my life, and you know it. Would you step up and be my second on this ride we’re takin’? Can I depend on you to be my sounding board, my conscience, my right hand?” Truck nodded and Bane released the patch, turning immediately to Gunny.
Arms wrapped around him and lifted him off his feet. He dangled there a moment, then dropped his head to Gunny’s shoulder and laughed. “Put me down, you bastard.”
Retro hooted, and called, “He’s no Bastard, he’s a Rider.”
“Hell yeah, I’m a Rider, fuck yes.” Gunny set him down, leaning back laughing as Bane slugged his shoulder. “Okay, okay. Let’s do this.”
“I’m fuckin’ tryin’, man.” Bane cut his gaze up at Mason, who was grinning down at him. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Not sayin’ anything one way or the other, man.” Mason’s head shook side to side slowly, his laughter still spilling out.
“Gunny,” Bane snapped, and stared at the man who’d become his good friend in the space of a few days. Forged in fire. “You strike me as a think-everything-through kinda guy, one who’d talk first and react second, and even though I’m fuckin’ lyin’ through my teeth right now, we’re gonna roll with it. Wanna be my enforcer and stand at my back as my SAA?”
“Hell yeah!” Gunny snatched the patches from his hands, cradling them against his chest with a crow. “Hell yeah.”
A truck rolled up the road, slowing and turning in the drive as Bane and the rest of the crowd turned to look. Pulling a livestock trailer, the driver angled around the vehicles already parked to find a level space. The man who swung out was a surprise, and Bane cursed as he recognized him.
“What’s Heames Junior doing here?”
“Delivering our club mascot.” Gunny stalked to Sharon and wrapped an arm around her, bending her backwards with a kiss. “Hold this for me, sweetness.” He shoved his vest and the loose patches into her hands, turned and walked to where the Kentucky lawman was standing staring at all the silent glares aimed his way. Gunny approached, stuck out a hand and shook, which had Mason muttering, “The fuck is he up to now.”
A distinct sound split the air, and Bane turned to stare at Myrt, finding her looking just as surprised as he was. “Hey, Gunny,” he called, catching the man’s attention as the gate of the trailer swung out and down, creating a ramp. “What the hell you talkin’ about, mascot?”
Heames disappeared from view only to reappear with the end of a lead rope in his hands. He passed the rope to Gunny and stood at the top of the ramp, apparently waiting on whatever was going to happen next.
“Club mascot, Prez.” Gunny pulled steadily on the rope, backing down the ramp. Putting one dainty hoof in front of the other, a gray donkey came into view. “People always callin’ me a jackass, figured we might as well have one around.”
“Uh, that’s a donkey, not a jackass.” Bane looked up at Mason again and caught him grinning. “Swear to God, you did this on purpose.”
“He’s yours now.” Mason threw up his hands. “Every good leader needs one immediate problem to solve.”
“And Gunny’s mine?”
“No, man, the donkey is.”
“I’m gonna call him Randy.” Gunny looped the rope around the corner post of the porch, the donkey standing placidly behind him, one hip cocked in an easy stance. “Seems fitting.”
“Why, pray tell, does naming a donkey Randy seem fitting?” Bane motioned Myrt to him and wrapped an arm around her neck, then pulled her close as he dropped a kiss against the side of her head.
“Because—”
“Randy!” Gunny’s words were interrupted by an excited shout from the kids, and Bane looked up to see Thad pelting across the field. The boy had the widest smile Bane had witnessed on his face, and he arrowed straight to the donkey, threw his arms around the animal’s neck and held on tightly.
“Because the donkey’s name is Randy,” Myrt murmured next to him, and he looked down. “Not as in a proper name, but because he’d mount anything that stood still. So not such a great name.”
Bane rolled his eyes and buried his face in Myrt’s neck, laughing. “Sounds about right.”
Chapter Fourteen
Bane
He stood and stretched, hands in the middle of his back as he looked over his handiwork. In the months since his charter was delivered and chapter begun, the main floor of the downtown clubhouse had come together quickly, but the second floor had taken more time.