Page 31 of Kane
“Still a smartass, huh?” He grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a hug. “Nice to know motherhood hasn’t softened you up.”
She returned his embrace. “Are you kidding? Motherhood makes you toughen up.Youtry parenting a twelve-year-old boy and see how soft-heartedyoucan be.” Pulling back, she wrinkled her nose. “You don’t have anything living in your shaggy beard, do you?”
“Bitch.”
“Prick.” Mike and Cindy spoke as one.
The familiar exchange lightened his heart. He released his hold and returned to his seat on the sofa. “I’ve missed you guys.”
Cindy sat next to him, the light dimming a little on her face. “We’ve missed you too.” She sighed, for the first time looking a little older than the twenty-two year old he remembered from his youth. “You didn’t have to cut us off, Kane. Just because you and—”
“I did.” He’d spoken more sharply than he intended, so he tried to gentle his tone. “Things were…bad for me. I was drowning.”
Her hand rested on his forearm. “Times like those, you need your friends the most.”
“But you were her family before you were my friends.” He squeezed her hand. “If there was a break, it had to be a clean one.” Even now, the memories of their friendship still tasted of Mandy. “I should’ve come sooner than this, though. It shouldn’t have taken a near-death experience to bring me around.”
Mike’s little girl started crying and squirming on her father’s lap.
“I think she needs a change, Cin.”
She gave his arm one last pat, then climbed to her feet before scooping up her child. “She needs a bath, too. I’m going to stick the ice cream in the freezer while you two finish catching up.” She shot him a warm look. “Don’t wait so long before you come back next time.”
The crying grew fainter as Cindy moved with her baby deeper into the house.
Mike cleared his throat. “You’re not coming back, are you?”
“It’s complicated, brother.”
Scoffing, Mike leaned back in his chair. “Bullshit. You’ve got to forgive her. It’s been thirteen years, man. You’ve got to let it go.”
“Who says I haven’t?” His voice was deceptively mild.
Mike laughed darkly. “Look at you. You joined your father’s motorcycle gang. You became the thing you hated most in the whole world. You’re the walking definition of someone who hasn’t let shit go.”
“It’s not so simple.”
“The hell it’s not. She left you, and you turned your back on who you were when you were together. You dropped your friends, your dreams. But you could have it all back. Cut your hair, shave your beard, get your fucking degree. And for God’s sakes, walk away from the biker gang. It was never the life you wanted.”
Memories of his dreams for a future were a crushing weight on his heart. It was why he usually pushed them down with beer, bourbon, and pussy. None of which were available at the moment. “The club is all I have.” Flawed though they were, those men were his brothers.
“You have me,” Mike said quietly. “You have the construction job. I hear you’re pretty tight with a guy on the crew. It’s a start.”
“The guys in the club were there when I needed them, brother.”
“And I wasn’t. Right?” Mike’s jaw clenched. A vein pulsed at his temple. “I would have been if you’d let me. Fuck, Kane, I don’t even know what happened. My sister never would tell me. All I know is one day, you were there, and the next, you were gone like a puff of fucking smoke.”
His fingers dug into the soft, fuzzy fabric of the sofa cushion. “You want to know what happened? Your sister ripped out my heart. When I needed her the most, she threw me away, and she never looked back.”
***
13 years ago
October
Scott wasn’t as good of a liar as he thought he was.
Kane would have been more than happy to take the bus to the mall, but his brother had insisted on giving him a ride. No way Scott could know he was planning to look at engagement rings for Mandy, and no way was he going to find out. The man couldn’t speak her name without a sneer on his face.