Page 5 of Brand
“I’m thinking we should go get tacos tonight,” Chris said and he didn’t even have to say where. There was only one place in town to get tacos. No, I didn’t mean it like there was literally only one place. I meant that after these pulled pork tacos there was no other place you’d want to go. Fresh, local ingredients and smoked just right. My mouth watered at the thought.
“Hell, yeah,” I said feeling the need to wipe the invisible drool I imagined slipping past my lips. “Lake, Ky, and B-ry will be down, too. Sketch?” Chris and I looked over at him.
“I’m down,” he said with a quick shrug.
“I’ll let Ky and Lake know,” Chris said. “I’m headed over there now. My car started making this weird rattling noise about half a mile before I got to the city limits.”
“Sounds good. I’m gonna close up early. It’s not like there’s a damn thing going on here anyway. Meet you there in a few hours?”
“Yep. I’ll get Ky to look at my car and get settled at the club. Later, Sketchy-boy,” Chris called out over his shoulder just as he hit the threshold to the shop. Then he darted out the door and down the street, laughter following behind him.
“Fucker!” Sketch called out, fist raised in the air. “He better watch his nuts around me.”
“You sound really desperate to see his junk, man,” I said jokingly. “You even openly admitted out loud that you want to fondle his sack.”
“So I can tattoo his balls…not so I can…come the fuck on. You’re such an asshole.” He didn’t sound mad in the least. He knew I was only messing with him and that I didn’t mean it even a little.
A few hours later, we were all taking up the huge table in the front window that had a view of the river. Pitchers of beer and tacos were where it was at. And looking around at my loud and happy brothers, was home. My eyes landed on Chris, who unsurprisingly fit right in with everyone there.
I thought more about what he’d said earlier. I was fucking ecstatic that he was moving here. Things finally seemed to be sliding into place.
Sure, it had been hard for me to leave Moon Hill. Something like that shouldn’t have been easy. I left behind a huge part of myself when I made the decision to come down here. But at the same time, it needed to be done. If I was being honest, I had started to feel a bit trapped there. My soul cried for an escape and a chance to fly. Leaving Moon Hill was like leaving your parents house. It would always hold a huge part of my heart, but there just came a time when a boy turned into a man and went off to find his own way. I had no idea if that even made sense.
While there were people I missed back there, there was one that I absolutely hated to leave behind. This fucker that was sitting across from me right now. The same stupid guy that was here to stay.
So yes, things felt amazing right then.
And I loved how he fit right in with the people in my life. Of course, he knew Lake from Moon Hill, so no big surprise that they got along. But he and Ky had grown close over the last year and a half. Lake and Ky were the brothers that I felt the closest to, but then again, I really knew them before we set up this chapter. I’d met Ky while I’d spent time down in the South Carolina chapter. I needed a little distance from Moon Hill and they were able to use an extra pair of hands at their custom bike shop.
“Chris says he’s hitting the beach first thing in the morning,” Lake said, effectively snapping me out of my thoughts. “Who’s going?”
“Hell, I’ll go just to watch him wipe out on his ass,” Ky said, his head fell back as he laughed.
“What?” Chris said tossing him a confused look. “You hate the beach.”
“I don’t hate it. I just don’t trust the ocean. I’m not a big enough idiot to even try and fight her for control. Unlike some people.” Ky shook his head like Chris was stupid for even trying. “I don’t mind sitting on the sand, surrounded by hot women in bikinis. I can do that all day.”
More laughter and I’m sure there wasn’t one of us that would disagree.
“I can’t wait to wake up every morning, toss on some board shorts, and walk out my back door to the sounds of the waves I’m about to ride.” Chris had a smile on his face that rivaled all the ones of the kids on Christmas morning.
“Hey, I’m not saying I don’t like the ocean,” Ky said, snatching up a chip from the basket in the middle of the table. “I even think it might not be so bad having a house on the beach where I could open my windows and let the lullaby of her crashing waves carry me to sleep every night. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go in any further than ankle deep in her.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing, man,” Chris said rolling his eyes.
“I’m good with that,” Ky mumbled, shaking his head. “Brand, you in? You and Lake could use some sun.”
“Not all of us can have a natural tan to our skin,” Lake said tossing a balled up napkin at him. “My mom’s Irish and my dad’s Scottish. I’m lucky I didn’t come out a fiery redhead and covered in freckles.”
More laughter. And to be honest, it wasn’t far from the truth. I spent too much time in the shop and my skin was close to ghostly white at this point.
“I’m in, but only till about eleven. I do have a shop to open,” I said finishing the last bite of my fourth taco.
With a relaxed sigh, I sat back and rubbed my belly. It was satisfyingly full. Beer, chips, salsa, and tacos were all having a crowded party in there.
We sat there for another hour or so. Ky talked about his new pet project. Lake went on about how the garage needed someone to run the front so he wouldn’t have to keep finding receipts everywhere. Lake made sure the paperwork was put away neatly but I could tell he’d rather not be that person.
Sketch told his versions about things I really didn’t need to hear considering it was my shop he was talking about those things happening in half the time. I actually cringed internally every time he shared one of his ‘in my room with the door closed’ stories. If I hadn’t caught him a few times wiping his whole station and chair down afterward, I might have had to say something.
B-ry talked about the locals that came into the bar out of curiosity. Most of the time they were respectful but occasionally there were the ones that were clearly there to shake their head at us. Or sometimes, there were the dumb macho ‘I’m more badass than you’ guys that would come in, get fall down drunk, and toss out fighting words in hopes that one of us would take the bait.
I called it an early night, knowing that Chris would be banging on my door before the sun even hit my windowsill. The shop would be open late tomorrow and I didn’t want to be tired while trying to ink people. I respected my work and my clients too much to do that.
The pieces of my life seemed to be fitting together perfectly, the picture much closer to being whole than before. I almost couldn’t believe how great everything was. But I wasn’t about to question any of it.
