Joker (Hell's Ankhor #8) - Aiden Bates Page 0,5
the same having him as president. I missed Ankh. Ankh was the father I’d always wished my own dad had been. He listened to me, really listened, and didn’t judge me. He made me feel accepted. Like I really belonged with the club. And it wasn’t that Blade didn’t accept me. He was a good president, and the club was doing well under his leadership, but it just… It wasn’t the same. I couldn’t open up to him as easily as I could Ankh.
I used to be able to talk to Priest, too, but ever since Ankh’s death, I’d backed off a little. I didn’t want to burden him with my problems when he was clearly grappling with pain of his own. I understood that kind of grief all too well, and my problems weren’t important enough to warrant taking up his energy.
Blade leaned against the rail of the back porch with a beer dangling loosely from his fingers. Beau and Tru were on the porch as well, and paused in their conversation with Heath, Dante, and Maverick after Blade spoke. Even Priest and Mal glanced up from the grill set up in the yard near the porch.
“Beer, Brennan?” Blade asked as he pulled a bottle from the cooler near his feet. Brennan paused, glancing around the porch like he was deciding if he should stay, but then nodded. He brushed past me to stand next to Blade, accepting the beer with a murmured thanks.
“Brennan did a great job on Stella’s,” Blade explained, pinning me with his discerning gaze. “And now Beau’s house is coming out great, as well. With the clubs coming together, we need a lot more space in the clubhouse, so I’ve hired Brennan and his crew to do some reno.”
Fuck. So that meant Brennan would be around a lot. I leaned back heavily against the exterior of the clubhouse and crossed my legs at the ankle. I knew I had a sour expression, but I didn’t care. I’d already pissed Blade off, so there was no point in sucking up to him now. I still had the half-finished carving in my hand, and I turned it over restlessly, running my fingers over the edges to soothe my nerves.
“As it gets colder, we’re not going to be able to do our training sessions in the backyard,” Blade continued. “So we’re gutting the gym downstairs to make it a lot bigger. Getting rid of that nasty changing room, too, and moving it upstairs. Then after that, we’re going to reno the kitchen so there’s more space and functionality for the size of the club.”
“Damn,” I muttered. “That’s a lot.”
“And after that, depending on the club coffers, we might look into adding a few cabins on the property,” Blade said. “So the new couples can have some onsite privacy.”
It made sense. The Elkin Lake clubhouse had more land than the Crew Motel, and, in all honesty, it was a little nicer. The Crew Motel had more private rooms available, but not nearly as much big, open common space.
Despite the fact that it was Brennan who would be leading these renovations, I was a little excited that they were happening.
“It’s really going to be nice,” Dante said. “I mean, Stella’s looks great. The clubhouse is going to look even better.”
“And it’ll be easier to throw events like this,” Maverick agreed. “Private events at the clubhouse, and public events at Ballast.”
Clearly the inner circle had discussed this already. I wasn’t upset about that—that was their job, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to look at the club books. But since I wasn’t in the inner circle, I didn’t get a real say. Just thinking about the renovations had ideas popping up, though. I could imagine the way I would do it—a big bar and kitchen island in the center, with a natural finish and edges. Like a centerpiece that would fit all of the members at church but wouldn’t look out of place in the space.
But that wasn’t my job in the club. Why would any of them be interested in hearing my ideas? And it’s not like I could offer any real design help beyond the ideas. What would I do as soon as someone asked me how big it should be? I could do it by sense, by feel, but I couldn’t tell them any actual numbers.
It was so fucking embarrassing. I’d dropped out of school at fourteen to help my family take care of my brother, but