It had been a long time since a woman had turned my head, but when she walked into the diner, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was one good looking woman with long, dark hair and coal-black eyes. It wasn’t simply because she was beautiful. No. It was so much more than that. There was light inside of her, one that shined deep within her. As a man filled with darkness, I found myself drawn to it. I hadn’t realized just how long I’d been hungry for it until I saw her. Now, I would use any excuse to get close to it. When I noticed her struggling with her bag of takeout, I took my chance. I went over and reached for her food, lifting it out of her hands just before she dropped it on the floor. I followed her out to her car, and as we started talking, I found myself more intrigued than ever. I couldn’t get enough of her, and with every piece of information she shared, I only became hungry for more. She simply captivated me, and I didn’t want our conversation to end. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice. She was ready to leave and her friend was still inside the diner. Without thinking of the consequences, I volunteered to send her out. After I took one more lingering look, I went back inside and sent the blonde bombshell on her way.

As soon as she walked out the door, Runt turned to me and started bitching, “What the fuck was that?”

“Her friend was out there waiting for her.” I couldn’t blame him for being pissed. There was no doubt that the hot, little number was into him, and I’d ruined his chance of hooking up with her.

“So what? She could’ve kept waiting,” he growled.

“Come on, Runt.” Murphy chuckled. “It’s not like you didn’t get her number. You’ll still get your chance.”

“Maybe … if Blaze doesn’t fuck that up, too.” He looked over at me and shook his head. “Fucking cock-block.”

Thankfully, Cyrus came over and distracted him by asking, “You guys need anything else?”

“I couldn’t eat another bite, brother.”

Murphy turned and looked at the crowd of folks behind us. “Looks like another busy night.”

“You ain’t kidding, brother.” Cyrus chuckled as he said, “I need a beer and foot rub.”

“If you’re looking for volunteers, you’re barking up the wrong fucking tree, brother.”

While it sucked to hear that he was having a rough day, it was good to see that the restaurant was doing so well. Having a big crowd meant that money was changing hands—lots of money—and that was always a good thing, especially for the club. We’d been using Daisy Mae’s to cycle funds for years, and we were lucky enough to have Cyrus and his sister, Louise, to keep things going. We all knew they argued like cats and dogs, but whether they liked to admit it or not, they made a good team. Cyrus was one hell of a cook and his sister was great at running numbers; with the two of them running the show, they’d made quite a name for our little diner. He gave me a go to hell look as he said, “I’d rather have a finger in my ass than have your hands on my damn feet, asshole.”

“I guess it depends on whose finger was in your ass.” Runt snickered.

“Alright, I’ve had enough of this shit,” Murphy complained as he stood up.

“Where you running off to?”

“Got an early one tomorrow,” he told us as he tossed a twenty on the counter. “Since it’s a new dealer, Gus wants me with T-Bone and Lowball when they pick up that shipment in Arkansas.”

“You gonna be back in time to help me pull the engine out of that Chevy tomorrow afternoon?” I asked.

“Planning on it.” As he started for the door, he looked over to Runt and said, “Don’t forget to call that nurse. You wait too long, and she might come to her senses about you.”

“Keep talking smack, wise-ass, and see what it gets ya,” Runt barked.

Murphy shook his head and smiled as he walked out the front door. Once he was gone, Cyrus asked, “Did y’all hear what happened with the Southeast Rogue Riders?”

“Yeah, somebody smoked their clubhouse and their strip club last night,” Riggs answered as he emptied his glass of tea.

“What the fuck?” I barked.

“Yep. Somebody leveled the motherfuckers.” Cyrus started clearing the dirty dishes from the table as he continued, “Nothing left but a pile of rubble and ash.”

“What the hell? Any idea who was behind it?”

“Not a clue.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Who’d want to fuck with them?” Runt asked.

“Beats the hell out of me, but I gotta say … I don’t have a good feeling about it.” A concerned look crossed Cyrus’s face as he said, “Maybe I’m wrong, but where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire. We need to keep our eyes and ears open.”

“Agreed. Does Gus know about all this?”

“Yeah. You know him. He’s the first to know everything.”

I looked down at my watch, and when I saw how late it had gotten, I reached for my wallet. After I tossed my money down on the counter, I stood up and said, “I gotta get to the house. Let me know if you hear anything else about the Rogues.”

“Will do, brother.”

After I left the diner, I went home and crashed, and from the time I got up the next morning, I’d been set on go. If I wasn’t busting my ass in the garage, I was helping Mom out with something at the house or tossing the football with Kevin. By the time Friday rolled around, I was exhausted, so when Riggs and Runt asked me to head down to Beale Street with them, I turned them down. I had no desire to spend the night out with those two, especially since Kevin had a game the next day. Knowing we’d have to be up early, I ordered us a couple of pizzas and pulled up some movie he’d been wanting to watch. We’d only been watching it for an hour when I fell asleep in the recliner. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Kevin yelling from the kitchen. “Hey, Dad! Have you seen my cleats?”

As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I shouted, “They’re on the back porch! Your grandmother cleaned them up for you.”

“What about my socks?”

“In the laundry room,” and before he could ask, I added, “and your mouth guard is in the cup by the sink.”

“I already got it.”

I glanced over at the clock and groaned when I noticed that it was only eight. “Dude, what are you doing? You’ve got four hours until the game.”

He came into the living room and looked at me with a scowl. “Last night you said we had to leave early, because you had to help Gammy with something.”

Remembering that I’d promised to help fix her leaky sink, I grumbled, “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”

“She called while you were still asleep and said she’s making us pancakes for breakfast. I told her that I couldn’t eat a big breakfast before a game, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“You gotta eat something. Might as well be pancakes.”

