Page 16 of Gunner

“Will do, brother.”

Leaving Scribe to finish removing Mike’s truck from the flatbed of the wrecker, I walked into the clubhouse and headed for King’s office. Entering, my brother never looked up as he ordered. “Shut the door.”

Doing as he asked, I took a seat. “What’s up?”

“Did you know Sarah was home for the summer?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Stopped by the coffee shop this afternoon and saw her. Thought she was supposed to be in Europe.”

“So did I,” King said, sitting back in his chair. “Mike told me she got kicked out of school. She’s going to be working in the shop while attending some online classes.”

“Okay,” I muttered, not understanding why I needed to know this information.

Sitting up, King placed his hands on his desk and sighed. “Gunner, I’m not Dad. I know you don’t need me policing you. You are a grown ass man capable of making your own decisions.”

“Thank you, I think?”

“Mike wanted me to remind you about Sarah.”

Fuck.

I knew where this was going.

Growling, I got to my feet. “Don’t need a fucking reminder, Callum. I got it. She’s off limits. Message received.”

“Cord,” my brother sighed. “I know you like Sarah. Hell, brother, even Mike knows, but she’s a baby. Not even nineteen yet. She has her whole life ahead of her. Mike’s only protecting his daughter. You have to understand. When you have a kid, you will.”

“Got it. Can I go now?”

“One more thing,” King said, looking directly at me. “I know you saw her face. She tell you who did it?”

“No.”

“Mike saw it too. He asked me to look into it.”

“Then you best get to it,” I said angrily, heading for the door.

“Cord, I want you to do it.”

“Why? You just said Mike doesn’t want me anywhere near his daughter.”

“Don’t have to be around her to investigate. Start with the boyfriend. Mike said asshole’s name is Carter. He attends the same school Sarah did. Mike wants to know who hit his daughter. That’s it. Said he will take care of it from there.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, leaving the office.

I needed to get the fuck out of here.

It was bad enough she was going to be around for the foreseeable future, but to not get to know her, let alone talk to her, that was going to be damn near impossible. I refused to change my life because one father didn’t want me around his little girl. I got that Rosewood was a small town and everyone knew everybody, but I was here first, God damn-it. Mike and his family were the interlopers. Not me.

Besides, I didn’t see what the big problem was. Sarah was an adult now. Okay, so she wasn’t legally able to drink yet, but she was eighteen. She could make her own damn decisions.

I got Mike wanted to protect his little girl butfuck it all to hell!

I was a freaking catch! I owned my business, had no debt. Hell, I even owned my house with twenty acres of land to go with it.

Free and clear.

Yes, I had a colorful past. I wasn’t going to apologize for loving the ladies, but that didn’t make me a poor catch.