Page 49 of Tex's Angel

“Dad, that’s not fair. She’s been through a lot in life.”

Rigs cut him off, “I’m not finished yet. I can’t tell you what to do with your personal life but as your father I can advise you to take off those rose tinted glasses and pay attention to whatshe does, not what she says. Lots of women have sob stories and some of them will use those sob stories to manipulate a man. You’ve got to be stronger than to fall for that kind of bullshit.”

Evan’s hands ball into fists at his side and his expression goes blank. “Is that all?”

Rigs frowns at him. “No. The third thing I was going to say is moving forward, Levi is a junior prospect, just like you.” Shooting me a respectful glance, Rigs adds, “That’s if he wants to be and if his dad approves.”

I nod my assent.

Turning back to his surprised son, he continues. “I talked to Siege about it already and he’s cool with it. Maybe, just maybe, if you two put your brains together, you can reason things out and keep yourselves out of trouble. He’s bunking with you here at the clubhouse when he visits until further notice.”

Levi’s expression goes from worried about his friend to elated in a heartbeat. “Did you hear that? Your dad said I can be a prospect too.”

“Awesome!” Evan says.

“Siege and I think having you in the program by yourself is making you feel like an actual prospect, rather than a junior prospect. I know you’re almost eighteen, but you’re not—”

“But you were fifteen when you patched in, you told me,” Evan protests.

Rigs laughs, “And I’m as old as dirt. Things have changed since then. Kids aren’t allowed to be feral, or it blows back on the parents. Two junior prospects would be a little team. Levienrolling in the junior prospecting program will keep him out of trouble. And God knows you need all the help you can get to make good judgment calls.”

Evan’s shoulders relax and he gives his dad a halfhearted smile. “You know this is the first time I messed up since becoming a prospect, don’t you?”

Rigs tries to keep the smile off his face as he responds, “Yeah, I know. Let’s not let it happen again. Ain’t no girl worth coming between brothers.”

“Yeah, I know that. You’re wrong about Kayla though.”

“You two come and see me later tonight and if Tex approves, I’ll make Levi up his cut.”

Levi immediately asks, “Can I do it, Dad. Can I be a prospect?”

“Junior prospect. It’s kind of like being a Boy Scout only in an MC instead of Scouting America.”

“Do I get to ride a motorcycle too?” Levi asks. Damn it. I knew that question was coming.

“If you want, we can teach you to ride on the club’s private property. But you can’t get your license until you’re fifteen and a half,” I tell him.

“But it’s still cool, right?”

When I don’t answer, he turns to Evan. “Junior prospecting is cool, right?”

Evan shrugs, “I may have made it seem a little more fun than it actually is. It’s mostly just watching the front gate with the prospects, fetching food for them, and doing what they say.”

Levi shakes his head as if he doesn’t care about the potential drawbacks and boredom. “I don’t care. I still get the cool vest with my name on the front and can hang around with the prospects when I’m not in school. It almost sounds better than chess.”

Evan rolls his eyes, “I don’t know if anything can be more fun than chess. I hear it develops your mind and stimulates brain cells.”

Levi frowns at his friend. “I don’t like it when you throw my own words back in my face that way.”

“If you two can stop arguing, then I agree for you to hang around the clubhouse and be a junior prospect.”

Levi perks up. “Now, that’s what I’m talking about.”

Rigs sighs and right before he walks off, he tells his son, “Get the rule book and explain all the rules to him.”

Levi’s eyebrows shoot up. “There’s a whole book of rules?”

Evan shrugs. “Well, yeah. There are a lot of rules, most of them are safety related. You didn’t think the brothers were going to let teens run around their property pretending to be bikers, did you?”

---