Page 18 of Joy Ride

7

Walker stepped outside, but even before he could shut the door, Dane was there, shoving through it onto the porch.He closed it firmly behind him, checking over his shoulder to make sure Joy wasn’t about to follow suit.

“Where are you going?”Dane asked, putting one hand on Walker’s arm.

He shrugged it off.“To talk to Quinn and make sure we can live up to all those promises we just made.They deserve to know what’s going on, and if they ask us to leave, we’ll have to do it.”

Dane grimaced.“I’ll go with you.”

“No, stay here with Joy.Keep watch over her and Arden just in case someone shows up.”Walker scrubbed his hands over his face as if he’d been awake far longer than the past twenty-four hours.“Angus is my piece-of-shit father.I’ve got to be the person to put an end to this, once and for all.He’s fucked up too much in our lives already.Enough is enough.”

“It’s not your fault, you know.”Dane kept his voice calm when Walker wanted to shout at the stars.“You can’t control who you’re born to and what decisions they make.”

“That only makes it worse.I can’t stop it.And yet I need to do everything I can to make sure he’s not going to hurt Joy or you anymore.Either directly or because of the consequences of his dirty deeds.”

“Noteverything, though.Right?”Dane narrowed his eyes.

“If me rejoining Wildfire will get him to leave the three of you alone, to be a family, I’ll do it.”Walker gritted his teeth.If he donned the club colors and became VP under his father, it would be the end of the man Dane and Joy knew.They wouldn’t want him back.He was afraid because he could so easily become exactly what his father had always wanted if he wasn’t careful.

Without Dane and Joy, he’d lose touch with his positive emotions, all the things that made him a slightly decent human being.If he shut down that side of himself to survive, he had it in him to be ruthless.Just like his father.

He wouldn’t stop at second in command.He’d take over.He’d make both Clive and Angus pay.It would be easy to embrace the hatred they inspired in him.He would succeed.

Walker would make his father pay for ruining his life.

And he would sacrifice every last shred of the man Dane and Joy cared about in the process.It would still be worth it, for them.

“Youaremy family, Walker.”Dane’s mouth twisted as if he’d bitten into a lemon.“If you don’t get that by now, maybe you’re right.Maybe I should focus on something—someone—else.”He glanced over his shoulder.

“Go on.”Walker jerked his chin toward their tiny home and the woman who’d already filled it to overflowing with life and love.It seemed warmer than it had since they’d built the thing, despite the freezing winter morning.

Dane shook his head.Still, he did as they both knew he would and went back to Joy…and Arden.After a few deep, calming breaths, Walker jogged down the stairs and across the lawn toward Hot Rides, where he could see lights on in the garage despite the early hour.

Since everyone who worked there lived in tiny homes—or a converted campervan in Ollie, Kyra, and Van’s case—they’d taken to gathering in the shop’s break room for meals and socializing.At least in the current weather conditions.During warmer months, they had an outdoor gathering area complete with picnic tables and a fire pit where they hung out together.With the Powertools crew in town, they’d drawn up plans to add a pavilion with an outdoor kitchen, some bench swings, and maybe even a pool down the road.

Though their individual living quarters were tight, it didn’t feel constricting given the enormous workspace of the shop, the woods around them to explore, and their shared places.For Walker, the Hot Rides and Hot Rods compounds struck the perfect balance between privacy and the pack mentality he’d been used to first in Angus’s motorcycle club and later in the military.

In every way, Hot Rides felt like home…but better.

Especially now that both Dane and Joy were here with him.

If there was even the smallest chance he could keep it that way, he had to try.

Walker marched into the garage, prepared to answer the questions written on everyone’s faces when he stepped into the break room.He chuckled, then said, “I guess one benefit to a New Year’s Eve without alcohol is no one’s wrestling with a hangover this morning.”

Gavyn grunted at that.“I told you guys you can drink if you want.Just because I can’t…no, don’t even want to anymore…”

Amber leaned in to kiss her husband’s temple and smile.It had been a long, hard recovery for the man, but he was winning, day by day.If he could beat the odds, maybe Walker could defy his own circumstances.He’d never had that kind of positive role model before, though suddenly he seemed to be surrounded by them.

“Nah, we had plenty of fun without booze.”Trevon reassured the Hot Rides garage owner.His wife, Devra, and their husband, Quinn, agreed.

“We sure did,” added Devra, a petite Middle Eastern woman with a wicked grin.“Better to go home able to party in private rather than too drunk to do anything about all the energy we worked up dancing.”

Wren turned to Devra and put her hand out for a high five.“That’s what I’m talking about.”

“No wonder you guys look nearly as beat as Walker,” Gavyn teased before sobering up.“Did you sleep at all?”

“Nah.”He shook his head before plopping into a seat beside Van.The beefy man sat next to his girlfriend Kyra and their boyfriend, Ollie.Across from them, Kason, Wren, and Jordan were huddled together too.It was enough to make him crazy given the fact that he’d left Dane and Joy behind in their cabin.

---