I got my mom her groceries and medication, leaving them on the kitchen table. She asked me to bring them to her, but she needed the exercise. Fucking pathetic, wasn’t it, that “exercise” for my mom was moving from the recliner chair to the kitchen?
Fucking pathetic, isn’t it, that you and your mom have reached this point? Bet you planned that shit, Steele.
I drove back to Santa Maria like a German Shepherd free from its leash, barreling back toward my home with complete abandon and disregard for the law. Of all the Black Reapers—a name I really liked, but one I still was getting used to calling our group—I was easily the most reckless with the bike. We all liked to speed and we all liked to use it to show off, but there was a difference between going ninety on Freedom Alley and taking streetlight turns at angles so sharp I could have fallen off.
What could I say? I had something of a death wish, albeit one that would involve a blaze of glory. Half my family had gotten there. What was another Harrison joining them?
When I got back to the house, I found Garrett, Mason, and Zack hanging out.
“Where’s Connor?” I said as I walked in.
“Working construction,” Mason said.
“After we opened the fucking shop?” I said.
Mason sighed and shot me a look that told me to chill out. I was friendlier with Brock, but Mason, as the oldest, knew how to calm me down better.
“The construction crew will be a great addition to the club,” he said. “We’re not exactly trying to recruit clerks and waiters. We need the hard-hitting fuckers.”
“Which is why we have Zack,” Garrett said with a smirk on his face.
“I’m sorry, you’re too deep in pussy to even help half the time,” Zack said.
Garrett turned with an exaggerated bemused expression.
“You say that like it’s abadthing, Zack,” he said. “I’m the guy that gets all the girls to come to the parties. You think Connor’s going to get any of the boys on board if there’s no eye candy?”
“Don’t forget why the fuck Brock met with Cole in the first place,” Mason said. “And it wasn’t so we could get laid more.”
“Maybe, but you’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m not going to take advantage of the workplace benefits!” Garrett said.
The conversations had in this house were often predictable. Mason would dryly say something about how things had always been the way they were, although the appearance of Cole had changed that. Garrett would make some remark about sleeping around. Zack would provide some useful insight. Connor, if he were here, would ask when we could fight the Bandits next.
I mostly just kept to myself. I had enough shit going on in my life that I didn’t need to immerse myself in friendship drama. These guys were my brothers-in-arms, but they could never replace my brother-in-blood.
Or maybe that’s because you don’t let them. You’re like your mother. You don’t let—
“Brock tell you about the meeting tomorrow?” Mason asked.
“Huh? No,” I said, shaking out of my head.
“Yeah, first club meeting. He sent a text out, but I guess you were doing other things.”
“Probably trying to sneak a peek at Tara,” Garrett said.
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re that fucking stupid, huh?”
“Maybe, but what would you do without me? Laugh less? Get fewer girls?”
Strangely, he’s got a point. Maybe I do need these guys.
Or maybe I just need to let things be and not let my mother fuck me up like this.
* * *
One Day Later
