Page 25 of Reaper Released

“Okay, is this what my eyes looked like?”

“No, I don’t think so. I mean, does it matter what your eyes look like? It seems like an odd question to me.”

“Okay, give me a second.” I close my eyes and think, okay, bitch, show me what I’m missing here, come out, come out, wherever you are. At that, I can feel my skin buzzing with excitement clenching my fists, my hand shoots up, and I grab Dwayne's throat, throwing my eyes open.

He gasps, then winces out, “That’s it, like that, they looked like that, stormy that’s what they were like, swirling and stormy, almost grey, fuck… Ray, can you let go of my throat now… Please… I might come in my pants if you don’t!”

Shaking myself, I take a step back and take in a deep breath, leaning forward. I hug Dwayne. “Thanks, you don’t know how much that helped.” After, he hugs me back. I don't even flinch or get disgusted like I thought I would. Hmm, maybe I’ve changed. I need to get some kind of contact with Steel, but I think I might wait till after the weekend. Call me chickenshit if you like, but I’m just gonna leave that scab alone a little longer. That’s if I can keep on his good side tomorrow, as there’s no getting away from tomorrow night. Fuck, fuck, fuckety, fuck!

Ray

Ray: Gym, fifteen minutes

Roach: You sure? We worked hard the other day. Don’t you need to rest, you know, with the injury and all?

Ray: Gym, twelve minutes.

Roach: On my way! Chill.

Ray: Dick!

So after keeping Roach busy for an hour, we shower at the gym. I tell him I want to have a drink with him to talk through some new training bits. The kid has been working hard. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have known about Casper. He deserves this. So as we walk down to the clubhouse, we chat about nothing in particular.

Swinging the door open and heading in, everyone’s standing there, waiting. Ares, Steel and Dozer front and centre. The look on Roach’s face is priceless.

“Erm, everything okay, guys? Are you waiting for drinks? If you give me a second, I will be right with you!”

Ares takes a step forward. “Hang on, Roach. Before you go anywhere, we need to talk.”

“Shit, that doesn’t sound good. I can sort it whatever it is, I can fix it, Ares, I’m sure… ”

“Fuck’s sake, Roach, shut the fuck up and listen, knobhead!” I bark out at him, scrubbing my hand down my face and throwing my gym bag in the corner.

“Sorry… Yeah, sorry. Erm, what was it?”

“We’re patching you in, kid!” Ares claps him on the shoulder.

“What the fuck?” He gasps.

“That's right!” Ares chuckles. “You proved yourself loyal by your actions which helped us get out of a tricky situation. Now, you ready to get tatted up?”

“Fuck yeah!” he sings out, and we all clap him on the back. The group parts to find the guy who works at the local tattoo shop, ironically called Tatts, sitting there with a chair and a tattoo machine ready.

Just before Roach makes his way over to the chair, he turns and hugs me, tears in his eyes. “Thanks for believing in me, Reaper, I won't let you down!”

“I know you won’t, kid. Now, go get that tat before the arsehole changes his mind!” I laugh out, and Roach just smiles at me and heads to the chair.

One and a half hours later, he’s finished. He’s been handed a bottle of whisky. Apparently, his drink of choice when he started, and now he’s finished, he has to sit on the bar and drink until the bottle’s empty, or he falls off the bar.

Who makes this shit up? Seriously! I stay till he passes out and is carried to his room, then I slip out the back and head to the van. Operation Avoid Everyone Till After The Trip commences again.

Friday lunch, I’m packed and out the door. Grabbing Scar and heading to Demi’s, we’re on the road.

“Where are we going?” Scar asks for the millionth time. We’ve only just picked Demi up, so we still have a way to go, but, “It’s a surprise” doesn’t seem to be cutting it anymore.

Ah, well, tough shit. They will have to wait. They then decided it would be fun to ask me questions about Steel. You know, just to make me squirm, but fuck them. I will drop them in the middle of nowhere and pick them up on the way back if they keep being arseholes.

Finally, as we pull up to the gate, two security guards in suits with guns come to the window to speak to me, smiling. As they get to the window, one speaks in a heavily accented voice, “Reaper! Nice to see you again. If you drive up to the main doors, someone will be with you to collect your bags and park your… vehicle for you!”

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