Chapter 1 Shade #2
“Was talking to King.” The president of the New Jersey Outlaws has become a bit of a mentor to Grudge, of late.
“He mentioned they’ve got, like, standards.
Not just physical standards, but skills.
Everyone has to have certain marksman standards, but also at least one other useful skill.
Bomb making, lock picking, hacking. Whatever it is.
I asked Atom to work on basic training, which he has, but I think we should level up, and he’s got enough on his plate with the baby coming.
You think you and Jackal could chat with Atom and maybe with Halo, Spark, and Niro some more?
Niro, apparently, has even been training the old ladies of the Jersey Outlaws so they can protect themselves. ”
“You want a proposal, or you want us to just get on with it?”
I’m not one for research and a ton of conversation when you can simply start.
Progress is so much better than a plan on paper.
“Both. Get on with it but tell me what you’re doing as you go along.”
I nod. “Members aren’t gonna love it.”
Grudge grins. “I know. But they’ll get over it. I’m getting really fucking fed up with some of the more entitled older brothers who want to do nothing, yet get paid. I want people to look you in the eye and have to justify their existence.”
“On it. Anything else?”
“No. Just welcome back. And glad to report you didn’t miss any excitement while you were gone. Feels like we finally have some stability for a while.”
“Don’t fuckin’ jinx us.”
I make my way back to Kai. “Should we go get the furniture unloaded so we can drop the van back?” We rented it to make transporting the furniture more secure than tarps and bungees on my truck.
“Sure thing. Catch up with you guys later?”
Wren nods. “Why don’t you come over for dinner? Save you having to cook anything tonight.”
I can’t imagine anything worse after a long day of driving and focusing.
“That would be great if it’s not too much trouble,” Kai says before I can say anything.
Catfish catches the look on my face and chuckles. “Only if you want to.”
I shake it off. “Nah. That’ll be good.”
We take a few more minutes to settle logistics, and then the two of us head to the van.
“You wanted to stay in tonight?” Kai asks.
I unlock it and reach for the handle. “I didn’t want to talk to anybody tonight.”
Kai climbs inside and waits for me to shut my door before saying, “You know you’re the most introverted introvert there is.”
I look around and, seeing there’s no one about, squeeze his thigh. “Why do you think I hang around with you? You can extrovert enough for the two of us.”
“If you really don’t want to go, I can get us out of it.” He lays his hand on top of mine, and our fingers link.
“I’ll get over myself by dinner. Probably get an appetite moving all this furniture around.”
I shift my hand so I can reverse us out of the parking spot and drive to our new home.
“Maybe if someone generously sucked your cock before we left, you might mellow out a little.”
Kai’s deadpan delivery makes me snort. “Yeah, that would definitely seal the deal.”
“Done. We will unpack the furniture and unload you, all before dinner.”
It takes exactly eleven minutes to drive home.
It’s at the end of a short, single-lane rural road.
The only other property on the road faces ours, and its gutters are clogged with weeds.
What was once a white picket fence is now a flaking mess with missing spindles.
At one end, it has fallen over and hangs precariously close to the ground.
According to our real estate agent, the owner died, and there’s been a challenge to the will. Who knows if it will ever get resolved.
But on the other side is our home.
In need of some work, although not as much as our neighbor’s place does. And we have the skills, time, and money to fix it right up.
We picked up the keys six days ago on our way to Arizona, and as I reverse up the driveway, placing the rear doors of the van closer to our porch, I wonder how long it’s gonna take to set up a place to sleep because as much as we can head back to our rental property tonight, I’m ready to call a place home.
“You got a plan for where all these things are gonna go?” I ask as Kai pulls the keys to the house out of his pocket.
“I thought it might make sense to just make a few rooms really comfortable with what we picked up and the stuff we have at the rental while we furnish the rest.”
“Makes sense,” I say, pausing on the steps up to the porch. A faint flicker of excitement sparks, as if it wants to explode, but like always, I struggle to keep hold of it.
Kai looks around and puts his hand around the back of my neck. “You okay?”
I pull him to me and kiss him, acknowledging that the very reason we picked this spot is because we have total privacy, for now. “This feels big, Wild. Important.”
His mouth smiles against mine. “That’s because it is. Welcome home, Bear.”
I steal the keys from his hand, then drop my shoulder, taking the man I love by surprise when I put him over it.
It’s not the easiest, because while I’m six foot two, Kai has me beat by two inches.
But, while he has the lean build of a runner and the shoulders of a swimmer, I’m a solid, unwavering block of bones and muscle.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Kai asks, trying to fight his way out of my hold.
I slap his ass. “Stay still. I’m gonna carry you over the doorstep.”
“For fuck’s—” He sighs. “That’s actually romantic.”
And I grin as I let us into our new home.