Page 18 of Sparrow

Her mother’s arm snaked around her and squeezed. “Good.”

With stuttered steps, she offered her mother a double-take. “Wh-what?”

“Come on,” Dixie said with several pats on her hand. “Let’s go to The Spoke before all the seats at the bar are taken.”

She’d entered the twilight zone. No other explanation made sense for her disappointment and her mother’s response to the delay in her becoming an Ol’ Lady. It’d literally been the dream since the day she’d been born. This night was officially the weirdest night of her life.

Chapter 11

Romeo

Standing on the patio area in the rear of the clubhouse, Romeo scratched his chin through his beard. Impatience ate at him. This took entirely too long. Due to nerves, he pulled yet another smoke from his pack. He’d need to go to the store if they took any longer. Checking his phone for the time, he’d never wanted to get out of club business more in his life.

That seemed to be the case when he was in Ohio. As he tapped the cigarette he’d yet to light against the pack, he recalled the last few times he’d been in Ohio and how his mind was rarely on club business.Shit, if his father knew he was hung up on a girl this bad, he’d whoop his ass. A beating he’d gladly take for Sparrow.

The original Odin’s Fury members encircled the new ones, the new Ohio Chapter. In the center, a fire blazed high from a large barrel. The men of the new charter had just spent the last twenty minutes or so severing the Roughneck Rider patches from their cuts.

One by one, in order of rank, the men tossed their old colors into the flames and stepped to Bowie for their new patches. Romeo should’ve watched them with pride bursting in his chest. They were growing. Their businesses, the financial opportunities, his personal check would all grow. But no. All he had was impatience. He was far too focused on the fact that he needed to see Sparrow.

These men of Ohio, swearing their allegiance to his club, would sew onto their leathers a profile image of Odin over a shield with a pair of Viking war axes crossed behind it. Their new top rockers would have Odin’s Fury stitched in gold, and the bottom rocker would remain the same, Ohio. This ceremony, the show of burning the old and adding the new, should have hit a nerve with Romeo. Perhaps, in any other state it would have, but it was fucking Ohio, and Sparrow was there.

While the new members of Odin’s Fury sat around the fire in a sewing circle, the other chapters went inside, separating into their own little groups to huddle about the patch over. The Montana chapter, the Mother Chapter, went to sit at the bar and sample their host’s booze. Clark remained with his new club, and his absence was palpable.

“Bowie’s got a club full of tweakers,” Teller commented from behind the bar. It seemed to be his preferred location. He’d chased a prospect from the duty, barking that Bowie needed him.

“Not all of them,” Monty groaned.

“Not a few of them,” Tex chimed in, waving his hand to his brother for a drink.

“Clark will help him work it out,” Monty assured his club as he reached for the drink Teller’d gotten him without a request being made.

“You sure this was the best idea?” Tex asked.

Their Prez arched a brow. “You have concerns now that it’s done?”

“Didn’t know how bad they looked till we rolled up,” the vice president said, throwing back a shot of tequila. “Dash and Romeo didn’t report this level of fucked up.”

“We need the connection for guns. There’s a manufacturer out here we would like to deal with. This way, none of our blood is spilled,” Monty said as he sipped his whiskey.

“We haven’t been to the area in a while,” Dash defended. “They’ve all gotten worse. I’d say last time we were here, they were using for fun. Now, it looks like a habit for some of them.”

“Most of them,” Tex mumbled into his drink. Which, one could argue, was the pot calling the kettle black. While Romeo’s father wasn’t a drug addict, his hand rarely lacked a glass of tequila.

“With the end of dealing, they will have less product at their disposal. If they steal it while they’re transporting it, it gives us a reason to get them out,” Monty said, sounding impatient. “It’s going to be a long bloody game, brothers, but it’s what we need to do for Odin’s Fury to grow. Clark will help Bowie patch in quality men. He’ll hang around the VA clinics or something.”

Collectively, the men nodded and took swallows of their own drinks at their president’s word. It was a long game. Monty was all about the long game. He had a knack for being ten steps ahead of everyone else. It’s what made him a good president.

Romeo checked the time again. These fuckers needed to sew faster.

“You got somewhere else to be or something?” his Prez asked, commanding Romeo’s focus.

“Molly texting for her man to come home?” Teller teased, earning him a scowl.

“We’re in Lollipop Girl territory,” Dash said with a grin.

Romeo shot him a glare and punched his shoulder. Chuckling, his sponsor twisted back slightly—more for dramatic effect than because he’d needed to—and took a sip of his beer.

“What’s a lollipop girl?” Tex asked.

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