about.”
Dax grinned and shook his head. “Yeah,” he said.
“But seriously, I don’t know,” I continued, getting back to his original point. It wasn’t like we hadn’t talked about my reasons for joining the MC before now. Most of the guys in the MC didn’t know my whole backstory, but Dax and Otis, plus Dax’s brother, Kane, definitely knew that I had graduated at the top of my class. And even the dudes who didn’t know the real backstory there could tell I had a decent head on my shoulders.
I knew I wasn’t the only person who had to answer why he was in the MC. Victor got a lot of the same questions. He was the club’s hacker, looking into information about our new clients, making sure there was nothing fishy going on with them, nothing that might come back to bite us in the ass eventually if we took them on as clients. But at least he could always remind everyone that his options were either work for the government or against the government. And at least he also had the excuse of already having gone to jail. That was how he had met Otis, and I guess it was easy enough to picture him on the MC path from an early age.
But Dax always had a harder time seeing that about me. I didn’t know what he thought I could do with my life, what sort of career he pictured for me, but I didn’t see that for myself.
“I always planned to join the MC,” I said. “What the hell would I have done with higher education?”
Dax shook his head. “You could have done anything,” he said. “You’re too smart for this shit. And charismatic.”
I shrugged. “But I’ve got everything that I want in life,” I reminded him. “I’ve got a nice house, I’ve got a nice bike, and I’m good at what I do.”
Dax sighed. “You are,” he agreed. “I don’t know, I sometimes think there must be more to life than this club business. Especially when Otis is running you into the ground, basically, and still wants more from you.”
“Are we talking about me or you?” I asked, confused. Did Otis want something more from me? What could he possibly be looking for?
Dax shrugged evasively, looking away from me as he recast his line. “Just seems like if you were going to get out of this business, now’s the time for it. The longer you’re in it, the harder it’s going to be to ever change your life. And it just seems like you have the potential for more.”
I frowned, trying not to feel frustrated. I knew Dax was just looking out for my best interests. Again, we were basically like brothers. He wanted me to do well in life. It wasn’t like he had anything against the MC life, himself. It was what he did too.
“Is this what you brought me out here to talk about?” I finally asked. “Because if so, you’re wasting your time. I’m happy with the MC, and I’m happy with my life in Greenboro. And that’s all there is to it.”
Dax was quiet for a long moment. “Otis has been talking about moving you out of Greenboro,” he finally said. “He wants to put you in the New York chapter.”
I nearly dropped my fishing rod in surprise. “What?” I asked. Suddenly, his earlier comments made sense. Otis had been asking a lot of me lately, and now he appeared to want more from me. Jesus, though. New York? “Why?”
I felt like I would have heard if the New York chapter was struggling. Not that we had tons of interaction with the other chapters of the MC, at least outside of casual rides, which happened a couple of times a year. Of course, we would always be there for one another if needed. If a chapter was struggling, we might help them out. But reassigning members there?
Dax just made it sound a lot more permanent. It didn’t sound like I would just be helping out there; it sounded like, well, something more.
“Otis wants you to become president over there,” Dax explained slowly.
“Fuck,” I said, reeling my line in and walking back up on the shore, thinking hard for a moment. I spun back around to face Dax. “So he wants to fucking exile me, all so that, what, we can have closer ties with the New York chapter? Spread our own influence?”
“I don’t think he means for it to feel like exile,” Dax said sympathetically. “I mean, you wouldn’t be that far away. An easy day’s ride. I think he feels like this town is too small for you.”
“He probably wants you or Logan or somebody to take over as president here, doesn’t he?” I asked bitterly. “So New York is my consolation prize.” To be honest, if it came down to it, I would rather continue to be a nobody in the Greenboro chapter of the MC rather than be president of the New York chapter—or any other chapter.
Jesus, New York. Living in New York. I couldn’t imagine myself there. Sure, I’d visited New York a few times, and it had been fun, but I couldn’t imagine living there. I just wasn’t a city person.
