Chapter Thirty-Five
We’d gathered at Grimm’s, and the bar was well lit and empty of anyone but club members, as they toasted me, and finally, finally, Micro held out the cut with my fucking colours on it.
I slipped into it immediately, relishing the creak of new leather, and the stiffness of it as it settled over my shoulders.
“Let’s drink to our new brother, Henley!”
Finally, no longer just a prospect, but a fully patched member, and a full brother to Rocket and everyone else here.
“You wanna say a few words, brother? You sure had plenty to say while you were wearing the prospect cut.”
Wow, way to put a guy on the spot when he’s feeling a touch emosh, but whatever.
I raised my beer as the guys quieted around me.
Grimm and his bouncers were with us, not as brothers, or even prospects yet, but definitely marking the moment with us.
We could hardly refuse, since it was their house we were in.
“I might have whined a tiny bit about the prospect phase,” I paused as people laughed, and I heard at least one voice saying ‘like a little bitch’, “but every moment with this club so far has been just what I’ve been looking for.
A family. Brothers. A place to belong. And sure, maybe I took a few hits recently, but the way you all came together to avenge me as your brother, that uh…
that meant a lot to me. So much that I’m paying for the next round of drinks, so don’t hurt me too much, avoid the top shelf, yeah? ”
A cheer went up, and a few guys slapped my back, which normally I’d like, but right now felt like more knives jamming into my body. I made sure I didn’t show even an ounce of discomfort though, because they’d fought for me, and I damn sure wasn’t about to show weakness for them right now.
“Brother, you proved yourself to be Phoenix material long ago, we just liked making you squirm,” Micro said, smirking at the rest of our brothers as they laughed.
“Asshole!”
He shrugged. “Let’s party and get some beers in us, I mean, unless you have any other news to share?” His eyes darted in Glory’s direction and she winked at me.
“I mean, yeah. I’m… you all know Glory, well, she’s a fucking amazing woman, and I’m so lucky to have her in my life, and sure we were friends first, but you know sometimes feelings grow, and people grow, and it’s not like I jumped her the second she was single, but then of course, she is single, and I’m single, or we were, and-”
“Take a breath, brother!”
“He talks more than a woman!”
“What he’s saying is, I’m his old lady, or do we have to ask permission first?”
Micro and Harley eyed each other as the room silenced once more, and my heart started thudding in my chest. Were they about to say no, or put it to a vote, and it gets denied? Was I about to have my heart broken after all? To have to choose between my woman and the club? Fucking hell.
“Tell him before he swoons like a fucking wuss!”
“We already took a vote, and we’re in favour, brother. Thanks to Grimm’s kindness, we’re even all set up in the VIP area.”
What? “To do it right now? To ink us both tonight?”
“Suddenly he gets second thoughts.”
“Maybe wants to talk some more first.”
“Yeah, tell us about his feelings or some shit.”
“Don’t get him started, he’ll go on all night.”
I couldn’t help laughing at the assholes as they mocked me for my tendency to prattle on when I’m nervous, or when it’s some life changing shit going on. Still, I wasn’t the only one who could say the wrong thing in the heat of the moment, right?
“You think I’m bad? You should hear what she said after we shagged the other night.”
“Henley!”
They were all interested now.
“Oh come on. Tell us.”
“Unless it’s some shit like ‘ooooh you have such a lovely cock’.”
“Oooh it’s so big, Henley!”
“Just tell us before I have to twat this lot,” Micro yelled, waving at them to shut it.
I grinned at Glory, who narrowed her eyes at me in warning.
“So, right when we’ve just, you know, uh… finished… and we’re relaxing in the aftermath. Yeah, well right then, that’s when she pipes up with ‘Look at me, I’m wearing a Henley’.”
The women all started to giggle, because the old ladies were scattered among the brothers in attendance, most of both chapters in fact, but many of the guys looked bemused.
“I don’t get it.”
“Is there another Henley then?”
“It’s a clothing brand!” One of the women hissed at him, and then they started explaining, and that’s when I dragged Glory against me and kissed her hard.
“You weren’t supposed to tell them!”
I grinned, threading my fingers through her soft hair and tilting her head up to mine.
“Sweetheart, there’s no way you’re getting away with that shit. You made it weird.”
Tattoos, man. The one thing that separates us from dating, or being lovers, to literally being married in the eyes of the club. Ink is permanent, just like we were meant to be.
Has was doing mine, while Rocket inked Glory, and we were sitting side by side, our hands linked together because this moment was fucking huge.
