Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ian
One month later
“Well, thanks for having me again, everyone. Before we start, I just wanted to update you on what is happening with my father. He’s doing a lot better, and he seems to be responding well to the treatment. I spoke to the doctor and he said that he’ll be up and running in no time. Well, maybe not running, but definitely riding,” I said, and everyone laughed.
I looked around at the sea of familiar faces and smiled. Considering I hadn’t wanted to ever take over from my father, I was surprised at how good it felt to be up there. Having the responsibility seemed to have changed me too. I no longer felt the need to snap at people or to be rude to them. I was in charge of the club, so I had to be amicable and adaptable. And, as it turned out, I wasn’t half as bad as that as I had always thought I was.
“Okay, I think that about wraps it up,” I said once the meeting was done. “Thank you all for coming. I’ll hang around for a while, so if you have any questions, please come and talk to me.”
I walked down and saw Patriot walking my way. He’d been the only person that I’d felt a bit nervous about seeing. After all, not so long ago, my father had given him the job and then taken it away from him. And even though I kept meaning to talk to him about it, I didn’t. Then it felt as if it was too late to say anything, so I’d just left it.
“You did good,” he said to me as I got nearer. “How about I buy you a beer?”
“A beer sounds great. Thank you.”
We walked over to the bar and ordered our beers. When it arrived, we touched glasses and cheered to our father. I took a sip and then looked at him.
“So, you’re not upset?”
“About what?” he said. He seemed genuinely unsure of what I was talking about.
“Uh, about being in charge? I know Dad gave you the job after the whole mess-up with the media.”
“Are you kidding me? I was so relieved when he called to tell me that you had demanded to have it back.”
“Relieved? I thought you wanted to do this?”
“Since when?”
I thought about it. He hadn’t actually told me that he wanted the job. I’d just assumed. And apparently, I’d assumed wrong.
“So, you never wanted to be in charge?”
“Hell no. This is so not my thing. And it felt wrong considering I’ve been AWOL for quite some time. I know I’ve been hanging around more lately, but I’ve missed so many meetings, and I haven’t been nearly as involved as you are. I’d feel like a hypocrite standing up there in front of everyone. Especially when there are people that are far more deserving of the position.”
“No kidding,” I said thoughtfully. “Well, I clearly got that one wrong.”
“Yeah, you got a lot of things wrong. You were never really willing to give me a chance, were you?”
“I’m sorry. I just always thought you were Dad’s favorite.”
“He doesn’t have a favorite, and he never has. He just doesn’t push me for this stuff because he knows I don’t want to do it. That’s why he’s so hard on you: because he’s always wanted you to take over the business. We could all see that you’d be perfect for the job. Only you couldn’t see it. And trying to convince you of something is not easy, trust me.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m starting to see that now. Well, thanks for the support, Patriot. I appreciate. You’re a good brother.”
“Whoa. You really have changed.”
“I suppose I have.”
We sat for an hour or so, just talking about old times. I’d forgotten what a funny guy Patriot was, and how much fun he was to be around when I wasn’t so annoyed at him. As I left, we made a promise to get together more often. I realized that we both knew very little about each other’s lives.
When I got home, I smelled something amazing coming from the kitchen. I turned the corner and saw that Eliza was stirring the food, wearing an apron, a pair of blue sneakers, and nothing else. I only realized when she turned around and I saw her bare bottom.
“Seriously? I get to come home to this? A naked woman cooking me dinner?”
She untied the ribbon of the apron, and I watched as it fell to the floor.
“Almost naked,” she said and pointed to her shoes.
“Leave them on, Lashes.”
We made love in the living room, away from the hot plates on the stove, and afterward, we sat in robes while we tucked into some Chinese food that she’d created.
“This is amazing,” I said as I attempted to pick up the noodles with my chopsticks.
She handed me a fork and laughed. “I’m glad you like it. I’m starting to get more creative in the kitchen. Mae made this for John the other day, and she said it was a big hit.”
“I can see why. It’s excellent. You’re excellent, too.”
She laughed. “How did the meeting go?”
“It went well. I’m not as bad at it as I thought I would be. The last time was good, but this time was even better. I was way less nervous. Oh, and afterward I went for a beer with Patriot.”
“Oh yeah? And you’re still smiling?”
“He’s not such a bad guy after all. Oh, and I invited him out for dinner next week with us.”
“With us?”
“Well, I want him to meet my girlfriend.” What I didn’t tell her was that it was the first time I was ever introducing a girl to a member of my family. I’d never even asked a girl to be my girlfriend before.
“And I’d love to meet him, too.”
We sat for a while just talking and laughing, and I couldn’t believe that I had met someone as wonderful as her. Who would’ve thought that the woman of my dreams would be a sneaker-wearing Californian girl who loved wearing yellow? She was everything my previous hookups were not. They were always dark and gloomy, but she was all sunshine.
“Thank you for dinner, Lashes. And for the incredible greeting. I think you should always walk around in aprons.”
She chuckled. “It’s my pleasure. Don’t you remember the plan from ages ago? Sex first so that you’ll always like what I cook you.”
“Well, it seems to be working,” I said.
She leaned over and kissed me, and was just about to take my plate away when I stopped her.
“I love you,” I blurted out. I hadn’t meant to say it with so much haste. Hell, I hadn’t expected to say it at all. I was just going to tell her how much I liked her. But the word love had just popped out. I started to panic and was just about to backtrack when she took my hand.
“I love you, too.”