“Dad! I’m supposed to eat protein, not a bunch of carbs.” He fussed.

“Damn, son. Do you hear yourself? You don’t sound like an eight-year-old kid.”

“I’m nine,” he argued.

“No. You’re eight. You won’t be nine for another month,” I told him as I got up from the recliner and started towards my bedroom. Even though I still worried that his cancer would come back, I could see that he was growing stronger, more confident, with each day that passed, and I couldn’t have been prouder. “Go get the rest of your stuff. I’ll be ready in twenty minutes.”

After I showered and got dressed, we went over to my folks’ place for breakfast. While I fixed the sink, Kevin told my folks all about his week at school. Apparently, he had a speech coming up in a few days, and he’d decided to talk about the largest dogs on the planet, Mastiffs. I had no idea why, but he’d always had a thing for these giant dogs. He’d asked for an English Mastiff several times over the years, but knowing how hard it would be to have a pet that size, I always refused. Since his birthday was just around the corner, I had a feeling that the conversation would be coming up again. Once we were done at the folks’ place, we headed over to the football field. When we got there, Kevin’s team was already warming up.

“Crap. We’re late,” he huffed.

I looked down at my watch and cursed under my breath when I saw that we were fifteen minutes early. Just like my brothers, these jerk-offs didn’t know how to tell fucking time. “Don’t worry about it, sport. You have plenty of time to warm up.”

“If you say so,” he groaned as he took off for the field.

“Good luck!”

“Thanks, Dad!”

I made my way up to the bleachers and found a place to sit right at the fifty-yard line. Since there were only third and fourth grade kids playing, there wasn’t much of a crowd. My folks weren’t going to be able to make it, so I figured I would be sitting alone, until I saw Riggs, Runt, and Murphy heading up the steps. The game was just about to start when they plopped down beside me, and I couldn’t help but notice that Riggs and Runt looked like shit. With a knowing smile, I asked, “Long night?”

“Yeah, but we had one hell of a time.” Riggs chuckled. “Didn’t we Runt?”

“Um hmm.” He was looking a little rough around the edges as he grumbled, “Would’ve been better if you hadn’t bought so many fucking drinks for her friend.”

“How was I supposed to know she couldn’t handle her liquor?”

“The chick was practically green when you got that last round.”

“Green or not, she still looked hot as fuck in that miniskirt and those boots,” Riggs smirked. “You got yourself a real stunner, brother.”

“You ain’t lying.” Runt snickered.

“You two care to tell me who you’re talking about?” I asked.

“The chick from the other night at Daisy’s.” When I looked at him with confusion, Riggs added, “You remember … the hot, fucking nurse who was practically crawling in Runt’s lap.”

“Oh, yeah.” I thought back to the beautiful brunette who had caught my eye, and when I thought about her being out with Riggs and Runt, my blood ran hot. For reasons I didn’t understand, I had to fight the urge to reach for my brother’s throat. “I remember.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “You alright?”

“I’m fine.” I lied as I ran my hand over my beard. “Just wanted to know who the fuck you were talking about.”

“If you say so.” Riggs shrugged. “You should’ve come out with us. You missed out on a real good time.”

Dreading the answer, I asked, “What kind of good time?”

Riggs had always been one to exaggerate, so I knew to take it with a grain of salt as he explained, “Runt called up Robyn. You know … the hot, fucking nurse…”

“Yeah, I got it. The hot, fucking nurse,” I snapped.

He gave me a strange look as he continued, “Anyway, he called and asked if she wanted to meet up. Since she was already out with some of her friends, we decided to meet up at Silky Sullivans.”

I asked, “What happened after that?”

“Nothing much, I guess. We sat out on the patio and had a few drinks.”

“A lot of drinks.” Runt snickered.

“Okay. Yes, we had a lot of drinks.”

“And?” I pushed.

He shrugged. “When the bar started shutting down, they invited us back to their place.”

“So, you hooked up?” I asked, biting back my anger.

With his eyebrow cocked high, he shrugged. “You know I’m not one to kiss and tell, brother.”

“The fuck you’re not,” I spat.

“What’s crawled up your ass?” Riggs asked.

“I already told you. Nothing.”

“Well, I’m not buying it. You’re obviously ticked about something. Maybe if you’d gone out with us last night, you would’ve gotten you some action and wouldn’t be in such a bad mood.”

“I feel ya. All I got were blue balls last night,” Runt grumbled. “When we got back to Robyn’s place, her roommate was home. I might’ve stayed until Robyn sobered up or something, but that roommate of hers wasn’t having it. She just stood there, giving me the stink eye until I left.”

“Hold up. I thought Robyn’s roommate was out with you and Riggs.”

Like it was no big deal, Riggs said, “Yeah. She was for a little while, but she went home early. She had to work or something.”

“So, who exactly did you hook up with last night?”

“One of the chicks Robyn was out with last night. They were having a bachelorette party or something, and there was a whole slew of them.”

Before he could respond, Murphy motioned out to the field and said, “Hey, Blaze. The coach is putting Kevin in.”

And just like that, my attention was drawn to the game, and as I watched Kevin make one great play after the next, I got to thinking. For years, it had been just the two of us, and I was good with that. We both were. We had my folks and the club, and that’s all we really needed—or so I thought. While our encounter was brief, there was something about the chick from the diner that made me wonder if my life was missing something. It was a thought that caught me by surprise. I hadn’t realized what an impression she’d made on me until today, when Riggs had me thinking he’d hooked up with her. Just the thought of him touching her had me on edge, and I hadn’t felt like that about anyone in years. I liked the feeling. I liked it a lot.