Page 168 of Patching Over

I chuckle because he’s right. Ace, RiffRaff’s dad, and his buddies started the Roanoke Raiders when they left the military because they couldn’t find their way when they became civilians once again. Then, as a club, we patched over to the Royal Bastards MC several years ago. That journey has been full of adventure and of course, troubles, but we’re made of strong stuff and can rebrand ourselves once again without a doubt.

“Brick, gonna send mine with Dragon so you haveallof them to deliver,” I announce. No way do I not want our chapter to show a united front in the face of the arrogance of these fundamentalist fuckers. Because I know they’re behind all of this, since they’ve managed to put members in very high places, including the alphabet agencies. Fuckers.

“That works, Krack,” Brick replies, “now, let’s discuss what’s gonna happen next. Because we’re gonna be prepared.”

“We got a few ideas about that, Brick,” Dragon interjects, getting back to the matter at hand. “Since we’re unwilling to cause the Royal Bastards to have to fight this battle, although I know without a doubt they would, we’ll discuss that when we get there. Can always conference in Kracken since he’ll be in North Georgia.”

While Idowant to be at home with my brothers, I want time with Moira as well, and I suspect with whatever the presidents of the two clubs decide, we’re gonna have a lot to do when we finally do get home. I can be patient.

“Then when y’all get here, we’ll have church and do just that,” Brick advises.

Dragon and Wrecker left to head to their hotel. We decided on a meet time and place and decided it’ll be better than them coming here or us going to them. They’ll follow us until we get close to the cabin, then head on up to Roanoke. Right now, Moira and I are stuffing our faces with the pizza I ordered as we talk. I know it hasn’t been that long since we ate, but she’s still so thin, any chance I can, I’m gonna feed her.

“It’s gonna be a long trip tomorrow,” I tell her, giving her the warning ahead of time when I see her covering a yawn.

“I know. Always enjoyed road trips with Belle,” she muses. “Do you think we’ll see a Buc-ee’s on the way?”

I start laughing, because that particular gas station is like Walmart and a regular station had a baby. There’s not much they don’t carry, from homemade barbecue to gift items. “Yeah, babe, there’s one on the way. We’ll stop.”

“Oh, good. I lost my fuzzy throw. That was the warmest thing I ever had.”

“Then how about we get this cleaned up so we can get some sleep,” I suggest.

I see her glance at the only bed in the room and blush. It’s a king size bed, so there’s plenty of room for us to stretch out, but I know she’s probably got her past swirling in her head. The thing is, I don’t care about that because she didn’t do any of it willingly whatsoever. Plus, I’m not a monk, and I find it hypocritical as fuck for me to judge her about her past when I have one of my own.

We work together as a team and soon all the detritus from dinner is taken care of, we’ve both taken our time in the bathroom to get ready for bed, and that’s where we are now. I can tell she’s nervous as hell, so to alleviate that, I grab the remote for the television and switch it on, then flip through the channels until I come across a movie. It’s a comedy, which after the past few days, I think we need.

“Just relax, roisin, nothing will ever happen between us until you want it to,” I tell her since I notice how stiffly she’s lying there.

“O-okay. I might fall asleep,” she admits. “It’s been an exhausting day.”

“That’s for damn sure,” I reply, chuckling. “If you go to sleep, you go to sleep. No worries, babe.”

“Then I’ll say good night just in case,” she teases, snuggling deeper into the covers.

“Good night, Moira,” I whisper, seeing her eyes are already drifting shut and closing.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

Moira

“This is beautiful,” I murmur, looking up at the cabin we’ll be staying at for an undetermined time.

“Yeah, it is,” Kracken replies.

Our road trip went off without a hitch, and true to his word, Dragon and his club followed us until we reached Buc-ee’s, which wasn’t too far from where we were staying. I’m now the proud owner oftwonew throws because I couldn’t decide which one I wanted more, so Kracken bought me both.

We also grabbed a ton of snacks because they have a wall there with just about every kind of candy there is, from saltwater taffy which I love, to beef jerky. I’ve been steadily munching on some beaver nuggets, which I secretly think might be crack or something, because after one bite, I was hooked.

He gets out of the truck and comes around the hood to help me out, kissing my forehead after letting my hand go to grab our duffel bags from the back. He’s been doing that a lot; little touches, kisses to my head and forehead. Nothing alarming at all; in fact, I find it sweet that he’s taking so much care aroundme. He has no clue, but he’s helping heal more places deep inside.

“I knew he would,”Hannah whispers in my head.

Ever since our time together, she regularly pops in and chats to me. I briefly wonder how Selah is going to handle three little girls who have abilities, then realize that my sweet friend has her old man at her back, and a bunch of burly, muscular uncles who will as well.

Instead of answering her, I smile, because without a doubt, he’s the kindest man I’ve ever known. I know he’s a biker and based on his position, which I googled so I could understand better, he can be deadly. But with me, he’s patient, kind, and dare I say it, sweet?

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