I wrinkled my nose. “Sorry, not sorry.”
He chuckled, letting me go, and I walked inside.
“Letti!” Dad called. “Come meet Aero.”
I grinned big and the men moved out of my way as I pushed through the crowd, ending my journey smack dab in front of one Jasper Campbell.
“Aero, my daughter, Letti,” Dad said.
I didn’t fully register what the fuck was happening, and couldn’t find my voice for several tense seconds.
“Never seen my girl this quiet,” Dad observed.
“Hey. Letti was it?” Jasper said, holding out his hand. “Nice tomeetya.”
I stared at his hand before taking it and squeezing it so hard, he grimaced for a second.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“Quite a grip there,” he said, shaking out his hand.
“Who’s sponsoring you?” I asked.
Dad raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment about my rudeness.
“I am, sweetheart,” Rocky said. “He’s a friend of Hatch’s.”
Hatch Wallace was the president of the Dogs of Fire out of Portland, Oregon and a total smoke show. I adored him.
“You know Hatch?” I asked Jasper.
He nodded. “Yeah. Since I was little. I worked for him for a few years in Portland.”
“Oh. Well, it’s nice to meet you. Welcome,” I said, and spun on my heel and escaped.
“She’s had a rough week,” Dad explained as I rushed down the hall and up to my room. I knew I couldn’t hide forever, but I was gonna try for a little while.
* * *
Aero
Well, that went well.
I pushed aside the guilt of not telling Letti everything I should have and focused on getting to know my new brothers. When everything had gone down with my sister, my boss, Hatch, had suggested I come to Colorado and prospect for the Howlers.
After my sister died, I didn’t ride for close to a year, but I was jonesin’ for the feel of the open road, and even though it snowed in Colorado, it had a shit ton more sunshine than Portland. Hatch figured it’d be easier for me to ease back in if I was away from the memories.
I hoped to god he was right.
I’d met Rocky a few times when he’d flown out to see Hatch and take care of cannabis business and he was good people, so I agreed to meet with him and see if it would work.
I felt good, he felt good, and more importantly, we both trusted Hatch’s judgement, so he agreed to sponsor me on a trial basis. I had one month to prove myself, before I could officially prospect. That worked for me, so I agreed.
But I hadn’t expected Violet Morgan Graves.
Shit.
I hadn’t known who she was until Stoney came looking for her. I’d met him a week before when I’d been hired at Nocturn as a bouncer. Rocky had gotten me the job, and Stoney had been with him when he’d introduced me to the owner.
