Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
LEXI
NOW
R yan was meant to be home an hour ago and I was nervously waiting on the front porch for his bike to pull into the driveway. He had the club vote earlier and as much as it frightened me for him to become President, I knew in the back of my mind that when I made the decision to stay here and be with him that this was going to happen one day. Ryan would always be a Viper and that was always going to be something I needed to either accept or leave behind for good.
I remembered when I first found out Jay joined the Vipers, how angry I was at him, but that decision changed everything for both Jay and I. It not only introduced Jay to the Viper’s but also brought Ryan back into my life. The Vipers had brought so much pain into my life but also so much love, and being with Ryan again had made me realize just how much I needed him.
The sound of two bike engines pulled me from my thoughts and I quickly got up from my seat and ran down the porch steps to meet them as they got off their bikes.
Haz met me first and had a large smile across his face. He wrapped his hands around my waist and spun me around in circles. “Our boy is officially the Viper President!” he yelled in my ear.
When he put me down, I turned to Ryan who I could tell wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to the news. I reached him and pulled his face down to meet mine and kissed him. He welcomed the kiss by pulling me closer and putting one hand on the back of my neck.
“I’m going to make some drinks,” Haz yelled as he ran up the porch steps and into the house.
“Are you happy?” I asked Ryan as I rested my head on his chest, his arms wrapped around me.
“Well, that depends. Are you still going to be here tomorrow now that I’m President?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Ry. I couldn’t face what happened back then so I thought it was easier to just leave. I thought if I wasn’t here or with you, then it wouldn’t hurt if I lost you. But I lost you anyway and it hurt so much. I haven’t felt like myself until I came back here and got you back in my life.”
“Does this mean that you’ve decided to move back home?” He looked up at me with hope in his eyes.
“That’s exactly what it means. You’re stuck with me now because I’m not letting you go again.”
“I’m not letting you go again either, Lexi.” He put my face in his hands and pulled me into a passionate kiss. “I need your help with something,” he said against my lips and smiled at me before he pulled me into the house.
* * *
I looked out the kitchen window at Ryan and Haz sipping beers on the new outdoor table Ryan and I assembled yesterday. They had both removed their leather cuts and were looking casual in their t-shirts and jeans. I walked over to the dining table where they both left their cuts and I took them upstairs into my room to make sure I didn’t ruin the surprise if Haz walked into the kitchen. Ryan had given me the President patch he had in his pocket so I took out my small sewing kit and began to un-stitch his current Vice President patch off his cut so I could sew it onto Haz’s. Ryan told me he wanted to surprise Haz with the new patch because he didn’t know that Ryan was giving him this title.
I looked down at both of their cuts with their new patches and a small tear slid down my cheek. I always thought the day that I was sewing these patches on, that it would be for Ryan and Jay. They always talked about their plans for the club and how it was going to be Ryan as President, Jay as Vice President and Haz as the right-hand man. So it was very bittersweet to see this day come but Jay not be here with them.
I put their cuts back on the dining table just as I heard the doorbell ring. I wasn’t expecting any other visitors so the sound took me by surprise. When I reached the door, I recognized Ty, the youngest Viper, and behind him stood a few other men in Viper cuts.
“Hey, Lexi. Haz invited us over to celebrate Ryan. I bought pizzas.” Ty held up the five pizza boxes in his hands and I moved out of the way to let them in the door. Each Viper greeted me on the way past, each one carrying either food or alcohol. I stood in the kitchen and started laying out the food along the bench. As I looked out the window, I saw Ryan standing among the group of men with the biggest smile on his face and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“He looks happy,” I heard from beside me and I turned to see Haz holding out a glass of wine for me. He leaned against the kitchen bench as we both continued to look out the window. “I haven’t seen him this happy in years, Lex. It’s because of you. You know that, right?”
“What’s because of me? The happiness now or the fact he wasn’t happy for years?”
“Both, I guess.” He laughed and my jaw dropped slightly at his honesty. “I’m kidding. But when you left, I had never seen him like that before. He was a mess. I’m talking about getting wasted every second of every day. It took a lot to pull him out of that. He never really moved past it until we saw you and Bella fighting on the camera the day you came by the clubhouse to tell Preston about your dad.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him, Haz. I lost a part of myself that day and I honestly never thought I was going to recover from that. I couldn’t be here in this town and have the constant reminder of what I lost anymore. I just couldn’t do it.” He pulled me into his chest as I cried against him.
“I know why you left, Lex. I get it and Ryan gets it. We’re just happy to have you back.”
“I missed you so much, Haz.”
“I missed you too, baby Davis.”