“Yeah, man. I’ll talk to him about it now.” Holt hung up his phone as he made his way over to me.
The grizzled VP of my club took a seat in a metal chair in front of me.
“How’s it going, man?” I asked as I put the broken wood in a pile next to him.
“Heard you had a rough night.” He lit a cigarette, waiting for my reply.
“News travels fast, doesn’t it?”
He shrugged. “When one of us goes down, we all have to rally together to make it right. It wasn’t easy coming up with the twenty grand on such short notice.”
“Fuck, was it that much this time?” Holy hell, that was way more than I’d expected.
He pulled hard on the tan filter. “You’re going to make it up to us—well, the guys in Sweetwater, actually. Blaz is the one who dug you out this time.”
“What do I have to do?” There wasn’t a task too large or small; I’d do whatever it took to make this right. It was time for me to man up and be the son my father had known I could be.
“They have a toy run coming up this weekend. You’re going to head up there and help them with it and anything else Blaz needs. If you ask me, you’re getting off easy.” The disdain in Holt’s voice was tangible as he sat glaring at me.
“I’ll leave as soon as Ozzy has my bike up and running.”
Holt stood and shook my hand. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
And just like that, I was alone again. It wasn’t a secret that most of the guys questioned why I was even in the club—it felt like I wasn’t cut from the same cloth. It was now or never to prove myself worthy of the oath I’d taken.
* * *
“Looking around this table,I see so much love for a family that has been built over generations.” My mother’s voice boomed as she smiled at all of us seated along a table in the middle of the bar. “Know that today and every day I am so thankful for each and every one of you gathered here.”
“Hear, hear!” Red called from the other end, raising his beer high in the air.
All of my brothers along with their families dug into the feast we’d come together to prepare. As sure as the leather on each of our backs, I knew we were a family with a bond forged in blood and sweat built on the backs of the love we had for everyone.
That’s why I am here.
That’s why I need to make everything right.
I had fallen far off the course I needed to be on. In Sweetwater, Tennessee, I would start to make amends, and I knew it wasn’t really for anyone but myself that I had to prove my worth.
Chapter 2
Collin
It didn’t take long for Ozzy and me to get my bike purring like a kitten again. Before I knew it, I was pulling into a bar right outside of Sweetwater to meet Blaz and Carson.
Bellying up to an empty seat, I waved over the bartender I had known for most of my life.
“Daddy said you’d be showing up here tonight,” Harlow cooed as she poured me a glass of whiskey.
“It’s nice to see you, Low.” I eyed her as she stood in front of me. She sure had grown up nicely with light blue eyes that could make the Devil himself smile a bit. Her long, curled dark hair bounced just as much as her tits did while she emptied a case of beer into the ice trough in front of her.
“No one but you can get away with calling me that.” She giggled.
“It’s been a while. How’re things around these parts?”
Her bright red Cupid’s bow pulled at the corners. “It’s quiet like always around here. Boring, to say the least.”
“Boring isn’t always a bad thing. Too much excitement can make for some sticky situations.” I ran my finger over the rim of my glass. Vilas was the main charter for the club and had seen more bloodshed than I liked. It was good to hear Sweetwater wasn’t following suit with the mayhem.