Page 97 of All Our Ghosts

I smile again. “Sunflower, you’re so much more than that.”

She pulls back slightly, lifting her head with a smile and teases, “Sap.”

I laugh and kiss her, dragging out the moment for as long as I can until a knock on the door forces us apart.

“Hey, Nash, we got Church, man!”Trey’s voice filters through the wood before the thud of his footsteps disappear down the hallway.

Kadence presses her hands to my chest. “Go,” she says softly with a smile.

“You’ll wait up?” I ask, knowing just how pathetic and pleading I sound, but she nods, pecking my lips once more.

“Always.”

I grin and pull back from her, tucking myself back into my jeans and help her down and into the attached bathroom to get cleaned up. As soon as we both looked presentable again, I lead her back out to the main room with my arm around her shoulders and her giggling into my chest. I catch Blake's gaze from behind the bar and shake my head when she raises a brow at me with the same Blake shit-eating grin on her face.

"I'll see you later," I mumble, pulling back from her.

She smiles up at me, nods and walks back towards the bar. I can't help but watch her for a moment with a stupid lovesick smile spread across my face when she turns to glance back at me. Blake wraps an arm around her shoulders and drags her outside holding a couple of beers in her free hand and no doubt to watch whatever is left of the sun.

HOLDEN

Church is already buzzing with the guys when I walk in. A few of them stand in a group by the end of the table, laughing and clinking beers together. Wolfe, Trey and Cole are all gathered around the head of the table though for a barbeque that seemed to be going well, even Wolfe's normal scowl looks deeper.

That unsettling feeling returns to my gut as I make my way over to the three men. We need to figure out a way to protect our runs from Stokes but we also need to figure out a way to protect the club from him as well.

I plant a hand on Cole's shoulder, pulling my brother's attention from the group. He glances at me with that worrisome look only I know the meaning of while Wolfe and Trey argue.

"Splitting up the club right now is dangerous, Falcone. How do you not see that?" Wolfe growls low enough that only the three of us can hear him.

Trey shakes his head, folding his arms across his chest. "It's the only shot we have to make sure we keep our deal with the Skulls."

I raise a brow and glance over at Cole. "Rollin' Skulls? They reached out?"

Cole sighs with a nod. "Yeah, while you were taking care of Kade." A knowing glint in his eye has me grinning for a brief moment, remembering the feel of her coming undone around me just minutes before. "Layla left pretty pissed," he trails off, "wouldn't have anything to do with what she found in the girl's room is it?"

I shrug. "She should have knocked."

Cole huffs out a laugh and shakes his head. "You're evil."

"Trust me, it was worth it."

His face screws up in disgust as he pushes past me. "Gross." He pulls out his chair at the head of the table and bellows across the room. "Sit your asses down so we can figure this shit out."

Just like every other gathering at Church, Cole lifts the gavel sitting just to the right of him and pounds it against the table. The high-pitched thud rings through the room, letting the new recruits know it's time to sit down and shut the fuck up. In here you don't speak unless spoken to and you only spoke freely if you were at the end of this table.

I glance across the wood, my gaze catching Trey's. His brows are furrowed and that tick in his jaw is back. Wolfe huffs next to me, shaking his head. The two of them rarely go at it, but when they do it always has to do with the safety of the club. Trey doesn't mind being devil's advocate. He doesn't seem to give a shit that when the two of them are split on decisions, it affects the whole group.

It came with the responsibility of being club VP. He has to keep Cole level-headed when his anger, which he fully denies having a problem with, takes control. It's a hard job. I know that. I was that person for ten-plus years, standing with Cole in these leather cuts. Though they used to hang off of us when we were teenagers, now our vests were road-worn and like a second skin.

"Havoc called," Cole states, his voice level but even I notice the white around his knuckles from his tight grip on the gavel's handle. "He wants to meet and discuss the terms of our agreement with the Skulls."

"You think they're gonna back out?" I ask.

Cole shrugs and works his jaw. "I highly doubt it, but Havoc hasn't been the most sane club pres to deal with."

"Why call a meeting in person? The RS don't typically deal with club business in person unless it's serious," Wolfe states. "This has trap written on it."

"Oh would you shut up?" Trey barks. "Not everything is out to get us, Wolfe."

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