“You look like shit, Playboy,” Mason said across from me, smirking. “What’s wrong? Have you not gotten your dick wet in the last two hours?”
I rolled my eyes and chuckled dryly.
“Believe it or not, I like this club and want to make sure I do my part in it.”
“You do,” Mason said. “You bring all the bitches to the yard.”
“And you’re damn good at it,” Zack said. “I don’t even need to reach out to any of the girls on campus. I just rely—”
“Shut up, Professor Smartass.”
It was said with a shade more vitriol than I had meant. Zack picked up on it and went silent.
“Well, we’ll tuck you in nicely when you’re ready for bedtime,” Connor said.
A tense silence fell over the room. The sound of motorcycles coming closer reached our ears. Brock, apparently expecting someone, stepped out. But that only gave Mason time to say the worst thing possible.
“I think you’re hiding something.”
You don’t fucking say.
“You’re never fucking like this, Garrett,” he said. “What’s going on? Did you catch herpes from one of the strippers?”
“No, fuck, Mason, really?” I said. “I’m just sad because I haven’t had a chance to take a shot in a bit!”
It was too obvious. No one bit on the bait.
“For real, Garrett, what the fuck is going on?” he said. “Is something going on with the Bandits? Did they—”
“Nothing is going on, OK? Are we allowed to have periods where we’re not fucking perfect?” I said.
The more I spoke, the more suspicious Mason seemed to be getting.
Mercifully, the sound of the front door opening and multiple footsteps distracted us, and the line of conversation was dropped for the moment. But I knew I wouldn’t get let off the hook so easily. This was just a delay, not a full-throttled drop.
But when the doors to church opened, there was just a smidge of wondering if it made more sense for me to keep being interrogated by Mason.
Because while Brock came in, he was followed by two people—one short and one very tall and very menacing. Cole Carter and Butch.
Butch was a biker’s biker, the kind of guy who, even though I’d seen him once already, still put enough healthy fear into me. With his towering size, his persistent glare, and a scowl that suggested he enjoyed killing, I had enough sense to keep my joking to a minimum around him.
Sure, I cracked an occasional line, but I preferred not to also have my skull cracked.
“Good evening,” Cole said when he entered. “Good news for you is Butch has come with more weapons. Better news is that it’s time to prove that you’re willing to use them. It’s time for you all to be initiated into the Black Reapers.”
I looked around the room. Everyone looked eager and enthused. I was too. Fighting and fucking were the two things I did best, and the chance to do the former was a welcome opportunity.
“So far, you’ve defended your women and you’ve defended your home. Had you not, I would have questioned your commitment to the club and my decision to bring you on board. You have shown a willingness to get your hands dirty when the fight comes to you. But if there was one thing we all learned in Springsville, it was that a refusal to initiate a battle with the enemy can just lead to trouble, especially when the enemy is more willing to escalate the violence than you are.”
“So we’re going to go and kill these fuckers,” Connor said.
“In time,” Butch said. “For now, you will take out their bikes.”
Connor looked at him askance.
“With all respect, Butch, I thought that we were going to fight and kill these fuckers,” he said. “We’re not interested in making handshake deals.”
“Understood,” Butch said. “But you have not shown that you are ready to lead a strike like that yet.”
