Page 20 of Odin
While I made coffee this morning, Crow told me all about how Tarynn got Willow to agree to doing something fun and funky with her hair before she dyed it back to her regular dark brown. They wanted to go with a unicorn something, and it would take a whole lot of extra time. Willow wanted to see their dog too, and she’d agreed to everything before she fell asleep.
Apparently, Tarynn arrived bearing coffee, and no matter how tired the women both were, their excitement outweighed the need for extra sleep.
I’d just sat down and was sipping the extra strong coffee, opting for four shots of espresso instead of three, when Tyrant and Wizard found us in the kitchen. There’d been a strong storm up at the club’s cabin during the night. A large tree branch had fallen on the pole in the yard where the majority of the club’s cameras are kept.
Since I’d helped Atlas and Willa set up security at Willa’s antique store they were wondering if I’d ride out and get things back online. The club recently put up a massive cell tower in the yard, so I’d have decent reception to call back for instruction. Since he was sitting right there, Crow offered to come with me. Tyrant wanted to join us for a ride, but he promised Lark that he’d spend most of the day shopping for their daughter Penny’s back to school stuff.
Most of the other guys in the club were still sleeping, and there wasn’t any point in waking anyone else’s hungover asses up. I’m always eager to take my bike out, so Tyrant didn’t have to twist my arm very hard.
A few hours to the cabin, a few hours back on a nice afternoon with the sun beating down on our faces? I can’t think of a better way to spend the day.
I’ve never known Wizard to be wrong about anything before, and now that he has Dravin taking on a large portion of the security for the club, he’s not so overworked and so stressed. Far less chance of making a mistake that way. My gut spins over as soon as we make it past the winding, ancient corduroy road. There were no signs of a storm on the road—no branches or leaves scattered from the trees littered over the gravel surface, and the road itself was still in good shape.
The storm could have been localized, but as we enter the clearing, the area is completely devoid of any debris. The cabin that we spent so much time renovating as a club, stands just as proud and straight as it did a few weeks ago when we were here doing summer family campout with all the old ladies, wives, and kids. The tower that Dravin and Wizard put up for cell reception and internet for the security cameras, is in perfect shape. The cameras located all around the yard on that tower, and on the cabin itself, even the ones in the trees lining the clearing, all appear to be fine.
If I was a different sort of man, I’d say that I’d ridden straight into a trap, but of course my brain doesn’t go there. If Wizard said the cameras are down, then they’re down for some other reason. We’re here, and we’ll get it straightened out.
Crow isn’t the kind to offer shit eating grins like a total motherfucker, but as he strips off his brain bucket, that’s exactly what I get. For a second, I consider that he might have let Raven out to enjoy a lovely afternoon up here, and if that’s the case, then I’m down for it. He might be far more prone to violence and wild emotions, but he’s funny as hell and I appreciate that dry, irreverent sense of humor.
Something snaps on the far side of the yard, the wind rushing through the branches far too strong to be right. My head jerks around, one hand on the handlebars of my bike since I just shut it off and haven’t even dismounted or turfed my brain bucket yet, the other shooting down into my right boot to reach for my knife.
“Surprise!” Tarynn yells as she races out of the woods, long pink hair streaming behind her.
My brain blips out, refusing to compute the fact that she’shere. And that right beside her, arms wide, long black dress snapping in the breeze, her very unchanged, golden hair a halo around her absolutely radiant face, is Willow.
“Happy birthday!” Her shout echoes through the quiet space, so loud and confident that it seems like her voice bounces off the mountains looming in the distance above the treetops and comes bouncing back down at me.
Crow smirks at me as he steps into my line of vision. He opens his arms and Tarynn runs into them like she hasn’t seen him for months.
Willow walks through the tall grass, towards me, elegant as a goddess even in her simple dress and sandals.
All the weird tension I sensed back at the club wasn’t stress. It was this. They were all in on the surprise. I’m still sitting down on my bike, but if I wasn’t, I’d be rocked back on my heels. It takes a damn awful lot to set me aback, but the fact that I’d forgotten all about my birthday while somehow Willow learned of it and made this happen? That does my head in.
I swing my leg over my bike, making sure it’s balanced properly on the gravel drive before I clip my helmet over the handlebars. Willow stops right in front of me, hands clasped at her waist. She’s not going to launch herself at me or cling to me the way Tarynn is doing to Crow and for just a split second, that’s almost disappointing, before I catch myself.
What am I even thinking?
I’m not some secret romantic, and even if I believed I wasn’t too old, this woman is not for the likes of me. She’s kind, beautiful, andyoung. The kind of young where she has her whole life ahead of her. After last night, she probably sees me as a father figure, and not just because I’m Preston’s dad. It’s because I kept her safe. Offered her a listening ear and a shelter on a long night.
“Happy birthday,” she repeats softly, so much emotion in her tone that I find it hard to swallow. Her eyelashes flutter down over eyes almost the same color as the cloudless sky overhead.
“Well, we’re off,” Crow states. He’s not the kind of man who laughs at anything, but when he gets a look at my incredulous expression, he loses the battle trying to contain a chuckle. “Between our schedules, we haven’t had a proper date night in ages, let alone a full day together. I did my part bringing you up here. Tarynn rode with Willow so that we could spendthe day riding together. You have the all clear from Tyrant and Raiden to stay the night and head back tomorrow. Whether you remember your own birthday or not, you should be able to spend the whole dayliving.”
There’s nothing untoward implied in it, but I can’t help but squirm uncomfortably.
“I packed a picnic,” Willow says hopefully, scanning my face like she can see all the way down to a soul I didn’t realize was solonelyfor something I can’t even define. “I’ve never been camping before.”
Shit. That’s what does it. I’d be a special brand of bastard if I denied her this experience after she put so much effort into making it special, all because I don’t feel like it’sappropriate. This isn’t the Victorian era. She doesn’t need a damn chaperone.
“There’s plenty of food in the fridge and I checked on the cupboards, just to make sure they’re stocked,” Tarynn says. She turns to Crow again, still encircled by his arms, and kisses his cheek. It’s so sweet, but also somehow totally indecent followed up by the look of sheer longing they share.
The air erupts with electricity, sparking so furiously that I’m astounded the sky hasn’t clouded over, bolts of lightning aren’t shooting straight to the ground, and the whole clearing isn’t on fire.
“Aww,” Willow sighs. “You two are so freaking cute. Have a great time and thank you one billion percent for everything!”
Crow isn’t going to hang around and let anyone change their mind. Willow is an adult, she has her own car here, and the place has security. He has no qualms about leaving her with me. Then again, why should he? We’ve been club brothers for a longtime. He knows that not only would I not harm a fly that didn’t deserve it, I’d fuck up anyone who tried.
Maybe not a fly, but a puppy or something.
