something close to a purr. “Oh, Mal, I sure hope you will.”
Disgust raced through me, making my stomach turn uncomfortably. Fuck, I never should’ve answered the phone. Now I’d fueled this asshole’s chase, and his messages were only bound to increase. I hung up the phone and set it a little too firmly on the counter.
When I turned around Dante and Tru were watching me with their eyes wide. “Who was that?”
The last thing I needed was another reason for Dante and Tru to stick their noses into my business. Stefan was an irritant, but I could handle him myself. “No one,” I said with an eyeroll. “Telemarketers won’t leave me alone these days.”
“Dad…”
“Thanks for the drink, guys,” I said. “I’m really going to bed now.”
I left Dante and Tru alone in the kitchen, hurrying up the stairs before they could ask any more prying questions. I could handle Stefan. I could handle the aching new feelings I had for Priest. The combination of these problems was beginning to itch, though. For so long I’d considered hookups to be the safe option—a way to keep my sex life and my home life delineated, to ensure things were stable for my club and my son.
But the ease and speed with which Stefan had chucked a wrench into my life made me nervous. Made me wonder if the hookups were worth it—or if it was time to try something new. But right now, I just needed some time alone to get my head on straight.
6
Priest
I leaned an elbow against the bar with a cold pint of beer in my hand. It was a chilly night, and Ballast was busy, but only with club members. We’d closed the door to civilians for the night so we could welcome our three new prospects properly. Since it was technically a special occasion, nearly all the members had turned out. It made for a warm, comforting environment, with Coop and Jazz behind the bar, Star and Gunnar enforcing, and everyone else catching up, laughing in the warmly lit space.
Nix and Dawson were here as well, both with tall, fancy mocktails that Jazz had whipped up for them. They weren’t going to stay long—Nix had made that clear—but I was thrilled to see that Dawson felt comfortable enough to drop by Ballast. Maybe in the future we’d start having events like this at Stella’s.
I was chatting with Mark and Paul, the two fresh-faced high school seniors looking to apprentice at Ankhor Works. Both of them had mocktails, too, substantially less fancy than Nix’s and Dawson’s. They were sweet kids, but they were just that—kids. I could hardly believe how young they looked to me. Didn’t even look old enough to have a regular driver’s license, let alone a motorcycle license. It made me feel old—and yet, I was glad to have that kind of youthful energy around, to keep me on my toes. Mark and Paul both seemed like the kind of high-energy, eager-to-learn guys we needed around.
Xavier was late, though. That was already a negative mark in my book—this was an important event, and showing up late, to me, demonstrated that the club wasn’t a priority. He was older, though, and I knew life sometimes got in the way. I only hoped he had a good excuse, and that I hadn’t wasted my time offering him a prospect position.
“So, yeah,” Mark was saying, holding his drink a little nervously as he glanced around the room. “I’m hoping to go to trade school after a couple years working, to become a certified mechanic.”
“And I’m thinking welding school,” Paul said with a nod. “But same, neither of us really want to jump straight into more school.”
“That’s smart,” I said. “Get some life experience under your belt before you decide what direction to go in.”
“Yeah, don’t do what I did,” Coop said, butting into the convo as he slid Maverick, who’d just sidled up, a pint of beer. “Which is try to go straight to regular college and flunk the fuck out with a bunch of debt.”
“Jeez,” Paul said, cringing. “No one told you not to go?”
“They did, but…”
Then, the back door to Ballast opened, and I stopped paying attention to Coop’s familiar narrative about his failed college escapades. Mal stepped inside from the back porch, with his arm swung around Blade’s shoulder as he laughed uproariously at something Blade had said. It was hard to focus on anyone else in the room when Mal laughed like that, booming