Chapter 7
Jagger
“It never ceases to amaze me how crowded this place gets on Christmas Eve. I mean, damn, it was fucking insane tonight,” Country complained.
“I hear ya, brother.” Lynch reached back and grabbed a hold of his wallet as he boasted, “But a big crowd at Stilettos means more money in our pockets.”
“I get that, but it’s Christmas.”
“It’s money, man. It’s what makes the world go round.”
“You need some Jesus, brother.” Country shook his head as he finished stacking the chairs on the tables. “You guys heading over to the clubhouse or going on home?”
“I’m going home,” Widow answered. “Frankie and the boys are waiting on me.”
“Same here.” Hawk glanced down at his phone as he said, “Dee has messaged at least twenty times wondering when I’m gonna get home.”
“I’m meeting Sophie over at my place. She’s been waiting there since she left her folks’ place, and I think she’s getting a little impatient.” I chuckled as I added, “Y’all know how she is about Christmas.”
“Then, what are you waitin’ for? Get your ass over there. The same goes for you, Widow,” Menace ordered. “Get on home. We got this.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, we just got a few more chairs and the trash.” He flipped over another chair and placed it on the table as he continued, “No sense in either of you sticking around for that.”
“Thanks, brother.” Widow gave him a nod. “I’m gonna take you up on that.”
“Me, too. Appreciate it.” As I started towards his office, I told Menace, “I just gotta go grab Sophie’s present first.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see ya both tomorrow at lunch.”
When we turned to leave, Country asked, “Does that mean I can go, too?”
“Fuck no,” Menace grumbled. “Get your ass back to work.”
“That’s just wrong, man.”
“I’ll tell ya what’s wrong ...”
I wasn’t sticking around to listen to their bickering; instead, I grabbed Sophie’s present from the office, then headed out the rear door.
Most folks had already cleared out, so it was pretty quiet as I made my way to the back of the lot.
As soon as I reached my bike, I leaned over and placed Sophie’s gift in my saddle bag.
I’d just finished securing the strap when I felt the barrel of a gun pressing against my temple.
I slowly moved my hands away from my body and up in the air, trying to not completely lose it as I growled, “You just fucked up, man. You fucked up big.”
I had no idea who the man was, but it was clear from his angered tone that he was pissed as he snarled, “I should just end you right here and now.”
“You do, and you’ll have a truckload of trouble on your hands.”
“Wouldn’t be no fucking trouble if you’d just stayed gone.”
“What the fuck are talking about, asshole?”
“You should’ve just stayed in fucking prison,” the man grumbled, “then, nothing would’ve changed. It would’ve stayed the way it was.”
“Got no idea what the hell you’re talking about, man.”
His voice quivered like he was about to fucking cry. “We had a good thing, th-then you came back and fucked everything up.”
“Who had a good thing?”
“Me and Sadie.” And just like that, it all made sense. “We had a good thing going. We were gonna get married and raise our son together, but now ...”
It sounded crazy, especially considering my short fuse, but I felt sorry for the guy.
Sadie’s obsession with me and our past had clearly caused a strain on their relationship, and he loved her enough to go to the extreme of pulling a gun on me—which was saying a lot.
I’d had Menace look into him as soon as I heard they’d hooked up.
I knew Colton was a good guy with a level head.
Hell, he was a fucking safety manager who checked in on his mom two or three times a week.
He had to be feeling pretty fucking desperate to show up at the strip club on Christmas Eve.
When his hand started to tremble, I knew he wasn’t gonna pull the trigger, so I turned and looked him in the eye.
The guy was a fucking mess. His eyes were all red, and his clothes were disheveled like he hadn’t slept in days.
“You gotta know this isn’t the way to fix this thing with you and Sadie. ”
“I gotta do something. I’m losing her.”
“Well, pulling a gun on me isn’t the fucking answer.
