Cody’s body hurt. He’d spent five hours out on the back forty of the ranch riding, wrecking, and getting thrown off the bike. He knew he could ride it at a normal speed, but he didn’t want to be normal. He wanted to be a badass. He wanted to look like Dax did when he slid onto his bike, like he was a part of it, like he’d grown there.

He parked the bike in the shop and limped over to the clubhouse. He was dying of thirst and all he could think about was an ice-cold beer. The first person he saw when he opened the door was Lucy. She was sitting up at the bar with a few of the club girls around her. They were all talking and Lucy was gazing toward the stairs. Shit. She was probably looking for him. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. He honestly had no idea how to deal with her. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to expect or do. He didn’t really want to fuck her again, but judging by the way she hadn’t wanted to leave the night before, she didn’t feel the same way. He didn’t want a scene and he was pretty sure that he didn’t have the skills to let her down gently. He closed the door and walked back over to the shop. He was headed into the office to see if Tool had any beer in the little refrigerator he’d seen when he was there earlier that morning, when he passed his bike. He stopped and looked at it. It was his bike. He’d trade that one and a million more to have his brother back, but since Keller wasn’t coming back, he was damned proud to have the bike.

He looked around the shop and didn’t see Tool anywhere. The office was a glass fishbowl, so he could see the older man wasn’t in there. That old impulse control problem suddenly resurfaced. He could take the bike, go to Spirits and have a beer or two, and be back at the ranch before anyone knew he was gone. It was up the road, a ten-minute drive at most. He could do that without killing himself, or getting stopped by the cops. With the smile of an adolescent up to no good on his face, he slid onto the back of the bike and started it up. He’d stay gone an hour. Nobody had to know, and if they did, he was an adult now so fuck ’em.

Cody gave the man at the front gate a casual wave as he drove by. He didn’t know who it was, but the guy didn’t look too interested in him anyways. They were concerned about who came into the compound, not who went out. Once he was on the road he drove the speed limit, enjoying the way the cool evening breeze felt on his face and in his short hair. A couple of the tight curves made him a little nervous, but he thought he took them like a champ and by the time he pulled up in front of Spirits, he was mentally patting himself on the back.

He got off the bike and pulled the blue-and-white do-rag out of his pocket and slipped it on his head. Dusting himself off because he was coated with dirt from his earlier rides and crashes, he pushed open the door of the bar. It was dark inside and it took his eyes a second to adjust. When they did, he saw it was crowded both with bikers and locals, and with women looking to hook up with a biker or a local. That was perfect. He could be anonymous if he wanted to be. One thing about being in prison for all those years, it made him appreciate solitude.

He saw an empty booth in the back and started walking over to it. He was halfway there when a group of guys that were screwing around near the pool table literally pushed one of the bunch into his path. Cody caught the guy’s back and he jerked away and spun around, and Cody’s first instinct was to put up his fists. The guy threw up his hands when he saw Cody and said, “Man, I don’t want any trouble. I’m sorry I bumped into you.”

Cody lowered his hands and looked at the guy’s face. “Parker?”

The guy raised an eyebrow and without any recognition in his green eyes he said, “Yeah…?”

“Cody Miller.”

“Fuck me! Little Cody Miller!”

“I’m hardly little anymore but yeah, it’s me.”

“Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch!” The guy grabbed him up in a big hug. Cody didn’t like to be touched, but he tolerated it for a few seconds before pulling back and forcing a smile.

“If I remember right, you always were a son of a bitch. How the hell have you been, Parker?”

“How about you buy me a beer, little brother, and I’ll tell you all about it?”

When Cody was young, all of Keller’s friends called him “little brother.” He hadn’t heard that in years. Parker had been Keller’s best friend since middle school. Cody always found him slightly annoying, but Parker had been there for him as much as he was capable of at the time. “Sure, but call me ‘little brother’ one more time and I’ll show you how much I’ve grown up.”

Parker laughed. He said something to one of his friends near the pool table and then, much to Cody’s chagrin, put his arm around Cody and led him over to the empty booth. They sat down and the cute little red-headed cocktail waitress took their orders. Once she was gone, Parker sobered slightly and said, “Sorry I didn’t make it out to see you while you were locked up, man.”

Cody shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like we would have had a hell of a lot to say to each other.”

“How was it?” Of all the questions people asked, that was one of the stupidest, he thought. How was it? It was fucking prison, what do you think?

