Patriot
Trying to melt Kaitlyn’s exterior was like trying to melt a snowman in thirty-three degree weather—feasibly possible, and happening, but boy was it going at the world’s slowest rate.
I wasn’t going to let her treat me rudely, but I understood part of the bounce-back process from Axle entailed her trying to assert control and power over the situation. I didn’t really care that much. I was much less concerned with who looked good or who looked in control than I did in actually having someone in our corner for medical care. If we got Kaitlyn to do that, then she could triumph herself over us all she wanted.
But I didn’t see her doing that. I was beginning to think that, against all likely odds, she had actually begun to soften a bit on us.On me.
As I walked back to my bike to meet Lane at Brewskis, I knew that she was starting to open up just a tad. Her apology earlier in the conversation had proved she wasn’t just some hard, gruff bitch who would toy with us mercilessly. I wouldn’t have put up with that.
When I hopped on my bike and revved the engine, about three minutes had passed since Kaitlyn had left abruptly. I had anticipated that she would make a sudden exit at some point, though, and was unaffected by it. I had downed my beer quickly, tossed it in the recycling bin, and then casually driven out of the parking lot. I knew that by keeping my actions calm, my mind would remain calm as well. Military training had not just included shooting and infiltration.
I got to Brewskis about fifteen minutes later to find Lane on his bike, waiting outside, one hand ready to turn the bike on at a moment’s notice if one of the Fallen Saints decided to retaliate for two weeks ago.
“You’re late,” Lane said with a smirk.
“Yeah, yeah, club business, man,” I said. “That nurse that Axle picked is like the toughest girl I’ve ever seen. It took some time to work her over.”
“So what, you didn’t think to work over anyone else?” Lane said, a growing smirk forming on his face.
I began to suspect that he thought I had motives beyond just making sure we got a nurse roped into the club’s services.
I began to have a gnawing feeling that he wasn’t exactly wrong.
“Was I supposed to work over anyone else, man?” I said as Lane hopped off his bike. “I showed up, there she was, and that was that. Wasn’t like there was anyone else I could have talked to.”
“Yeah, because walking in and pulling some nurses aside for a private talk would have been so hard.”
I just rolled my eyes and playfully punched him in the shoulder as I opened the door to Brewskis.
“Worth noting, she didn’t immediately say no,” I said.
“So, she didn’t say yes.”
“Well, true, but... look, man, you want me to use my soft approach on her, or do you want me to turn into a younger Axle and demand she works for me? These things take time, I’m not gonna win her over in one night.”
Lane chuckled.
“Let’s get some Yuenglings in us, and we can figure it out from there. I think I’d rather have you flirting with her than begging her.”
Most of the things that Lane said would have made me laugh, or at least generated a short chuckle or two. But this one, though, just made my face go stone-cold. I didn’t like the reminder that while Lane might have found a wonderful woman in Angela, I wasn’t even in a position to try for such a thing.
Nor will I ever be.
“You know that’s not my style,” I said, staring straight ahead at the TV.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t flirt or court her,” Lane said as he motioned to the bartender, Jess, for our usual order of Yuenglings. “No one’s asking you to get serious with her.”
“Good, because if you want my honest opinion, not my optimistic one, but my realistic one?”
The very notion of Kaitlyn slowly coming around to us, working with us, and perhaps even fully investing herself into us?
“That girl will not bend.”
Lane seemed utterly nonplussed by my assessment. He took his Yuengling, held it out for a clink with mine, and then casually sipped. Despite being in the equivalent of the demarcation zone between the Koreas, he seemed quite self-assured and relaxed. Maybe it was because he believed the Saints would think we had more men than we really did thanks to Cole.
Or, maybe, being with Angela was just making him a calmer, happier man.Nice if you’re in a spot to get it.
“I thought the same about Angela, but she eventually turned,” Lane said. “You just have to give it some time.”
