Little Jack (Hell's Handlers MC 6)

He fucking loved her, and she’d picked her family over him without so much as an apologetic backward glance in his direction.

“Heard she’s called you a few times this week.”

Another grunt. If Copper wanted more than an unintelligible sound, he needed to change the subject. Talk of Holly was off fucking limits. LJ swung the sledgehammer over his shoulder, preparing to take out the last of the remaining bricks.

“Also heard a few of the ol’ ladies have tried to talk to you about her, but you shut ’em down before they got two words out. Hence Izzy’s threats to your balls. Even my ol’ lady kept me up last night telling me what an idiot you are.”

With a sigh, LJ let the hammer fall to his side. “Look, Cop, no disrespect, I’m sorry I cut into your time with your woman, but is there a point to all this?”

Copper leaned against an exposed beam while he rubbed his chin. “Sure is. And you didn’t cut into shit. How do you think I got her to shut up about you?”

He wasn’t touching that one. “Well can you get to it already? I got shit to do here.”

“Yeah, breaking shit to relieve your foul mood since you don’t have a woman to fuck the sour outta you.”

Jesus, Copper didn’t pull any punches. “Way to hit me when I’m down, prez.”

With a chuckle, Copper straightened. “Stop being a stubborn ass and fucking call the woman.”

LJ lifted the hammer once again and this time slammed it down. The last of the remaining fireplace crumpled beneath the combined strength of LJ and the hammer. “Why the fuck would I do that? So I can hear her tell me how sorry she is? How much she cares for me, but her father is blood, and how can she walk away from that? How she’ll always cherish our time together?” He snorted. “No fucking thanks.”

With a laugh, Copper said, “Always cherish our time together? You watch too many movies, brother. No, you pull that giant hairless head out of your ass and call the woman because you owe it to her.” He narrowed his eyes at LJ, that laser look telling him Copper knew more than he let on. Like he somehow knew Holly had been healing him, making him whole again. How she’d been selfless and willing to stick by him despite his many issues.

Or so she’d said.

“You ever think maybe you jumped the gun? Left the diner too early? Ran and cut off communication prematurely?” Copper shot him a wicked grin as he kicked some bricks out of his way. “Hope that’s all you do prematurely or else I’ll hide Holly away from you myself.”

“A joke, seriously?”

Copper shrugged. “Shit’s too serious. You need to fucking chill.”

Jumped the gun? What did that even mean? “You know something, Cop?”

Of course, he knew something. He had an ol’ lady, and his ol’ lady was all kinds of close with Holly and the other women. Gossip was a competitive sport to those ladies. Hence why he’d refused to speak with any of them about Holly all week.

“I might. Don’t mean I’m gonna tell you shit.” He fucking smirked, the asshole. “You need to unfuck your head and stop trying to sabotage yourself. If you can’t do that, then you sure as fuck don’t deserve that girl.” He slapped the back of LJ’s shoulder. “Church in three hours. Take a fuckin’ break, brother. It’s the weekend for Christ’s sake. Go for a ride to clear your head.”

Copper left as quietly as he came.

“Fuck it,” he said out loud. Maybe Cop was right, and he needed to clear his head instead of tear shit down. Three hours was long enough to get a good ride in, shower, and make it to the clubhouse in time for church. After cleaning the demo mess and stowing his equipment in the portable shed on-site, he hopped on his bike.

For a solid hour, LJ cruised through the mountains, replaying every conversation with Holly that took place in the few days prior to her father throwing down the gauntlet. Maybe he’d missed something, some indication Holly wanted out. Some hint she wasn’t happy with him or wanted to walk away.

He didn’t come up with a damn thing. But what he did realize, was he may have fucked up in a major way. He’d practically begged Holly to walk away from him, and she’d flat out refused. She’d stuck by his side despite him being unable to make her any promises about the future.

As doubt regarding the way he’d ignored all contact from Holly over the past week set in, LJ pulled off to the side of the deserted country road. Christ, he never thought he’d be doing something like this. With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number he’d memorized over the past week and change.