“I survived,” he said. The waitress set their beers down, and he dug out what little cash Dax had given him the day before and put a twenty on her tray while Parker attempted to flirt with her. Parker never had much luck with the ladies. He was tall and what Dax would call “stringy.” He had skinny arms that were about three feet long, super skinny legs and a prominent nose that was the focal point of his face. His dark green eyes were the only thing about him that could be considered anything more than above average about the poor guy, and any girl that was with him when Keller was alive was usually looking for a way to Keller through him. Cody asked, “What are you doing these days?” He didn’t want to talk about prison, or Keller. He wanted to forget all that at least for a minute.

“I work for my uncle at the car dealership in town. I do detailing and custom body work.”

“That’s cool,” Cody said. “You make pretty good money doing that?”

Parker shrugged. “Decent,” he said. “So what are you planning to do once you get back on your feet?”

Cody took a sip of his beer and shook his head. “I haven’t figured any of that out yet. I’ve only been out a day.”

“Well, if you’re looking for a job come and see me. My uncle’s always hiring. Where are you staying?”

“I’m at the ranch.”

“Oh.” Parker took a big gulp of his beer. His attitude suddenly changed and the humor that had been dancing in his eyes was gone.

“Oh?” Cody knew he should just leave it alone, but he couldn’t. “Oh, like that’s a bad thing?”

“No…it’s just…I just know Keller would have wanted more for you than to be a part of that motorcycle gang.”

“It’s not a gang, it’s a club.”

“Right. You’re on parole, though, right? Aren’t you worried that you’ll end up back in prison, riding with those guys?”

“I’m not going back to prison,” Cody said. “Not ever.” He downed the rest of his beer and looked around the bar. He was about to signal the waitress for another when his eyes landed on a figure near the jukebox. He had his back to him, but Cody knew who it was right away. It was Jimmy, and he had his hand on the ass of the woman standing next to him. Macy. Fuck.

“What’s wrong, man? What are you looking at over there?”

He kept his eyes on Jimmy and that hand as he said, “Nothing. I’m not looking at anything. So, what’s going on in this town that’s fun? I’ve been back twenty-four hours and I’m already bored out of my fucking mind.”

“Same old, around here. Your ‘club’ and that other one finally stopped killing each other, at least out in public. Since then it’s been a little boring around here though.”

“They were killing each other?”

“Yeah. You didn’t hear about it at the ranch? They were in a war with the Sinners and it got bloody.”

“Nah, I haven’t had much time to catch up. What was the war over?”

“I don’t know—territory, I guess. It was bad there for a while. Everyone was afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. The cops formed this task force and they sent one in undercover…”

“Dax’s old lady, Angel.”

Parker nodded. “That’s what I heard. I’m not so sure my information is all up to date. You can probably Google it and it’ll bring up the old news articles.”

Cody didn’t have a phone or a computer. He was sure there was one at the ranch he could use if he asked, but it was going to get old, asking for every little thing like he was still a kid, or worse yet, still in prison. “I’ll do that” was all he said to Parker. He looked back over where Macy and Jimmy were standing. They’d put a slow song on the jukebox and now they were dancing. Jimmy had her pulled up tightly against him and one of his hands was running up and down her back, every so often stopping to pat her on that luscious, round ass. Cody felt that rush of anger that he’d gotten the day before. He had one hand on the handle of his beer mug and the other tightened at his side. He couldn’t afford to get into another fight. Dax would skin him alive. Besides, they were in a public place. He could get his ass thrown back in jail if he wasn’t careful. He didn’t realize that he’d phased out until Parker said:

“I was wondering if you knew about them. I know you had it pretty good for that girl and I remember you and that kid were tight back in the day. That’s kind of fucked up.”

It seemed to Cody that Parker had become the king of stating the obvious. “Yeah, it is fucked up.”

Parker chuckled. “Want me to help you kick his ass?”

Cody looked at him and rolled his eyes. “Do I look like I’d need help if that’s what I wanted to do?”

Parker laughed again. “Hell, no. If it was me, I’d just hand over the girl.”

Cody had to smile at that. He looked back over at Macy. Her back was to him now and Jimmy had his eyes closed. Cody didn’t think either of them had seen him. He told himself that he should just go. He should just get up and leave before they saw him. He didn’t need any more trouble… “Hey, Park, do me a favor man?”

“Sure, anything for you, little brother.” Cody rolled his eyes again, but then he smiled and said:

“Good. I’m going to need a distraction…”