an alley, that could get to her, and your girl…” He shook his head. “That’d damage her.”
Joker finally spoke.
“She’s not my girl.”
Shy’s brows shot together. “The woman brought you pie.”
She did, and he wanted to taste it. Not since Mrs. Heely looked after him did he have that. Not until the old ladies at Chaos threw barbeques and the boys did their hog roasts and anyone found any reason to party, which happened often, and people would bring good food they made to eat.
He wanted to taste the goodness Carissa could put in a pie. There probably was a lot. So much that pie could win awards.
But by then, that pie lying around, he figured his brothers had decimated it.
Joker stopped thinking about the pie and changed the subject, asking Shy, “You sure you wanna be the person to tell me who I can fuck?”
“You can fuck biker skank, fighter groupie, mix ’em up, I don’t give a shit,” Shy replied. “I’m just sayin’, you take the path that leads to her, you wanna keep butterflies in your bed after you get them there, the days of empty pussy are done. I figure you know that, seein’ what Tack has with Cherry, Hop with Lanie, me with Tab. I’m just sayin’.”
Joker grabbed the bottle himself and poured another shot.
After he took it, he again looked to Shy. “Not lookin’ to put butterflies in my bed. But even if I was, she’s not like that, so I wouldn’t get her there.”
“Dress was cheap, brother, same with the shoes. But it was all she had. She put ’em on, did up her face, her hair, and trotted her ass into a den of bikers to bring you a pie. You want butterflies, at this point, you gotta crook your finger. You wanna keep ’em, you gotta be smart.”
“You don’t know Carissa,” Joker told him.
“I know no bitch makes pie for a man she doesn’t have in her sights,” Shy returned.
“Again, you don’t know Carissa,” Joker fired back. “She’s a good girl. I did her a good turn. She’s not the type to let that stand without payback. That’s it.”
“She the type to trick herself out before she does it?” Rush entered the conversation. “I didn’t see her, bro, but word flies. She coulda gone to Tessa’s Bakery and got you some cupcakes. But she made you a pie and tricked herself out to deliver it.”
“Jesus, fuck, who gives a shit about the pie?” Joker bit off.
“You should,” Shy said quietly. Before Joker could return, Shy went on, “You’re settled. You’ve got your patch. You do your thing. You got your brothers’ backs. But it’s not lost on anyone, man, that you are here and you still aren’t. You give what you need to give to your brothers to keep you here and that’s it. You want this family, same’s we all do.” He flipped out a hand. “You earned your place in it. We know it means something to you. But outside what you need to give, you don’t give back jack.”
Joker didn’t like that shit.
“You got a problem with me havin’ my patch?” he asked low.
“I got a problem with a brother I like, a brother I respect, a brother I see reachin’ for somethin’, he gets the dregs, and he’s good with that,” Shy answered. “You haven’t told me, which is part of the problem, but my guess is, whatever family you had sucked. I get that. My parents were murdered, lost the family I liked, got stuck in one I hated. So I found one that worked for me. You found one that worked for you. Time for you to go all in, Joke. And time for you to stop accepting the dregs, reach for what you deserve, and take hold of butterflies.”
Joker turned to Rush. “Does it hit you,” he glanced to Shy, “either a’ you, that this shit is whacked?”
“What shit?” Rush asked.
“This chat,” Joker answered tersely. “I’m not feelin’ it. It’s none of your fuckin’ business, and I’m not good with you makin’ it your business.”
“Then that tells us you’ve never had anyone around that gives a shit enough to make your business theirs so they can do their bit to lead you to happy,” Rush retorted.
Joker clenched his teeth.
“Just to lay it all out,” Rush kept at him. “You can tell yourself, brother, that you don’t wanna catch butterflies, and that might work for you. That might stop you from takin’ a shot at gettin’