Ghost, who’s usually the quiet one, speaks up. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch.” I look around the table, meeting each brother’s eyes. “Marley’s important to me.Real fucking important.And I want this party to be perfect for her. So, I’m asking, no, I’m begging, you all to do this. For her. For me.”
The room goes quiet again, and I feel them weighing my words. The club doesn’t do favors lightly. But we also don’t abandon our brothers when something matters.
Sin is the first to speak. “I’m in. Victoria’s going to love this anyway. She’s been wanting an excuse to dress up.”
Bear nods. “Count me in, kid. I’ll dig out my old Def Leppard shirt.”
One by one, the brothers agree, even Ghost. “I’m definitely not wearing spandex, though,” he mutters. “But I’ll participate anyway.”
Koa claps me on the shoulder. “You’re serious about this girl, aren’t you?”
“Dead serious.”
“Good.” He squeezes once, hard. “She’s good people, Nitro. We see the way she looks at you. That’s rare, brother. Don’t fuck it up.”
“I don’t plan to.”
As the meeting breaks up, Deek sidles up to me with a shit-eating grin. “So, when you gonna make her your Old Lady, officially?”
The question catches me off guard, even though I’ve been thinking about it constantly. The image of Marley wearing my property patch and introducing her as mine to everyone who’ll listen makes my chest tight with want.
“Soon,” I say, and I mean it. “Real soon.”
Chapter Twenty-One
NITRO
One Week Later
The following week blurs past in a flurry of planning. Beck’s been sneaking around with his camera, capturing candid moments of Marley and me that I didn’t even know were happening. Things like laughing over coffee, my hand on the small of her back as we walk through the clubhouse, or the way she looks at me when she thinks I’m not paying attention.
Each photograph is a gut punch of emotion. This woman, this incredible, beautiful, brilliant woman, looks at me as if I’m her whole world.
And Istillhaven’t told her.
The guilt punches through me like a hot blade.
But Ican’tthink about that right now.
“These are incredible,” I tell Beck when he shows me the collection on his laptop. We’re at the apartment while Marley is at work, and I’m supposed to be helping him pick which ones to include in the montage.
But I can’t stop staring.
There’s one of us at the clubhouse, Marley mid-laugh at something Ro said, and I’m watching her with this expression on my face that’s so openly adoring it makes my throat tight. Another of us on my bike, her arms wrapped around my waist, her cheek pressed against my back. The trust in that image, the intimacy, it’s everything.
“You love her,” Beck says softly. Not a question. A statement.
“Yeah,” I admit, my voice rough. “I really fucking do.”
“Does she know?”
“Not yet.” I drag a hand through my hair. “I’m waiting for the right moment.”
“Nitro.” Beck turns to face me fully. “Every moment with her is the right moment. Don’t wait too long for your chance to tell her.”
His words echo in my head for days.
