Jack (The Kings of Mayhem MC Tennessee 1)

“And I her.”

He nods. “I can see that. I can also see how happy you are when she’s around. It’s been a long time coming, and I appreciate her for doing that. We all do. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m happy for you. If there’s anyone who deserves this, it’s you.”

Knowing Shooter, this is hard for him.

“I appreciate that,” I say.

I feel a crack in the icy wall that has come between us over the last month. The frost is beginning to thaw.

He sighs. “Not sure why you’d want the pain of an old lady, though.” He pauses before a small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Although, you always were a one-woman asshole.”

I relax and lean back in my chair. “Is this you apologizing?”

“This is me saying I was a dick. But I was looking out for you, brother, and I won’t apologize for that.” He leans his thick forearms on the chair, light from the overhead chandelier pinging off the big rings on his fingers. “But I will apologize if I overstepped. It wasn’t my intention.”

I’m a great grudge holder, it helps me to be a good president, but I could never hold one against Shooter. “So I guess this means you’ll be my best man?”

Another smile twitches at his lips. “Again?”

The last time he was seventeen and lugging boxes at the Piggly Wiggly after school.

I show him my middle finger but smile. “Asshole.”

He stands. “It’ll be a fucking pleasure.”

I smile because my best friend is back in my corner.

He offers me his fist, which I hit with mine, just as Bronte walks in.

Seeing Shooter, she stalls. But as he leaves, Shooter gives her a wink and fist bumps her on the way out the door.

She looks perplexed.

“Did he just fist bump me?”

“He did.”

“So, he knows?”

“He does.” I stand and walk around the desk to kiss her.

“And he’s okay with it?”

“Too bad if he isn’t. But yes, not only is he fine with it, he thinks it’s a good thing.”

She smiles slowly. “Well, fuck me.”

I draw her into my arms and brush my lips across hers. “Your wish is my command, baby.”

She giggles. “Is that why you messaged me to meet you here? So, you can do me on the president’s desk?”

“No, but now that you suggest it…” I kiss her long and hard, my body hardening like it does whenever I touch her. But it’s getting late, and I need to take her somewhere before we lose light.

“Where are we going?” she asks as I lead her out of the clubhouse to my bike.

It’s a gloomy afternoon, dark clouds paint the sky in different shades of gray, and there’s a cold chill in the air. Fall is coming.

“We’ve got to share our news with someone else,” I say cryptically.

Twenty minutes later, we pull into the cemetery, and I see the emotion cross her face as I take her hand and enter the grounds.

“Do you think he’s happy for us,” she asks, her voice small, her eyes heavy with sadness.

I squeeze her hand. “I like to think so.”

When we reach Cooper’s grave, thunder rolls in the clouds above us and a breeze picks up, rustling the leaves in the redbud tree.

Pain is a vice around my heart when I see his smiling face on his tombstone, and I know Bronte feels it too because I already know every inch of her heart. Every beat. Every scar. Every drop of blood spilled from grief and pain because they are syncopated with my own.

She kneels to press her palm against his picture, and her body jerks as she lets out a small sob.

I crouch beside her and rub the small of her back, my chest knotted with the familiar ache of grief.

“I miss you,” she whispers to Cooper. “I miss you so much it hurts. When you left us, it created a giant hole in my heart, one I didn’t think I would ever be able to fill. I thought I’d go through life with that little piece of me missing, you know? And that’s a sad feeling, Cooper, knowing you’re not whole, knowing there’s a little bit of you that will never be happy because that piece of your heart is gone.” She sniffs back her tears. “But I want you to know that my heart is whole again, and it’s full of so much happiness and hope, and it’s all thanks to your brother, Cooper. I hope you’re happy for us. I hope you’re up there smiling down and telling us to get over ourselves because, of course, you’re happy for us, and we should stop banging on about it.” She smiles softly, then bites her lip, and she lifts her palm but presses the tips of her fingers to his picture. “But you need to know that I will keep you safe inside my heart until I get to see you again, okay? Because we will see each other again, you got that? You can’t get rid of me that easy.” She turns to look at me, and it’s all I can do to keep my own tears at bay.