“It’s been a rough year.”
“Yeah.” He scoffs. “You became a new dad two times over.”
What an absurd truth. “I guess so.”
“You lost Z to Downstate. Grinder finally got out of prison.”
“You almost died on me,” I remind him.
He rubs his hand over his scalp. “Shit, yeah.”
“Seems like we crammed in ten years of drama.” I stare at him for a minute. “You know I’m proud of you, right?”
“You’ve mentioned it.” He flashes a tight half-smile.
“First time I met you—”
“I was a scared little boy, worried you were gonna kill my best friend.”
I nod to acknowledge his memory, then share my version of the story. “You put yourself in front of Heidi. Trying to protect her from me.”
“Kinda pointless.”
“Yeah, but brave.” I press my fist against my chest. “Things were rough at home for you. But you rose above it and turned into a good man.”
He lets out a humorless laugh. “Did I?”
“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. “I know I’ve asked you to do things for the club that civilians wouldn’t consider ‘good.’ Morally gray to some, maybe. But not to us and the code we live by. You’ve always done what needed to be done to protect your brothers. Without question. Not everyone has the strength to do that.”
My words seem to ease some of the tension from his body. “It’s all I know.”
“We still have some adjusting to do, but we’ll get through it.”
In the end, all this pain will leave us stronger than before.