Page 24 of Walker

“Hey now. She built up some amazing, successful businesses alongside the other women. She is the heart of that club and the businesses that support the community and help us out from time-to-time. I know you have beef with her, but she’s going through some shit right now. You’ve been there, when you weren’t the best version of yourself and you don’t like that people still judge you based on that, right?”

“If I hadn’t been her target for the past couple years, that might mean something.” I shrugged my shoulders at Spike. “I don’t feel like I owe her the benefit of the doubt when she poisoned the waters for me and kept them poisoned with my club all this time.”

“Fair point.”

“I told the others that if this shit kept up I would leave the club.”

“Did you mean it?”

“Absolutely.”

“Hope it doesn’t happen, but I understand if it does. Just know that you will always be welcome in our home, whether you wear the kutte or not. If you don’t wear it, I can tell you now, there is no chance in hell my boy would join.” He grinned at me. “Bet he didn’t know when he was sent to find his father that he would end up with two.”

“Man, I’m not trying to step on your toes.”

“Know that brother. I’m grateful all the same for the way you stepped in and took up the slack while we’ve been figuring out the new dynamics and trying to get to know one another. Means a lot to me that you took my family on as your own when you didn’t have to.” Spike looked thoughtful for a minute and then shocked the absolute shit out of me when he turned and spoke again.

“Of all the brothers here in this club, you’re the one I want to stick around and wear that kutte. You do us proud. You’ve been walking the walk and talking the talk for years. There are others who are deemed more important, and I wouldn’t miss them if they were to take off tomorrow without a backward glance. Shouldn’t feel that way about club family, but I do.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, and instead stayed silent as his words sunk in. He had been one of my biggest advocates when it came to vote me back into my patch. Steel had been the other. That brother even put me to work for him and taught me some new skills that probably helped save my damn life. When a day of being treated like absolute shit by men who had been my brothers for years had me worn so thin that I didn’t think I’d get through another day of it, I’d hit the garage with Steel, and we’d bang out brand new fabricated parts and bring custom rides to life. Spike stepped in and showed me the fine-tuning side, where I could turn all of it into a work of art on the backend, so that it wasn’t simply functional but beautiful to look at too.

“I know how you see yourself. Know how you feel about what you deserve.” I glanced over at Spike who apparently wasn’t done speaking his mind. “You paid your dues for shit they say you did. You learned lessons from your experiences, and you are not the same fucking man you were before. That man might not have deserved a second chance with the club or a new woman, but this man – the one who is standing beside me on this fucking mountain – he deserves all that and more.”

I chuckled.

“What the fuck? I’m giving you a heart-to-fucking-heart and you’re laughing at me?”

“It ain’t that. Just funny because someone else told me something very similar recently.” Spike tipped his head to the side, obviously trying to figure out which part. “The part about not being the same man I was then.”

“Sounds like good advice. You should take it.” Spike winked at me and then turned to head back to the clubhouse again. His lengthy sigh made me worry for him. I knew he was going through some shit, but it seemed heavier than he had let on previously, especially now that I knew he and Tash had been heading toward an inevitable end from damn near the beginning of their relationship.

“I better get back home. Got some shit to do from my woman’s “Get this done” list.”

“Honey-do list?”

“Nah, that would be too polite. Hers is a get shit done or else list. Trust me, I don’t like to disappoint my woman. Things are way better at home when she isn’t bitching about the things I didn’t get done, considering she doesn’t really want to be there to begin with.”

“Maybe it’s time to start letting go of things, brother.”

He nodded his head at me. “Later, Walker. Do yourself a favor and let loose tonight. Have fun. Live in the moment a little with that lady of yours. I think you both need it.”

He wasn’t wrong. It had been ages since I’d done anything that even felt remotely fun or satisfying. Maybe it was okay to want something for myself again. After hearing about how things were going for Spike and Tash, it made me want so much more for myself. Hell, I wanted him to want more for himself too, but I had to live it before I could convince him it was okay to do the same thing and go after his own happiness. Life was too fucking short to be stuck in a shitty existence. That was a new revelation for me, but one I was determined to see through to the end.

9 - Territorial

Walker came to my house to pick me up. He wore dark jeans, black boots, and a royal blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up on his forearms. It was almost a shame he had to cover the tattoos that were prevalent on the rest of his arms, but the man would look amazing in completely virgin skin too, so I guess it didn’t really matter. The blue of his shirt seemed to make his eyes a bit more luminescent under the light. His hair was also blessedly down and hanging free around his shoulders.

All of that dimmed in comparison to the fact Walker had not come to my home empty handed. “These are for you.” He offered me a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers as his lips turned up at the corners in a subtle smile that made my insides tingle. He glanced over my shoulder and grinned. I turned to see Ariel peeking around the corner as she giggled with her aunt.

“I have something for you as well, Miss Ariel," Walker called out to my daughter.

“For me?” I didn’t miss the surprised tone of her voice as she shyly stepped around the corner and made her way to us. “These are for you.” He handed her a slightly smaller bouquet. The ones he picked for Ariel were brightly colored daisies. It just so happened that they were the flowers her eyes always tracked to in the store when we passed by the display.

“Seriously? You brought me flowers, too?”

“Of course. I’m taking time away that your momma has to spend with you and your brother. I wanted to show my appreciation for allowing that.”

My heart lodged somewhere in my throat. There stood a man with no kids of his own, a biker who was used to a rougher lifestyle, and he wanted to make sure my kids were basically thanked for giving the adults a little time to themselves. How could so many people have misjudged him? I knew his history, but this couldn’t possibly be the same man everyone warned me about. If it was, then they all somehow missed the fact that he had changed.

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