” I could see Widow and the others charging towards us, and they looked ready to attack, so I said, “The way I see it, you got two choices. You put the gun down, and you and I’ll go inside, have a beer, and talk things out, or you shoot me and deal with my brothers who are standing right behind ya. ”
The blood drained from his face when Colton glanced back over his shoulder and saw the guys standing behind him. Clearly freaked out by the sight, he immediately lowered the gun and took a step back as he stammered, “I’m ... I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“No, you definitely didn’t.” I looked over to my brothers and said, “We’re good here. You boys can head on home.”
“The hell you say,” Country replied. “He just pulled a gun on your ass.”
“Yeah, and I said we’re good.”
“Well, it might be good with you, but it sure as hell ain’t good with me. I’m not leaving,” Country barked. “If you two are having a beer, then I’ll have one, too.”
“Same,” Menace added.
“Suit yourself.” I turned my attention to Widow and Hawk. “You two get on home. We won’t be long here.”
“You call if you need anything.”
“You know I will.”
I motioned for Colton to follow as I headed over to the back door. The guys had already shut down the bar for the night, so I had to unlock the deadbolt before we headed inside. Colton was about to step through the doorway when Menace stopped him and said, “I’ll be taking that gun off your hands.”
“Oh, uh … sure, no problem.” Colton quickly handed it over to Menace and said, “I won’t be needing it back.”
“That’s good ’cause you’re not gettin’ it back.”
Menace turned on a few of the lights, and he and Country sat down at one of the tables while I led Colton over to the bar.
They both watched us like hawks as I went over to the cooler and grabbed a couple of beers.
I placed one in front of Colton and said, “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on with you and Sadie? ”
“I don’t know, man. One minute she’s all happy and acts like everything is fine, and then she goes all cold and distant.
I try to get her to talk to me, but she just shuts down.
I had no idea what was going on until”—he swallowed hard, and I could hear the anguish in his voice—“I overheard her talking to one of her friends about you. That’s when it all started to make sense. ”
“She’s trying to adjust to things.”
“That’s just it. I don’t understand what she needs to adjust to. You guys have been broken up for years.”
“I don’t really understand it myself. I thought she was over this shit.”
“I love her, man, I really do, but I just don’t know.” He took a long tug from his beer before continuing, “I’ve tried to be what she wants, but if she wants you then—”
“She doesn’t want me—” I interrupted. “She wants what we had, or at least, she thinks she does. You gotta make her see that you’ve got a good thing together. Convince her that you’re the one for her.”
“I don’t want to have to convince her of anything.” He ran his hand through his dark hair and groaned. “I’m the one who stood by her, loved her, and asked her to marry me. I’m the one she’s having a kid with, and yet, you’re the one she’s hung up on.”
“If things were good before, they will be again. You just have to give it some time, but stand your ground,” I tried to assure him. “Her world and yours are going to change the second that kid is born. She’ll see you’re the man for her. Just wait.”
“I sure hope you’re right.” He placed his beer on the counter and said, “I need to get my ass home. Should’ve never left her on Christmas Eve.”
“Probably wasn’t the best idea.”
“I really am sorry about earlier.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”
“You weren’t thinking, but you got lucky. If the circumstances had been different, you wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
“I know, I know, and I appreciate it. I really do.”
“Go home.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Make things right with your girl.”
“I’m sure gonna try.”
I tossed our bottles in the trash; then, with Country and Menace following close behind, I led Colton out the back door.
Country and I waited as Menace shut everything down and locked the doors.
On our way out to our bikes, Country turned to me and said, “I know we aren’t supposed to talk about Sophie and her therapy shit, but fuck, she must be a magician or something. ”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Back in the day, you would’ve taken that guy down to Chinatown and never given it a second thought.”
“If it was any other guy and under a different circumstance, I would have. I can promise you that.” I slapped him on the back. “Appreciate you and Menace sticking around.”
“No problem, brother. You’d a done the same for us.”
After a brief goodbye, we were all on our way home.
As I rode through town, I couldn’t help but wonder how things would play out with Colton and Sadie.
I might not have loved her like I once did, but I still cared about Sadie and wanted her to be happy.
I hoped that Colton would stick with her—at least until the baby was born.
I wanted to believe everything would eventually sort itself out, but things rarely ever worked out the way I thought they would.