Would anyone believe him if he told them about the pang of jealously he experienced seeing all his brothers in love and sickeningly happy? Probably not. They all thought he lived this wild, uninhibited life of a sexy stripper, fucking his way through the world one pussy at a time.
If they only knew.
His fault for not being completely open with his new family, but some wounds took so long to heal the first time around, reopening them wasn’t fathomable.
Across from Copper, Jazz sat on Screw’s lap while their other man, Gumby, rested next to Screw with his arm around his shoulders. They looked so…perfect, breaking from social norms and expectations to be with who they loved.
Nice for them to be so comfortable in their collective skins.
Thunder only knew one world. The world of sex. He knew how to lure women in, give them the orgasm of their lives, tease them for hours, perform a lap dance like no other, whatever the hell they wanted. What he didn’t know how to do was relate to them, to anyone really, on any other level. So he kept himself in the box he belonged in.
The one time he’d broken out of that box, he’d been ruthlessly shoved back in, and the lid nailed shut.
Ugh, pity party for one.
How pathetic.
He walked outside, breathing in the fresh mountain air. He had more than so many people. Freedom, family, cash in the bank, a sweet fucking bike, and women willing to drop to their knees any time he crooked a finger. A man with all that shouldn’t have a damn thing to complain about.
As he made his way to his favorite lady, his phone chimed with a text.
Miss you. When are you coming for a visit?
His mother.
At least the question was a simple one to answer.
Never.
CHAPTER TWO
“HEY, MAK, CAN you drop this at table six for me?” Shell asked, holding out a bottle of hot sauce. “A few guys from the club can’t eat unless the food is hot enough to burn their tongues off, and I forgot to take it with their plates.” She balanced a full tray of dirty dishes on one hand with an ease Makenna might never master.
“Yeah, sure. Of course. Is that tray too heavy for you?” she asked the adorable pregnant woman as she accepted the condiment.
“Nah, I got it. Been doing this for years now. After a while, it’s not even heavy anymore.” Shell winked, demonstrating her point by raising and lowering the tray a few times.
“From your lips to God’s ears.” Mak smiled and took a step back. Just in case. Shell seemed to have it under control, but a bunch of filthy dishes falling on her wouldn’t lead to a pleasant day.
“Hey.” Shell snagged her arm with her free hand. “You’re doing great. Especially for someone with no serving experience. I mean it.”
“Thank you, Shell.” She’d been working at Toni’s Diner for exactly two weeks. Since the grand reopening. Apparently, someone had tossed a grenade through the window a month or so ago, and the entire dining room had to be reconstructed. Cassie’s husband had died as well, a thought that flayed Mak’s heart each and every time she recalled it, even though she’d never met the man. But she did know Cassie, and it hurt to think of how her new acquaintance had suffered such a terrible loss.
After hearing about the attack, she’d almost turned down the job. She’d had enough violence to last her a lifetime.
If they thought it weird that she didn’t react with standard shock to the idea of a grenade explosion, thankfully, no one said anything. It wasn’t as though she planned to announce she’d been brought up in a para-military camp where grenades were as common as toothbrushes.
The owner, Toni, and her handsome boyfriend, Zach had promised her she’d be safe. And it had been her only job prospect, so there she was.
She needed money. With six mouths to feed and six bodies to clothe and shelter, she needed the money desperately, and they’d been willing to pay her in cash, no questions asked—the benefit of working in a joint owned by an outlaw MC. People didn’t blink when she made the unconventional request for cash payment. Not only did they pay in cash, they’d also been willing to take a chance on her despite her lack of waitressing experience. The only marketable skill she possessed was sewing, so in the last town they’d lived, she’d taken a seamstress job at a major clothing factory. But it was how Roger and her father found them six months ago. Now she needed to avoid that industry like the plague, which meant finding a job willing to train her from scratch.
At first, it had seemed hopeless. With so many qualified applicants looking for work, who the hell would hire a twenty-three-year-old woman with minimal job experience and no high school diploma? If it weren’t for Cassie, the gem of a woman who’d crashed into Makenna with her cart in the grocery store, she wouldn’t have had this opportunity at the diner. And she loved the job, even if waiting tables turned out to be more challenging than expected. If there was one thing Makenna knew, it was how to work hard and persevere, so she wasn’t overly worried. She’d get the hang of it at some point.