Page 32 of Frenemies

I rolled my eyes as Tanner and Mannix joined him.

“Relax, buddy. We’re not Naomi. I think I’d kill myself if I was that cunt. She does have a nice pair of tits, though.” Tanner slapped his hand on Mannix’s shoulder and chuckled. “Hey, buddy. You could motorboat that shit for days.”

Mannix scrubbed a hand down his face when Tanner acted out the motion by shaking his head while blowing out a raspberry.

“You see what you left me with?” Mannix sighed.

I crossed my arms and grumbled, “Better that than dead.”

“A date with the reaper would be a welcome change from this asshole.”

Mannix shoved Tanner back when he made kissing noises next to his ear. A little too hard, I was guessing by the oof escaping Tanner’s lips when he hit the wall behind him.

“Hey–”

“Shut up, I’m not here to deal with your shit,” Mannix growled, cutting off his whine. “I’m here to deal with his.”

I grunted out a snort when his finger lifted to point at me. “I didn’t ask you to deal with shit.”

“You don’t have to, Chase.” He let out a sigh and shook his head. “That’s kind of the point of a club.”

“If you say so,” I muttered while leaning back against the wall. “And the name’s Spider.”

This time it was Beast that spoke. “Is that what we’re doing?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

I knew exactly what he meant.

Beast and I grew up together. When I lost my family, he was the first one there, trying to drag me out of my pit of despair. He didn’t argue when I took off on a murderous rampage. This time was different. I could read that look on his face better than I could read mine, and he wasn’t having it.

Maybe I did go a little overboard with the drugs and drinking? I could tame that shit down. What I wouldn’t do was let anyone I cared about get involved. As much as these assholes pissed me off, they were the only family I had.

“Jax is my problem.”

“Bullshit,” Beast barked out.

“Jax is all of our problems,” Mannix added.

They weren’t getting it. “He’s my brother.”

“And you’re our Prez,” Tanner argued.

When I lifted my chin to look at Tanner, I couldn’t help but see that scrawny little pipsqueak I found dumpster diving. “Maybe I shouldn’t be?”

My old man was a good Prez. He took care of his boys and protected their families. His only mistake was putting me in charge.

“Come on,” Beast shook his head and walked away. “This is a waste of time.”

My heart lurched as Mannix shot me a look and followed. The hardest part of watching them walk away was stopping myself from calling them back. But it was better this way. They needed to let me go. Tanner was the only one that didn’t get the memo.

While the other two left, he stayed where he was, staring in at me as if he was searching for something. He wouldn’t stop, no matter how many dirty looks I gave him.

Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. “What?”

“You say you’re Spider. Does that mean Chase is dead?”

“Maybe?”

---