“I feel like I love you too,” I said with a smile.
I grabbed his cheek with my hand and kissed him once more... only to quickly pull back when the door slammed open.
“Lane Carter!” I heard a booming voice say.
I looked over my shoulder to see Patriot standing with, somehow, Axle and Butch. Though Axle and Butch were not smiling, Patriot sure was.
“I had a message from our two casualties earlier, but they insisted on coming to tell you themselves. You’ll forgive me if we’re interrupting a moment.”
“It better be something really fucking good,” Lane said as he curled his arm around me a little tighter.
I smiled at Lane’s touch as Patriot moved to the side, letting Axle and Butch come forward.
“We heard what you did with Lucius tonight,” Axle said. “Lane, you’re an idiot, but you’re a presidential idiot, and you’re a courageous man. We’ll follow you wherever you go.”
“And next time, tell us when you want to kill Lucius,” Butch said.
Lane laughed, leaning into me, trying to fight the mixture of pain and pleasure fighting through his body. Even Axle finally smiled. Butch, though, that man was as stoic as a rock.
“Thanks,” he said. “I’ve got a lot to tell you guys about at our next church meeting. But for now... how about a little privacy?”
“Was our talk worth it, man?” Patriot said.
“Yeah, but it’s losing its value. Get the hell out.”
The three bikers chuckled as they headed out. I turned back to Lane, happy to finally be alone.
“So... we’re really in love, huh?”
Lane smiled, running his finger from my arm up to my shoulder and down to my heart, where he gently pressed his hand down.
“Madly so.”
I smiled and kissed him once more.
Yes, I was really in love.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Most of my wounds, thankfully, were just of the superficial variety. I didn’t have any brain damage—well, none readily apparent, anyway—nor any broken bones. The worst was a dislocated nose, and that was an absolute pain to get placed back in line, but other than that, it was just a matter of taking some time off and letting things heal.
I fought like hell to get back to the shop, I really did, but in what felt like a rather amusing twist, Patriot and Axle wouldn’t let me come by for two weeks. They threatened to reset the clock, and so it was that for the next two weeks, I spent most of my time with Angela.
It was a perfect setup, honestly. I had no regrets about telling her I loved her, but it was nice to get more evidence in support of those feelings. Every moment with her was honestly perfect, and while it might have sounded sad to say, it was a good thing that thoughts of Shannon became less frequent. I would never forget what she meant to me, but it was time to move on—and if I was serious about honoring her memory, there was no one better to love next than Angela.
With nothing to do, it left me so much time to wow her. I took her on trips on my bike. I cooked her delicious meals. I took her to the movies a couple times. By the end of my two weeks, I was feeling a little sick about being away from the club for so long, but I was also grateful that those two weeks all but sealed my relationship with Angela. The only question now was not if we’d get married someday, but when.
For now, though, I wasn’t thinking about that.
I was just happy to be walking up to my first church meeting since everything had gone down.
As I pulled up on my bike, I noticed that everyone at the shop stopped to cheer me as I walked by. It almost felt ridiculous and embarrassing to see everyone cheering for me like I had rallied from cancer or something, but it felt good. It went a long way to reassuring me about my place in the club as well.
I shook hands with Axle, Red Raven, and Butch as I approached the church doors. I hugged Father Marcellus when I got to the entrance. And there, inside, was Patriot, who embraced me tightly and patted my back multiple times.
“How are you doing, brother?” he said.
