Chapter 53 #2
Looking up at Eric, I wanted to tell him I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t read the words in front of me, but my father looked like a father then, and his encouragement forced my chin down, for the words of my other father to drift into my heart.
Well, look at that.
You’re reading this damn letter, written by my beat-up old hands.
I wouldn’t blame you if you needed a minute.
Would understand if you needed to put this aside and come back to it another day—a day less important than this. I don’t want to make this about me.
But you know I needed to be there in some way, right, son?
The kid I’d given grief to his whole life.
You think you’d get away with that on your wedding day? Did Ayda think she’d get away with that? Not a chance. I told you both before: I’ll never die.
My body may have given up, but this soul of mine lives on in splattered ink and wrinkled paper.
So…
Looks like you both made it.
The white wedding, the tears of joy, and the promises of forever.
It’s gone down that way, yeah? God, I hope so. As I sit here writing this with a lump in my throat, all I hope is that you got what you both deserved.
I’ve never seen two people look at each other the way you looked at each other. The minute she walked into The Hut, ready and willing to bend so you could break her, Drew, I knew she was the one.
Do you believe in magic? I did. All my life. I believed in magic, fate, and all that other bullshit most men scoff at when someone mentions it.
Seeing you two together was some kind of magic.
Oh, boy, oh, boy. Never lose that. I hope, even after I’m long gone, bored up in Heaven (because I’m too pure for Hell… and Hell is just a lie created to scare those of us who want to live fast and die young) that you two understand what you’ve got in each other.
You’re gonna face hard times.
You’ll face good times, too.
You’ll have babies, argue, fight, want to run away, want to go back to the beginning, and you’ll struggle. No one is immune to that. Not even you.
But none of that matters because even when at your weakest, the two of you are stronger than an army of beasts. An army of Hounds. A motorcycle club filled with old men and young dreams.
I’m not here today to make you cry.
I just couldn’t let the pair of you get married without telling you some facts.
I’m proud of you.
I believe in you.
I love you.
Until we meet again, keep being the perfect version of you.
With more love than you can imagine a man like me could give,
Harry.
P.s. Eric is about to hand over a key.
You’re gonna stamp your feet and tell him you can’t accept it.
I’m gonna be up on this cloud, son, not giving a shit.
Take the key.
Go and see your new home.
Walk around in it. Spend time in it. Imagine a room for a baby someday.
And know I made that house yours long before Ayda even came along.
You’re so much more than you’ll ever believe you can be, Drew.
The Hounds are your family.
You, though… You’re allowed to be you, too.
Go and make a life for yourself. Live it every day.
Love you, pres.
I wish I could be there to tell you that to your face.
I could barely see Sutton and Eric when I looked up. My tears fell silent, but hard, the ache in my chest unbearable as I stared at them, speechless.
Eric held out a key. “Follow FM 709. Veer left about a quarter of a mile down. You’ll see a turn in. Follow it up.”
Taking the key from him with a shaky hand, I parted my lips to say something, but nothing came out, and all I could do was turn to Ayda to help me.
Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she looked between me, and the key in my hand with absolute wonder. Her chest stuttered as she drew in a breath. “We should go and see,” she whispered. “For Harry.”
I ran my forearm over my eyes, sniffing up hard and clearing my throat. “For Harry.” I nodded.
Eric stepped forward, embracing me for the second time that day, his chin resting on my shoulder as he patted my back.
“So much love in one room for you,” he whispered to me and me alone. “If you can’t see what you’re worth today, I don’t know when you ever will. Be proud of yourself, Drew.” And just as quickly as he embraced me, he uncurled his arms and slipped away.
“You need a police escort, or…?” Sutton smirked at me.
I huffed out a laugh, wiping my weeping eyes again like a fucking pussy, before I shook my head and pulled Ayda close. “We’re good, man. Thank you.”
Like a friend, he looked between the both of us, his smile pure. “Yeah. You’re good.”
When he drifted away, too, I looked at Ayda and started to walk us both into the fresh night air, and I sucked in a much-needed breath as I glanced up at the stars in the clear night sky.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Running her fingers under her eyes, Ayda let off a small tear-filled chuckle. “That’s one way of putting it. What a day.”
I rolled my head her way, reaching up to cup her neck as I blew out a heavy breath. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“Baby, I’ve never been better.”
“Jesus Christ, Ayda, I’ve never felt this much before. I’m raw… open, vulnerable… fucking broken apart,” I whispered, exposing all my truths. “And the weirdest part is that it feels like I’m finally living, you know? And that’s all because of you.”
“All those things you’re feeling, that is life. That’s living. It’s what you’ve done for me.”
I didn’t wait. I moved and kissed her. I kissed her hard, my need to express everything I was feeling taking over as I curled myself around her and held her tight.
My tongue slid over hers, the heat of our chemistry making me blind to the fact we were only a few feet away from so many people.
I’d have taken her there and then if I could, but when a small shiver of delight ran over her body, making her shudder in my grip, I reluctantly pulled away, littering softer kisses over her face.
“Come ride with me, Mrs. Tucker.”
“With pleasure.”
We didn’t have a threshold there and then, but that didn’t stop me from scooping her up in my arms, enjoying the way she curled hers around my neck as I led her to my bike. With another kiss, I guided her down, and before long, the two of us were in a position we’d been in a hundred times before.
I guided my bike back, feeling the weight of love and responsibility at my back.
My wife.
My baby.
Arms wrapped around me and hearts pressed into my back.
With a squeeze of my hand around hers, I stared at the gates of the yard, and I sucked in a breath.
So much was changing, but these changes felt right.
A forever without change means you’re stuck in the same place for far too long.
We were meant to travel down different paths, and Ayda was the one guiding me into unknown territory, showing me how life could be lived if I opened my eyes and heart enough to let the good stuff in.
The Ayda kind of stuff.
I closed my eyes for just a second, thinking of Harry, Pete, and my mom. With a single thanks to each of them, I stared in front of me, focused on what lay ahead instead of what rested behind, and I led us both out of the yard.
To a home we hadn’t yet seen.
Down roads we’d yet to explore.
To a life waiting.
A life I knew would be more than I ever imagined it could be.