the crazy in our group, Brooks worked as the balance. Calm, responsible, maybe a bit too serious for his own good, he could always be counted on in different ways. He was meticulous, making sure rules were followed and evidence was cleaned up properly, always keeping his cool when the rest of us ran hot.
"I'm not drinking," he said. "I have the morning guard shift," he reminded me.
"Morning is a lot of hours away," I said, shrugging.
"Still," he said, shaking his head.
"Hey, Brooks," I called as he reached for his helmet.
"Yeah?"
"You're in," I told him. "You don't need to keep proving yourself. You're in."
To that, he made some sort of noncommittal noise, started his bike, and pulled off.
I'd known Brooks longer than I'd known the other newer guys, yet I found him harder to get a read on, even after all this time.
On that thought, though, I got on my bike and followed my men to the bar, trying to remind myself that even if I had a gut feeling about something coming, it was alright to unwind a little bit, stop scanning the room, stop inspecting the people who moved in whenever the doors opened.
"Boss Man," Dezi said, slinging an arm around my shoulder, sloshing some of his bottle of whiskey down my cut. "Lots of ladies here tonight. And you're scoping out the dudes. I've walked in on you ramming a woman from behind, so I know you like pussy," he said, making me squeeze my eyes shut to keep calm.
"You walked in on me because you have no fucking manners. You're like a feral dog, going wherever you want to without being invited."
"Oh, but who wouldn't want me around?" Dezi asked, pressing a hand to his heart.
"Me, when I am fucking someone," I reminded him.
"Aw, man, I wasn't doing anything wrong."
"You threw fucking popcorn," I reminded him, still not entirely sure where the popcorn had come from. Unless he'd roped Malc's woman into making him caramel-covered batches or some shit.
"Well, I have my faults," he said, grinning as he released my shoulders, taking a step closer to the bar, leaning forward past Cary who was standing there to look at the woman sitting next to him. "Hey, pretty lady, have you met my friend Cary here?" he asked, jerking his head toward Cary.
And, hey, you had to respect a man who acted as a wingman without even being asked.
"Oh, ah, sorry," the woman said, shrugging. "I don't have daddy issues," she said, grabbing her drink and moving away from a man who, admittedly, could be her father.
"Hey," the woman on the next seat over called, drawing their attention as she patted the abandoned stool. "You're looking for me. Come sit down and tell me what a good girl I am, and how proud you are of my accomplishments," she said, shooting Cary a wicked grin before she took a swig from her beer bottle.
Cary, still somewhat newly out of prison, was happy to be making up for lost time. He shot the woman a devilish smirk as he slid into the seat next to her.
"Good man," Dezi said, slapping his hand into Cary's shoulder. "Alright. I got your little brother and Seth shacked up with some long-legged beauties. Who is left?"
"Brooks," I suggested.
"Brooks headed out a couple minutes ago. The man is allergic to a good time, I swear," Dezi declared, reaching into his pocket for a vape pen, despite there being signs about not using them inside, taking a long drag, then breathing out the smoke into a blueberry-scented cloud in my face. "So that just leaves..."
"Slash," I supplied. "What?" I asked at Dezi's wide-eyed look.
"He scares the chicks away, man!" Dezi declared, voice low.
"Chicks dig scars," I insisted.
"Chicks dig some scars, yeah. But the scars on his face look like a red flag. You know. They almost look like scratch marks, you know?" he said, wincing.
"They're too big and deep for scratch marks."
"Well, you and I know that, but the average woman? Not so much. And if that wasn't enough, there is the dark cloud hanging around him all the time. You think his buddies are the same way?" he asked.
A couple of Slash's men were coming into town for us to get to know before my father and I made a decision about the new chapter.
"Dunno."
"Hope not," Dezi said. "You've been enough doom-and-gloom for us lately," he told me, tssking his tongue at me before turning back to the bar.
It was right then that