Page 26 of Found Through Fire

“Did you text her yet?” I ask, surprised that Blitz gave it to him after seeing how much he cares about her.

“Yeah, I did, before I came over here. I’m waiting for a reply.” I can hear the nerves in his voice.

“What did you say?” I ask, trying to get him to elaborate. He is a man of few words, and it pisses me off sometimes.

“I said that I was hoping that we could meet again and start over. That I am sorry about what I said about Mom before I knew the facts,” he says as his phone dings. He doesn’t say anything else as he unlocks it and reads the message. He types a reply and stands up abruptly. My interest is piqued as he startsto grab his stuff like he is in a hurry, knowing that it isn’t club related since I didn’t get a message.

“What’s up?” I ask when he still doesn’t say anything. I’m the rude one out of the two of us. He needs to stop stealing my thing.

He looks up at me surprised, like he forgot I was there in his rush to get out the fuckin’ door. “She texted back. She said that she is heading out of town on a job tomorrow, but she has some time now,” he says over his shoulder as he heads towards the door.

“Need back up? Now that we know she could probably take you,” I say jokingly, hoping that he says yes, and I can go meet her.

“Nah, I got this. I think it’s better if it is one on one again. I’ll catch you at the clubhouse later,” he says as he opens the door and walks out, closing it behind him. Not having anything else to do, I take the effort and turn on my music. I’m going to be here for a while.

After a few hours of finishing up the bike at the shop, I head back to the clubhouse. Parking in my usual spot in front, I see Smoke’s bike already there.

I walk in and breathe a sigh of relief that there is no party tonight and head towards our rooms. I hear voices as I turn the corner.

Griz is in Smoke’s doorway, speaking in hushed words. “You have to let me talk to her! Blitz wouldn’t give me her number because of mine and Lilly’s history. I should get to know my daughter,” Griz says, moving to get into Smoke’s face. It’s hilarious when he tries to intimidate him like when we were young. Smoke is the same height as him, and more built.

“She doesn’t want to even hear about you! She didn’t mention you once the two times that I have been around her. She knows about you, and she didn’t ask! She has a dad and is a grown ass woman! If you see her in town, or if for some reasonshe comes here, you stay the fuck away from her. You made your choice and have your fucked up little family that you wanted. Just leave it!” Smoke yells in his face, not backing down from Griz at all.

Griz turns, sees me walking up, then turns back to Smoke. “We are finishing this later,” he spits out and stomps away.

I walk to his door, and he steps aside to let me in. When I get in the room, I turn around to face him as he walks to his desk chair and sits down, rubbing his forehead to try and get rid of the headache that is forming after dealing with Griz’s bullshit. I walk over to his bed and take a seat, waiting to see if he volunteers any information or if I’m going to have to ask.

“How’d it go?” I ask him after giving him a second to collect himself.

“It was fine. It’s weird as fuck to be around a family that likes each other,” he answered, sounding as tired as he looked.

“Are you going to see her again?” I ask, needing more information.

“Yeah, I’m dropping her off at the airport tomorrow. I guess she has a job out of the country, so we exchanged numbers. We will text while she is gone and hang out when she comes back,” he says with a smile slowly forming.

“Where is the job?” I hate that he isn’t really giving me anything. I know that he keeps things close to his chest, but damn it! It’s starting to annoy me.

“She said Colombia. I guess she flies out tomorrow. I pick her up tomorrow morning and drop her off.” It must have gone a lot better than he is saying if he is volunteering to spend time with her one-on-one again. I know he would rather be shot in the foot than spend any time alone with Maggie.

“I’m glad you guys are starting over. What time should I be ready?” I ask as I stand up and stretch. He looks at me confused.

“Well, I think it is time that I met her. I am your best friend, and the best judge of character that there is. You will need back up if shit goes sideways,” I say like he should know all of this.

This is where I’m at, seeing as he hasn’t bothered to invite me. He should know that we always deal with shit together. I need to check out these people before he gets his hopes up, and I need to meet my future wife, but I’ll keep that part to myself for now.

“We leave here at 8:30,” he answers after a second. I’m a little surprised that he is going with me on this, but I shrug it off and walk towards the door of my room, shutting it behind me. I take off my clothes and get in the shower. Mine and Smoke’s rooms are the only two rooms in the clubhouse that have bathrooms attached, another solid reason that I have not lost my shit yet.

Tomorrow, I am going to meet the love of my life, and she doesn’t even know it yet. We already have so much in common: we ride bikes, live in the same town, and we both like hunting down people. If that isn’t the foundation of a solid relationship, I don’t know what is.

CHAPTER 10

WILLOW

Walking back into my house after returning Sophia to Uncle Mark, I start to feel the adrenaline crash that still creeps up on me, no matter how many times I do this. My movements are sluggish as I start removing my weapons and holsters, setting them on the desk that I have by the door to catch all of my random shit. I’ll clean and pack them again later after I recoup from today.

I leave a trail of my clothes from the front door to my bedroom. I’m generally a clean person. Some could argue I go a bit overboard when it comes to keeping my house in order, but after a job, nothing comes between me and my shower. I’ll take care of it when I’m ready.

I get to my bathroom and turn on the water. I had the entire kitchen and primary bathroom renovated before I moved in. I fell in love with this old Victorian house the second I saw it: the vaulted ceilings, original crown moldings, and hardwood floors. It came with two acres so I could build my garage and gym, and still have space for a garden. I don’t like to leave my house more than I need to, and when I do, it’s usually for work or to hang out with my family, so I need lots of space for my hobbies.