Page 64 of Flirt

“He’s working on that himself if my grocery bill, while he’s been here, is any indication,” my dad, Coast, spoke, and I noticed he held a box in his hands.

“Really, you guys didn’t have to get up. I didn’t expect you to,” I said and looked at each man. Then I looked at my dad and added, “And I just told you and Mom goodbye in the house.”

“Be glad you had your leather jacket on. At least this time you don’t have to wear a wet shirt for a couple hours like you did when you left for Basic,” my dad said.

I chuckled. “It took three hours for my shirt to dry when I left for basic training. I didn’t know a woman could cry that many tears. She bawled at my graduation from BT (Basic Training). Then bawled even more when you and she came to my graduation from AIT (Advanced Individual Training). I think she has cried every day since I have been home on leave.”

“Cut your mom a break. She’s having a rough time accepting that you’re not only an adult but that you’ve chosen the military for a career. I think she was hoping you would stay and work with us at the bike shop.” My dad tried to explain.

“I get it. Maybe she’ll be better the next time I come home on leave,” I said and shifted on my seat. “Well, I probably should get going. I’ve got a lot of riding from here to Texas.”

“Don’t push it. You have plenty of time before you need to report in. When you stop for the night, give me a call,” my dad said, then he glanced at the others.

“Before you leave, though, we have something for you. Should’ve done it yesterday when the whole club was here for your sendoff party, but we decided we wanted it to be a little more private,” Crusher said, and then my dad held out the box he had been holding.

“I don’t know if I have room in my saddlebags for anything else,” I said as I took the box and rested it on my bike in front of me so I could lift the lid.

“I’ll keep it at the house for you,” my dad answered.

I frowned as I started to lift the lid off the box. Then froze with the top in my hands and stared at what was revealed.

“Are you going to stare at it, or are you going to pull it out and take a look at it?” My dad asked and took the lid to free up my hands.

“I have a vest,” I said as I reached for the neatly folded leather cut.

“A plain one with only your name stitched on. Pull it out,” Crusher said, and I lifted the vest out and unfolded it. The back held the club patch in the center and a rocker underneath Shades Valley, Washington. The rocker on top had Prospect. When I turned it around, my name was the only thing on the front left side. I looked up, and my dad and the others smiled.

“There’s no time limit on when you have to put that on. It’s more so you know the Black Hawk MC will always be at your back whether you are in the military and stationed around the world or home on the compound. You need us—we’re there,” Crusher said.

My dad placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed as I worked to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

I folded the vest and set it back in the box, and after my dad placed the lid back on, he picked it up. I dismounted my bike and moved to stand in front of the men who had accepted me from the moment I stepped foot on the grounds of the Black Hawk MC. Almost in the exact same spot where we stood.

“I don’t know where Paxton and I would have ended up if we hadn’t met you that day in the clinic. When we went back with the social worker, I never figured I’d see you again. Even when you did show up with Mom at the social worker’s office, I was afraid to hope that you had come for us,” I said to my dad, then looked at each of the other men and continued. “Then we got out of the car, and all of you were there to welcome us, and you have never stopped. You showed me what loyalty means, and that family isn’t defined by the blood running in your veins. I can’t imagine meeting any other men greater than what I have grown up around.”

“Goddamn, kid. Are you trying to make everyone on this compound cry?” my dad asked as he grabbed me and gave me a one-armed hug.

Each man embraced me, and when it was over, I got back on my bike. I didn’t crank it until I was on the road in front of the house. Before I pulled away, I looked over my shoulder at my dad and the others one last time, then twisted the throttle putting my bike in motion.

I glanced around as I rolled down the road taking everything in, not wanting to forget anything about the place while I was away. As I reached the front of Speed’s house, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up. In the upstairs window, Ally stood. I gave a chin lift, and received a small smile back, then kicked the bike up a notch and headed for the gate.

I didn’t know exactly where life and the military would take me or what would happen along the way. However, I did know that no matter what took place, it would always bring me back to the Black Hawk MC—my home.

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