Page 30 of Saint's Sinner

When Sinn shook his head and refused to even consider Bellamy’s words, despite how much they resonated as both wise and a damn good way to get psyched up, Night knew it was because he’d retreated into his head and was too busy dwelling on shit he couldn’t change. Night would have recognized the look from a mile away, he saw it in the mirror enough.

“Look as much as I hate it, Gramps is right about me being an easy target for anyone looking to get back at the Disciples, the Jokers and even your club now if anyone got a clear look at your patches. I have to face facts. I can’t see. I can’t even see as much now as when I first showed up at the Jokers’ compound.Not even close. I’m a liability and I don’t know what to do with that yet.”

“Bullshit,” Bellamy snapped, moving until they were practically nose to nose.

Even with his limited vision, at that distance, Night knew Sinn would be able to make out the furious expression Bellamy wore and perhaps even the dangerous glint in the man’s eyes that had Night taking an involuntary step forward. “The only way you’re a liability is if you go around thinking you’re one.”

“He’s right,” Night added. “You’re one of the best bike builders we’ve got, and you do it all by feel. Fuck that liability shit! We need you in the shop and we need you in the field hunting for frames. You’ve more than proved how capable you are with that. As soon as we get a line on some of those old parts Creature has been struggling to hunt down, we’re going to have that custom bike shop up and running and you are going to be a major part of making sure it runs smoothly. If you wanna feel sorry for yourself, fine, but don’t expect the rest of us to!”

“Go fuck yourself.”

Chuckling, Night shrugged. “I’d rather you do it.”

Night watched Sinn open and close his mouth like he didn’t have a clue how to respond to that, but the one thing he didn’t do was make up some excuse about how that wouldn’t work. As far as Night was concerned, that was progress.

“I notice he didn’t have shit to say about that,” Bellamy quipped as he nudged Night’s shoulder and passed him the remainder of the trail mix.

“Shuddup you,” Sinn grumbled.

“Shut up all of you and eat,” Wreck snapped, before he lowered his growly voice and leveled his intense gaze at all of them. “We need to bed down and get some sleep, if we’re gonna hit the road before the sun comes up. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Like any of us wanna see that little miracle of nature,” Cody grumbled, sounding as grumpy and exhausted as Night felt.

“I do, asshole,” Sinn murmured.

“Sorry,” Cody replied, “I’m an asshole for blurting that out the way I did.”

Wasn’t much to say after that, so Night shook out the bedrolls and spread them over bumpy, mostly level ground so he and Sinn could lay side by side beside his bike.

“You don’t mind bunking with me do ya?” Night asked.

“Not gonna try and crawl between the three of them.”

Night glanced over to where Bellamy and Wreck were arranging Cody between them, each draping an arm over him like they were afraid he was going to wander off in the middle of the night.

“Good, I’d hate ta have to drag them off ya.” Night said as he sprawled on his back on top of his sleeping bag and tried to get comfortable while staring up at the stars.

Sinn tisked and rolled so his back was to Night. “Whatever, can we just go to sleep?”

Sighing, Night glared at the heavens and tried to remember the names of the two brightest stars in Gemini. “Yeah, I guess. Not sure it’s gonna be all that easy, considering.”

“Considering what? All the rocks stabbing into us through these threadbare sleeping bags? Where the fuck did you find these things anyway? The dumpster behind an army surplus store?”

“Naaa, that might have been a step up,” Night replied. “Somebody left these and a rolled-up hammock at a campground I was stayin’ at. Figured anything was better than sleeping in a bed of leaves.”

“You figured wrong.”

“Sorry. I’ll make sure I pack a comforter and an air mattress the next time I ride out on a rescue mission.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

They were silent for a bit, Night’s belly clenching from more than just hunger and the trail mix he occasionally munched.

“So, if it ain’t the ground keeping you awake, then what is it?” Sinn asked around the time Night located Pollux…or was it Castor? At least he’d remembered the names.

“You.”

“I swear to fuck if you’re about to say some shit about staying awake and watching over me, I’ll…”

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