Page 64 of When It Reins
“I’ll go,” I volunteer, realizing me and Stetson are the only single—as in not parents—people here. “Juniper might be up for it.”
We settle the details, and I feel a tendril of excitement for the trip. Juniper’s never rode with me, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done a cattle drive. Maybe even over a decade. It was with the Trevors, but I was just a teen when we did it.
Juniper, as far as I know, has never ridden a horse. But there are plenty of safe options for her to get on when we go. If she is up for going.
“You want us to what?” Loki’s incredulous voice doesn’t stop me from continuing what I was asking.
“The bar needs some extra security for this concert Juniper is throwing for Four Foxes.”
Mick frowns and taps his tattooed fingers on the table. There are some designs on them I don’t recognize, and I’m not the type to actually ask for that type of information. “I thought you told her to stay out of it.”
I tilt my head, waiting for my neck to pop, and sigh. “I told her not to mess with David—or Aaron.” I nod at Cheat, who informed us that David is a cover name. His real name is Aaron Tracks. “I told her to stay away from him. However, she made a friend”—I glance pointedly at Loki—“in the community and offered to help raise money for them.”
“We could have done that,” Loki says, his tone piss poor considering Juniper is helping out the community, and we’d beable to keep our operations quiet and his mom from losing her home.
“And everyone in town would love to come to some charity concert thrown by the local biker gang, right?” The sarcastic comment comes from Atlas, our road captain, and I can’t deny that what he’s saying holds some weight.
People don’t like us, and I guess I get why, but they don’t really know us either.
“So, Hero, tell us what you need.” Mick gets us back on track, and I nod.
“She’s gotten Felicity Vogel on board, as well as a band called Broken Hearts, some country band that I guess is popular.”
“Hell yeah. Their guitarist is hot,” one of the members pipes up, then holds his hands up innocently. “What? I’m a fan.”
“Anyway…” Mick drags out the word, prompting me with a raise of his eyebrow.
I take that as my sign to continue, and I do. “Yeah, so they need some extra muscle for the night. We wouldn’t get paid?—”
“Oh, no deal then.”
Someone snickers, and I watch to see Loki’s head nearly explode. The glare he sends down the table is full of wrath, but before it can, I explain to the interrupter why it’s unpaid.
“The money they raise is going to charity, genius.” The redhead kid’s cheeks redden, and I sigh. “We’d only be needed for about four hours. Figure we can do a couple of shifts, and it won’t be a big deal.”
Mick nods, and he points at a few of the guys. “I don’t care how you split up the time, but you’re doing it.” Loki snickers, but Mick’s attention goes straight to him. “You too, asshole.”
“What?” Loki throws his hands up, but the glare from our prez has him backing down, crossing his arms, and pouting at the new chore he was just given.
I smirk, and Mick looks to me. I raise up a hand in defense and say, “I’ve already volunteered.”
“Good.” He sighs, rubbing his forehead, and our road captain frowns. He’s a man of very little words, but Atlas only speaks when absolutely necessary.
“You good, Prez?” His question has the room going quiet, and he nods his head.
“Fine. Just some issues at the brewery.”
“What kind?” Loki demands, looking mad that he wasn’t already told the details. The dude needs to learn some meditation or something, learn how to calm the fuck down.
“Just some management issues.”
“You finally hired someone?” I ask, thinking of the last church meeting when Mick admitted he couldn’t take on the role and run the clubhouse.
“Yes.” His teeth are gritted, and Cheat snickers. “Shut the fuck up.”
“What’s going on?”
“Our new manager just has a certain style.”