We’d been best friends first. We’d been friends for more than a decade, and the lost years were nothing but a bad memory now.
For us, this was so much more. This was the culmination of every smile, and laugh, every movie watched, every book read together, every time we fell asleep together, every phone call, every text message.
Everything. Those had all been really tiny baby steps towards the goal. Us.
“You don’t mind if I add some dicks in this design, right?” Has asked, but he was glaring at Rocket as he spoke, and that bastard was laughing quietly.
“First off, hell no, and secondly, why?”
He shot another glare at Rocket. “Someone got handy with the tattoo gun while under the influence, and someone here ended up with dicks tattooed on him.”
The fuck? I shoved his arm away from my chest, amid curses as he rapidly stopped the tattoo gun, and I leaned over to check Glory’s tattoo, which he was adding on her side, opposite where the removed tattoo had been.
“It’s okay, I’m just doing the design she approved, brother.”
“NO DICKS,” I said firmly, jabbing a finger in his direction as he started laughing harder, at least making sure he stopped tattooing while he did that.
“There’s a story there,” Glory said, having been chatting with Elise over Rocket’s shoulder as she watched them.
Since Rocket wasn’t tattooing, Elise kicked him in the ass, and glared at him too.
“Yeah, some people shouldn’t tattoo while high.”
High? “What the fuck are you people talking about?”
“Remind us to tell you about the Halloween Patchover sometime, brother. It was a riot.”
“It was a fucking nightmare.”
“I hear that,” Micro said, leaning over me to check my ink, “looking good though. Look at you becoming a real person.”
“Fuck you, Pres.”
He grinned. “Aw you sound like one of us already.”
“Okey dokey, I’m off to writhe up against my old lady on the dance floor. See ya later.”
The fucker slapped his hand down on my chest, narrowly avoiding the new tattoo, which I knew was intentional, but still, what a dick move.
“This is the guy I want as my Pres?” I asked as he headed out through the door, letting in a blast of booming bass which made it impossible to discern which song was playing, and I hadn’t been paying attention anyway, because hello, lifechanging moment here.
“He’s good people,” Rocket asserted, getting back to tattooing, while Has grumbled.
“Says the dick assaulter… wait, that just sounds disturbing. Not that tattooing dicks on people isn’t disturbing.”
“Better than having your dick tattooed,” Rocket pointed out, while I mentally cupped my junk, since moving right now would mean permanent fucked up ink.
“Well, of course, he has that too.”
“Rocket does?”
“Micro.”
I stared between the two bantering morons, wondering how the fuck we ended up talking about our Pres’ dick. Talk about making it weird.
“Do I want to know?”
“Nope.”
Rocket drew Glory into conversation about tattooing then, even offering to let her take over part of hers, which she immediately refused, but I was starting to realise why this tattoo business was bugging me so much. It should be her marking my skin, not him. Not Has.
“Stop.”
He froze, lifting his hands as he darted a quick glance at Rocket and Glory.
“Brother?”
“You’re not changing your mind?!” Glory gasped at me, and I shushed her pretty rapidly to explain, my fingers over her lips, because Jesus, I didn’t want her thinking I didn’t want this with her.
“I want her to finish the tat.”
Glory
What the hell was he playing at? I was shaking my head, Rocket was chuckling, because apparently this was funny as hell to him, and Has-Been just looked resigned.
“Okay,” he said, lowering the equipment, while I held up my hands.
“God no, I’m not ready for that! What if I mess it up?”
Henley snatched my hand back, squeezing it gently.
“I believe in you, sweetheart, and if you mess it up, I’ll just treasure it more because it was you doing it.”
“While he’d tear me a new one if I did that,” Has-Been pointed out with a grin, peeling off his latex gloves and tossing them in the bin beside him.
“No! I can’t!”
Rocket stood up, stretching his back out, and peeled off his gloves too. Oh my god, were they both abandoning us? I couldn’t do our ink! I couldn’t finish one, let alone two tattoos.
“Glory, you can do this.”
No. Why couldn’t he understand that? Was I yearning to try? Sure, but did I think I was ready, or capable? No. Definitely not.
“Tattoos are permanent, you dildo. What if I mess it up and it needs to be corrected, or worse, what if I mess it up and it can’t be fixed? What if you have to wear a stupid error forever?!”
“Dildo?” He asked, wide eyed and fighting laughter.
“That’s all you focused on? Henley, I’m serious! I’m not ready.”
He dragged me closer, letting me slide off the seat to stand beside him, both of my hands in his.