Page 22 of Tess, Property of Blaze

Blaze

“Hey, man, you got a sec?”

Tracker looks at me from the bar, taking a swig from his beer. He places it back on the bar and turns to face me. “Sure, what is it, brother?”

I look around the club; some members are playing pool, some are just hanging out with their women. “Not here, meet you in the garage.”

Trackers eyebrows lift. “Okay, everything all right?”

I scratch my jaw. “Hope so, brother, hope so.”

He nods, clearly understanding my mood, and pushes himself off the bar. “Let’s go.”

We walk out of the clubhouse and head toward the garage. Luckily there are no brothers hangin’ around. I open the fridge we have in there and grab myself a beer. “Want one?” I ask, looking over at Tracker while holding the door open.

“Yup.”

I grab two Coronas then shut the fridge with my boot and place them both on the workbench. I grab my bottle opener and remove both their caps. “Here you go, brother.” I hand Tracker his beer then take a huge swig of mine.

Tracker eyes me the whole time. “You okay? What’s going on?”

I swallow hard then wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “What I’m going to ask you is not easy for me to say.”

Tracker leans up against a bike that’s getting its oil changed—looks like Gunner’s bike—and his eyes pinch together as they stare into mine. “You have my attention.”

I blow out a breath and place my beer on the workbench. “I need you to run a check on someone, hermano.”

Tracker runs his thumb over his bottom lip. “Is that it, bro? I thought you were gonna tell me something bad, like you’re going nomad.” He laughs, but then straightens when he sees that I’m not smiling back. Instead I frown and rub the back of my neck. “Who is it?” he almost whispers.

I chew at my bottom lip and kick at an imaginary rock. “Who is it, brother?” he asks again. My stomach rolls; I feel sick and sweat covers my forehead. What the fuck am I doing? How can I do this to Tess?

I almost take the coward’s way out and not say anything, but something inside of me flicks like a switch and I realize that I have no other choice. Tess hasn’t given me one.

I take in a breath and look Tracker straight in the eye. “Tess, man. It’s Tess.”

Tracker’s eyebrows raise. “Sorry, man. I thought I heard you say Tess?”

I grab my beer from beside me and take another swig. “I did, brother,” I finally say, adding, “I need you to do a background check on her.”

Tracker places his beer on the floor then steps toward me. “You know what you’re doin’, right? If Tess finds out about this—”

“I know!” I bark out, halting his words. “You think I didn’t think about this? And how it could ruin us? I’ve tried to talk to her, find out about her past, but fuck me, Tracker, she won’t open up. All I know is her mother died at childbirth, and her father is MIA.”

“So maybe her past is a shit one and she doesn’t want to talk about it, ever thought of that, brother?” Tracker says slowly, pointing to his temple like I’m a fucking idiot.

I get up in his face. “I know what I’ve fuckin’ thought, I’m not a dumb fuck,” I spit out.

“Then why? Why dig into her background?”

I turn away, looking over at the pictures of Harleys on the garage wall, sadness filling me. “Because, brother,” I say, defeated, “I’ve asked her to marry me and she said no… twice.”

I hear Tracker blow out a breath. “Fuck, man, I’m sorry.”

My head snaps back toward him. “I don’t want your pity, I want you to look into her life, see what you can find. Don’t care what shit you come back with, I just want to know everything. You got me, brother?”

Tracker stares at me for a while then nods. “Okay, man, if that’s what you want.”

I don’t hesitate, I just stare back at him and confirm, “It’s what I want.”

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