He said he’d be here by ten.
Yeah, we weren’t off to a great start.
I wasn’t bent out of shape about it, but I won’t deny that I was a little on edge. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best time for Memphis to come up with one of his what-in-the-actual-hell-are-you-doing looks, but there he was, eyeballing me like I was the dumbass of the year.
“I don’t want to hear it.”
He shook his head and scoffed, “Not saying a word.”
“You don’t have to. I know what you’re thinking.”
Memphis and I were close. He knew everything. He knew how deep the scars went. He also knew how I felt about Davis. “Just making sure you’ve thought this thing through.”
I didn’t answer right away. I took a sip of my coffee and stared at the empty space where Davis’s truck should’ve been. “Guess that’s a no.”
That was the thing about Memphis.
He only pushed when he needed to and pulled back when he knew I was too close to the edge. And never once, not a single damn time, had he ever made me feel stupid for hoping that things would get better. He nudged my arm as he asked, “Where’d he say he was working?”
“Factory downtown.”
“You check it out?”
I felt the question settle heavy in my chest. It would’ve been easy to make a call or have Shep look into it, but I hadn’t taken the time. “No.”
“You don’t think that’s something you should look into?”
“I’m giving him a chance, Memphis. He deserves that.”
“Giving him a chance doesn’t mean ignoring the red flags.”
“I’m not ignoring shit.”
“You are, and you know it.” He leaned against the rail. “You haven’t spoken to the guy in years, and then, he waltzes into the Vault like it was no big deal… like the two of you haven’t been on the outs for as long as you could walk. What the hell was that?”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to remember that your brother has a past. A long one. A deep one and opening up the clubhouse to him is no small thing.”
It wasn’t something I hadn’t considered.
Hell, it weighed on me to the point it was damn near crippling.
Davis had fucked up more times than I could count, but I couldn’t help but be hopeful. He’d looked good last night. Sounded good. And he seemed like he actually wanted to make things better between us.
I’d been waiting a lifetime for that, so I told him, “He’s my brother.”
Memphis didn’t look at me like I was stupid. He didn’t try to talk me out of it. He just nodded, like he understood where I was coming from.
There it was.
That right there was the reason we weren’t just friends. Memphis wasn’t blood, but he’d been there for me through thick and thin. He understood why this was so important to me, but he also knew my decision came with risks.
“I get it. I’d do the same damn thing.”
“I’m going to have the prospects keep an eye on him. I’m hoping he won’t fuck up, but if he does…”
“We’ll know about it. Good you’re on top of things.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll play the rest by ear.”
