“Permission?” Sin laughs, actually laughs, the sound rumbling through his chest. “Nitro, you’re my VP. You don’t need my permission to use the clubhouse. But the fact that you’re asking?” His expression softens. “Yeah, throw her the best damn party this club has ever seen.”
Relief floods through me, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Great, thanks, Pres.”
“One condition.” Sin points the chip at me. “I want in on the planning. Victoria’s been bugging me about doing something fun for the club anyway. This could be perfect.”
“Done.”
As I turn to leave, Sin calls out, “Nitro?”
I glance back.
“She’s good for you, brother. I see it in the way you carry yourself. Lighter somehow. As though you’re not carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore.” He flips the chip once more. “Hold onto that. Hold ontoher.”
The words settle in my chest, warm and heavy. “I plan to.”
Now I have the location, I need help putting it together, and after sending out the text, I jump on my ride and head off to meet the two other people in this world who love her as I do.
Well, maybe not quite the same as me.
I arrive at The Grind, Marley’s favorite coffee shop. Sage and Beck are already sitting at a corner table, and when Beck sees me approaching, his face lights up.
“There he is!” Beck jumps up, pulling me into a hug that’s surprisingly strong for someone half my size. “The man of the hour. Or should I say, the man with a plan?”
“Keep your voice down,” I mutter, glancing around. “Marley comes here every morning. If she hears—”
“Relax, lover boy.” Sage grins, patting the seat next to her. “She’s at work. We’ve got at least an hour before she usually takes her lunch break, and besides, it takes her a little longer to come here now from the new job, seeing as it’s not directly across the street like dickhead Derek’s place. But she still insists on Ubering here because of her damn loyalty.”
I smirk because Marley is adorable that way as I slide into the chair, and immediately Beck shoves his phone in my face. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking. Marley’s turning thirty, which is a big deal, right? We need to make this epic. Unforgettable. Something she’ll talk about for years.”
“I’m thinking the same thing,” I say, pulling out my own phone where I’ve been making notes. “We got permission to use the clubhouse. The brothers are all in.”
Sage’s eyes widen. “The clubhouse? Nitro, that’s perfect. She loves it there. Loves your family.”
My chest tightens at the wordfamily.Because that’s exactly what the club has become to Marley. In the month since she started at Blackwell Entertainment Group, she’s integrated herself into my world so seamlessly that it’s as if she was always meant to be there. Sunday dinners at the clubhouse. Victoria is teaching her how to shoot. Ro is making her laugh until she can’t breathe. Even Ghost, who barely talks to anyone, has warmed to her.
She fits.
And watching her belong, watching my brothers accept her and protect her like she’s already an Old Lady, makes me want things I never thought I’d want.
Forever things.
The kind of things that terrify and thrill me in equal measure.
“Earth to Nitro.” Beck snaps his fingers in front of my face. “You still with us, big guy?”
“Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?”
“Theme,” Sage says, leaning forward with a conspiratorial gleam in her eye. “We need a theme. Something fun, something that’ll get everyone involved.”
Beck taps his chin, then his eyes light up. “Eighties rock bands.”
I curl up my lip. “What?”
“Eighties rock bands!” Beck’s practically bouncing now. “Everyone dresses up. Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, Def Leppard. It’s cheesy, it’s fun, and can you imagine the club brothers in spandex and leather?”
A laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it. “Sin in a Bon Jovi costume?”
“Victoria as Joan Jett,” Sage adds, grinning. “Oh my God, she’d kill it.”
