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“You do the same, Trudy. Good luck.” I turn and nearly run over Maven. “Whoa. My favorite cake lady.”
She grins. “I have a cake for you too.” She takes my arm and leads me to one of the tables where the food is testing the durability of the wood. “Everyone has offered up farewells and gratitude, and I need to add my praise to the chorus.” She opens the box, and I bark out a laugh.
“Is that a Viking?”
Her cheeks turn pink as she nods. “It’s what I thought you were when I saw you in my garage when we first met. A big ass Viking.”
“You mean when you called me rude?”
She smirks. “Among other things.”
“You sure did.” I laugh and run my finger through the frosting, sucking it off with a groan. “You can call me anything you want if you bake me treats, Maven. Thank you.” I wrap my arms around her, dwarfing the sweetheart baker.
“Take care of yourself, Stone.”
“Always. And you can send me any baked goods you want. I’ll happily test them out for you.”
She gives me a playful shove. “Go charm someone else, Viking.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I kiss her cheek and take the cake with me, finding a table to savor the sugar and the booze.
Eventually, the party winds down because these guys have work to do, and Ace stops in front of me. “Time to go.”
My brows dip. “Go where?”
Shades laughs. “You do realize this was a going away party, don’t you? Back to Texas.”
“Now?”
Wild Man nods. “Now. I got you a fake ID just to be on the safe side. The ticket is booked in this name. Come on.”
I smile and get to my feet. It’s just me and the guys now, and fuck, if this isn’t some bittersweet shit right here. I’m ready to go, but I’m reluctant as fuck to leave. “Let me grab my stuff.”
“I’m driving,” Tank says, swirling a key ring around his finger. “Unless you wanna hold me as we cruise up the freeway?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Thought so.”
I jog back to my room and grab what little I own and toss it into the van.
The ride to LAX, the big airport in Los Angeles, is surreal. It’s quiet except for the roar of the bikes surrounding the van. I’m deep in thought, remembering how worried and scared I was when I first got here. And now I’m having the same thoughts about home.
Saying goodbye to these men at the airport is a gut-fucking punch. They aren’t just my protectors, not just the people who kept me from diving off the deep end when I was away from my family and friends. These men are my best friends, my brothers-in-arms, and in blood. We’ve fought together, bled together, and killed together. We’re fucking family.
“Thanks for the ride,” I tell Tank. “And the friendship,” I say to Olly.
“No thanks necessary, brother. Just don’t forget about us when you’re covered in cow shit,” Olly laughs.
I let out a bark of laughter and shake my head as I pull him in for a bro hug. I go down the line, hugging each of the Reckless Souls until I’m in front of Ace.
“Don’t thank me. You belong here. Anytime you want to come back, our doors are wide open.” He smacks a box against my chest. “We got this for you, but don’t make a big deal out of it, okay?”
I open the box and smile. “A patch. For me?” It’s the Reckless Souls patch with Viking stitched on the top and ‘honorary badass’ on the bottom. “Fuck y’all. This shit is…fuck.”
Dix laughs first. “Not only are we gonna make him cry, but we finally got a fucking y’all!” He whoops with more laughter, and the rest of us join in, lightening the mood a bit.
“Thank you. All of you, for everything.” I give them one last look and walk into the airport with my head held high, my shoulders squared, and a big-ass grin on my face.
